Don't Blow It! (Egg Craft)

I remember blowing eggs to decorate for Easter as a child, so thought this year my toddler and I would enjoy some egg decorating of our own.  Wisely I decided to do the blowing part while the kids were asleep.  As the eggs were just past their use by date, I didn’t want to put my mouth on them so instead I used a small syringe to force air into the shells and force the goop out.  It worked nicely but it was a very slow process.  Very.  And I managed to drop one half way through.  My husband laughed at my inefficient strategy, and before I knew it we were both in the kitchen blowing eggs with a bike pump!  It took half the time, but I’m sure the neighbours would have been amused if they were looking through the window.

After rinsing the empty shells out and leaving them to sit for a while, I put them into the microwave for a minute or two to make sure they were completely dried out.  (This wasn’t my idea… I read it online somewhere!)  The eggshells were only in for about 10 seconds when I started to hear a high pitched whistle, like a teeny tiny kettle boiling.  It was one of those slow motion moments as I ran across the kitchen crying “Nooo!” with my outstretched arm reaching for the stop button.  In the split second before the microwave door opened the whistling egg exploded with gusto!  At least the rest were saved.

Finally the surviving shells were ready for decorating.  I opted for simply painting and adding glitter with glue because the whole ordeal had already been stressful enough.  And as the shells were so fragile, I spent the whole decorating time terrified that the eggs would shatter in my toddler’s hands!

This morning my daughter and I proudly hung our decorated blown eggs onto a branch and set them on the table for our Good Friday family brunch.  Did they look lovely?  Yes.  Was it worth it?  Not sure!  I can’t quite decide whether we’ll do it again next year now that I’ve got the hang of it, or whether we’ll scrap the whole blowing business and just hardboil them in food dye!