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Make a gorgeous Dragon's Egg

Make a gorgeous Dragon\
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Learn the age old technique of egg blowing and then instead of just painting the blown egg, make it in to a fantastic looking dragon's egg in a few minutes with a bit of hot melt glue gun glue and some paint.

That's it, it couldn't really be simpler than that!

What you'll need:

  • One hen's egg (free range) (or larger egg if you have it, duck, goose or even ostrich)
  • Glue gun and a small amount of hot melt glue
  • Spray paint, any colour will do, but black, red, green, gold or silver are the best
  • a little bit of acrylic paint, for the distressing (black or dark brown)

When you've done, why not have a look at dadcando, where you'll find free downloadable printables for an Egg Stand and Antique Egg Mailing box.

It's a great project for Easter, or any other time of year when Dragon Eggs are in season.
 
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Step 1Make a hole in either end of the egg

Make a hole in either end of the egg
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First of course you have to buy your egg (or raid the fridge). I used large hen's eggs for this project (keeping it easy), but you could use duck, goose or even ostrich if you are feeling really adventurous. The beauty of the hen's egg is that the glue gun hotmelt really works at this scale. If you go up in size, then you have to be prepared to do a lot more work to get the egg to look right.

Please use free range if you can... help chickens have a better life. Don't worry about the waste, There doesn't have to be any. Once you have blown the eggs, you can always make scramble or an omelet from the contents of the egg.

So, first off, wash the egg quickly in cold, slightly soapy water. In a minute you are going to be putting your lips to that egg surface and you know the last place that egg was !!

Now, to making the hole; strangely, this is not as easy as it sounds. For those of you with Dremmels, or miniature drills, (or dentists even) then this should present no problem, but for mere mortals, the egg is surprisingly hard, and being... well, an egg shell, is also quite brittle.

To make the hole you get a very sharp craft knife. Put the point of the tip of the blade against the tip of the egg at one end and turn back and forth about 180 degrees each turn. You'll find it seems to take ages to get started. Don't be tempted to push to hard or you will break the egg. If you feel that you are not getting started, then carefully scratch a cross at the end and put the tip of the blade at the centre of the cross and go back to turning it back and forth.

Once you break through the going gets easier, but you still have to take care as the blade can bite in and chip or crack the egg. If you are patient (only 5 minutes or so of turning) then within a few minutes you will have a hole about the size of a drinking straw. In fact you are aiming for a hole, the diameter of anything between a cocktail stick and drinking straw. Don't worry if you do chip a little bit away, you will be covering that up with hotmelt in due course.

Make a hole like this IN BOTH ENDS.
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233 comments
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May 13, 2012. 8:06 AMnuttybunz says:
im going to make these, but I cant find any latex paint...
May 14, 2012. 10:43 AMnuttybunz says:
its just that the first time the spray paint got all drippy, and i figured that you needed some clear latex paint to make it stick. and what is emulsion, anyway?
Apr 9, 2012. 2:18 PMNatureGeek24 says:
Wonderful project. My kids and I had a ball making these, and they are very proud of their results. Exotic egg holders will be a later project. ;-)
Apr 6, 2012. 12:17 PMDejaykomm says:
I am sooooo making these 2moz, might not have the glue gun, but..... may use something similar, like a fast set sealant, if all goes well, will post a pic here. :-)
Apr 3, 2012. 10:46 AMZephyra Dragonborn says:
Heres mine!
Oct 8, 2011. 1:07 PMclibanarius says:
Here's kind of a different take on this: 6" styrofoam egg, coated with modeling paste whipped up into a spiky texture. All turned out well except I'm not too happy with the rub-on gold accent; it dried very quickly and I obviously had trouble spreading it thin enough to be an accent like KaptinScarlet's.
Apr 29, 2011. 10:41 AMverybluesky says:
Just wondering if this can be done with plastic easter eggs instead of real ones. Seems they would last longer.
Jun 9, 2011. 10:02 PMBlackFang171 says:
I imagine you would have a much more narrow selection of paints that would adhere well to such a glossy plastic, most would peel off. In this respect a real egg would last longer
Apr 30, 2011. 10:19 AMshadow123456 says:
the red one is cool

