Yule Egg Ornaments

Egg ornaments are a great way to recycle used eggshells if you do not compost them and can make beautiful gifts for loved ones at Yule. You will need:
clean blown eggshells
pencils
acrylic paint
thin ribbon
glue (with a little water added)
fine glitter and/or gold and silver acrylic craft paint
paintbrushes
hot glue and glue gun (optional)
acrylic glaze.

To make a blown egg, take a nail or large needle and hold the egg firmly in your left hand. Use the nail to drill a hole in the tip using a small amount of pressure. You can use a small hand drill if you wish or a small drill bit. Poke a hole in each end of the egg and hold it over a glass. Blow through one end of the egg into the glass. It may take a little bit of work, but the egg bits will soon come out easily. Once you have blown out all the contents, rinse the egg out under the water and let it dry for several hours.
    When you are ready to paint your egg, set it on a soft surface such as an old towel and draw your design on the egg in pencil. Don't worry too much about making a mistake. You can erase and you will be painting over the lines anyway. Be sure that the egg is completely dry when you begin to paint. Any type of acrylic paint can be used and bright bold colors work best. The large point of the egg goes at the top and the tip should point down. When you are finished painting your design, coat the egg with a thin layer of acrylic glaze. This will make the egg shiny and the colors bolder. If you want to cover the hole at the bottom before you paint, you can fill it with hot glue. If you want to add glitter to a portion of the design such as a star, you can paint the shape with Elmer's glue mixed with a little water. Then roll the egg in glitter while the glue mixture is still wet and let it sit for 10 minutes to dry. Once the egg is completely dry, blow or brush off the glitter with a clean, dry paintbrush. Cut a piece of ribbon about eight inches long and form it into a loop. Glue the ends down to the top of the egg. Make a small bow from the ribbon and glue it down over the ends of the loop. When the glue dries your ornament is ready to hang!