Introduction: Faberlicious Spidey Egg (Poor Man's Faberge')

I have tried to create an egg that is Faberge'-like, and at the same time made from recycled materials. All the supplies I used are items that I already had at my house. In the spirit of recycle/reuse, most, if not all, can be substituted by something else.

My inspiration for the Spidey Egg was my baby-boy. I wanted something I could display in his room for years to come, but most decorated eggs are just too frilly for a boy. So I gathered all the bling I could find in my house to see what I had to work with, and the red and black matched perfectly with a spiderman pillow he has. And that's how it all started!

The total time for this project exceeded 40 hours, not including time for drying and setting. There are 770 beads and sequins, and each was attached one at a time.

Step 1: Supplies

In the interest of reusing and recycling, most of the supplies can be substituted by something else that you might already have on hand. I have listed possible substitution in parenthesis after the item. But of course the best thing you could possibly use is your imagination!

o 2 raw white chicken eggs (brown eggs)
o Aerosol can lid that has a center thingy in it (shot glass)
o Red paint (red permanent marker)
o White paint (white-out)
o Approximately 30 inches of thread (dental floss)
o Tiny screwdriver (ice pick)
o Large sewing needle
o Sandpaper, 1000 grit (steel wool)
o Sandpaper, 2000 grit (steel wool)
o Envelope (sticky note)
o Pencil (pen)
o Black permanent marker (black paint)
o Quilting scissors (sharp knife)
o Magnet
o School glue (any slow-drying glue)
o Bamboo skewer (toothpick)
o Black glitter
o Red sequins
o Black oblong glass beads
o Round black glass beads
o Red oblong glass beads, long
o Red oblong glass beads, short
o Clear rhinestones

Step 2: Poke Holes in Egg

When you are starting out learning this delicate skill, use a minimum of two eggs. It may seem like a waste of time at first, but you will quickly see the importance of having one readily available to practice on.

Turn your aerosol lid upside down and place egg, pointed end up, into the center thingy. Hold the tiny screwdriver vertically with the tip touching the top of the egg. Gently tap the top of screwdriver with a table knife handle (or other mini-hammer-like object) until it penetrates the eggshell.

Turn the egg over and repeat this hole-punching step on the other pointy end of the egg. Don't worry, the egg innards will not leak out yet.

Poke the screwdriver into the egg and gently mix it around a bit. The purpose here is to break up the yolk, which will make it easier to remove.

Step 3: Empty Egg Innards

The most common way to remove the contents of the eggshell is to blow into one of the holes, and supposedly, the contents will shoot out the other hole. This will only work if your holes are large.

But for these tiny holes, blowing out the egg will result in your brains shooting out of your ears long before the innards start oozing out of the egg.

Instead, here's a great idea that works beautifully: use a syringe that is made for injecting marinade into turkeys. It pokes through the shell very cleanly and sucks the insides right out!

Step 4: Rinse, Rinse, Rinse

Hold the egg vertically under cold running tap water to get water inside the empty eggshell. Shake it up. Blow into one of the holes to remove the water.

Repeat this step numerous times until you are sure the inside of the eggshell rinses clean.

Step 5: Dry

Fold your thread in half with the cut ends together, and thread it through the needle. Tie the cut ends together with a really big ugly knot that cannot slip through the hole in your egg.

Insert needle into one of the egg holes and pull it out thru the other egg hole. If you are having trouble finding the exit hole with your needle, place magnet near/on the exit hole. Let the needle hang freely inside your egg and the magnet will draw the point toward the hole. A strong magnet will pull the needle tip out of the egg hole.

Remove the needle from the thread and you have a way to hang the egg to dry. Hang the egg in an out-of-the-way place for 3-4 days to insure it is completely dry inside.

Step 6: Plan on Paper

Now you have 3-4 days wait time. What to do with all that time? Make a plan!

Make your egg on paper first. This is where you will eliminate a lot of heartache later on. If you cannot work out the details on paper, you certainly cannot do it on a hollow egg-shell.

Brainstorm your ideas by jotting down some thoughts and sketches of what you want your egg to look like. Choose a theme you have some personal interest in. Because after spending some 40+ hours on this project, you definitely want a finished product that you will enjoy looking at!


Step 7: Sand

(Do not remove the thread yet.)

Gently use a 1000 grit sandpaper and rub the entire eggshell.
Follow up with 2000 grit sandpaper.

Sanding the eggshell will allow your paint and/or bling to adhere better.


Step 8: Paint and Dry

Spray paint the egg Red.

The paint job doesn't need to be perfect. It only serves as a background so that the white egg will not show through the beads later on.

Hang to dry.

Step 9: Draw Pattern on Egg

Draw a pattern of the design on the eggshell with a pencil. This is an important step, do not take it lightly. Once the decorative steps begin, it would be easy to go off course if my spidery web pattern had not been sufficient.

Trying to draw strait lines on an eggshell is difficult. Make it easier by using an old envelope. Tear off a length of the sticky part and moisten it very slightly. Use this as a strait-edge by sticking it to your egg where you want a line. Trace with pencil.

The eyes were sketched with pencil, and then colored in with a black permanent marker.

Use the pointed end of the skewer to color the whites of the eyes with white paint.

Step 10: Recycled Beads

All of my beads were reclaimed from ball-gowns of yesteryear. It was quite easy to cut and pull them off. And since they are sewn on instead of glued, they were all in mint condition.

Step 11: Attach Black Beads

Apply glue by dipping the pointed end of skewer into glue and using it to write over the pattern. Work on small areas at a time.

Pick up the beads with the blunt end of skewer by moistening the end of skewer and touching a bead with it. It will grab the bead and allow you to meticulously place it on your egg. The bead will then release from the skewer and adhere to the glue.

It is good to stop and allow a section to dry before continuing. This will prevent your previous work from sliding around while attaching more beads.

Step 12: Attach Red Sequins

Attach the red sequins to the back of egg.

Apply glue to the work area and use the skewer to spread it to the edges.

To pick up the sequins with the blunt end of skewer, moisten the end and touch a sequin with it. It will grab the sequin and allow you to meticulously place it on your egg. The sequin will then release from the skewer and adhere to the glue.

Step 13: Attach Red Beads

Work on one small section at a time, going from the back of egg to the front. Apply glue to the work area by using the pointed end of the skewer. Attach the red beads to the eggshell by picking them up with the blunt end of skewer (moistened) and placing them in the glue on your egg.

It is a good idea to stick to the same directional pattern when placing the beads. This will make for a much cleaner look when finished.

NOTE: see the next step before attaching red beads around the eyes.

Step 14: Cut Beads

When you get to a very detailed area such as the eyes, smaller bead pieces will be necessary for a good fit.

Use small scissors to cut red beads in half, lengthwise. Then attach the halves or pieces onto the egg where needed.

Cutting glass beads with scissors will not produce perfect results, but you will get pieces that you can work with quite nicely.

Step 15: Glitter the Eyes

Be sure all other areas of the egg and glue are dry before applying glitter.

Use pointed end of skewer to apply glue to the black eye area.

Sprinkle glitter very lightly onto the glue.

Shake off excess glitter.

Allow to dry.

Step 16: Rhinestone Eyes

Use the pointed end of skewer to apply glue to whites of eyes.

Attach clear rhinestones to the white glued eye area. Again, moisten the end of skewer and it will pick them right up.