Apr 25, 2011. 1:24 PMreinovator says:
the Family and I had a blast making these turned out very nice
Thanks
Apr 23, 2011. 6:31 PMbbehm says:
Can't wait to try this out. I wanted to get a larger egg so I ordered one from this site... http://beverlysgoosehatchery.com/
Apr 7, 2011. 4:35 PMSteampunkManiac says:
also aucious
Sep 18, 2010. 7:34 AMliesl78 says:
These are so cool. My soon will be Harry Potter for Halloween and I'm definitely going to make these & the wands!
Sep 4, 2010. 2:37 PMBallabirdie says:
i'm thinking of mixing this instructable with ChrysN's Spooky Halloween Eggs. I'm hoping to get a glowing dragon egg, it would make a great birthday present.
Jan 6, 2009. 7:30 AMtopaz08 says:
Awesome Instructable. My first, btw. I think I found a new favorite place to hang out on the Internet. I love seeing pictures of what everyone has done. So, I'll try to take some pictures of the three eggs I decorated last night.
Jan 6, 2009. 6:10 PMtopaz08 says:
OK, I hope these aren't too big. The blue & silver is my favorite. The gold one is antiqued with dark copper, and the pearl white one - I think I'm going to speckle it with another color, I just don't know what yet. Sorry for the bottlecap egg stand.
Jun 8, 2010. 11:28 AMSoccerChic923 says:
i love the blue ones nice idea for the silver on blue
Jan 15, 2010. 2:00 PMhishealer says:
Wasn't Ruth a rare white dragon?  PERN FTW! ^.~
Feb 18, 2010. 7:23 AMthedragonmaster says:
Idid it on my first try =3
Nov 27, 2009. 9:14 PMCreativeman says:
Just found your ible: great stuff!  Love the way you use the glue gun. thought you would like to see a project I have done with it...Do these things have eggs? See my instructable: How to make glue monsters! Cman
Nov 29, 2009. 2:52 PMCreativeman says:
Hey, Kaptin: I have no problem with your using the idea for your project(s). After all it is just glue gun mania of sorts. I checked out your website, and see that you are very prolific, artistic and accomplished. I am impressed!  Good luck with the project and I will be looking for it. Cman
Oct 29, 2009. 7:12 PMd3monhax0r says:
needles work well
Sep 3, 2008. 1:03 PMshadowsong13 says:
I tried to download the antique mailing box project from dad can do and its says you need to register so I registered and I still can't get on because I didn't get the email, would you mind making an Instructable about the box
Oct 15, 2009. 8:22 PMkeith.tseng says:
you must pay for this .

he wants mony ^^ v
Feb 11, 2009. 2:25 PMselftaughtgenius says:
Hi Kaptin!
This was an awesome Instructable. The idea itself is fantastic, and the instructions are stellar. Love your illustrations; you really make everything easy to understand, and that is a rarity in an online how-to!

I made (I mean found) a handful of eggs for my boyfriend's birthday a few weeks ago. One for each of the chromatic dragons in Dungeons and Dragons.

I used spray paint for the base coats, acrylic for the distressing, and nail enamel for the highlights. Also, I glittered the black and white eggs with coarse black and iridescent white for a little texture and interest as they didn't have quite as much contrast as the coloured eggs.

I really enjoyed making them, and my boyfriend loved them, though he says he's a little nervous that they might hatch in our lifetime. ; ) We have them displayed on the mantle, and they are too nerdy and cool for me. Thank you!
Aug 14, 2009. 5:25 PMalbylovesscience says:
nice work
Apr 12, 2009. 11:52 AMsgsidekick says:
Nice eggs! But how did you make the base? Just glue rocks together? Or glue the rocks to something else?
Feb 12, 2009. 6:17 AMselftaughtgenius says:
Thanks! Yes, I've been to DadCanDo. I think it's an awesome site, and I'm hoping to join soon. Your kids must be some of the happiest kids on the planet. Thanks again! I can't wait to see what you've got next!
Jul 23, 2009. 4:44 AMJaquezy says:
Ive just visited dadcando and it is awesome. I hope to join but i dont really have money to spare.. shame. great ideas though.
Jul 14, 2009. 7:30 AMstrikerdude8 says:
This is awesome, it was such a smart idea. I have been working on making a good one. After a couple tries, I had a good outcome. You really have great ideas, I wish I could make the stuff on your website ause it all looks so cool, but my parents won't let me pay for membership, so ah well! Anyways, here is the picture of how my final egg turned out.
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Author:KaptinScarlet(dadcando)
Eldest of five, son of two doctors, 10 years in Graphic Design and marketing, then retrained as a Biomedical Materials Engineer, don't ask me why, I think it was because I had always wanted to design ...
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