Make a gorgeous Dragon's Egg

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.

Step 1: Make a hole in either end of the egg

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.

Comments

[casuallooker]

Dear Kaptin:
What a nice job!

more on that. Being an ignorant in this matter: Dragon Egss.
Finally, I think I comprehend why the female dragons are so bad tempered!!!... :-)

Please, keep the good work!

[marccase]

Looks like fun, I assume normal white eggs wouldn't do it though huh?

[epiclink8480]

that is so cool.

[adunster]

To make the egg less fragile and have some substance in the hand, I suggest filling with plaster of paris and allowing it to cure before proceeding with the painting. I did this to produce dummy eggs for my ducks' nests at one time and while the real egg chipped off the plaster over time (months, years) in a livestock pen environment an empty egg would have been broken in days if not sooner. Definitely adds some heft and interior structure.

[SunnysideGourds]

I suggest using egg gourds if you can find them. Google egg gourds. Will last forever as they are just like wood and much easier to handle.

[verybluesky]

Just wondering if this can be done with plastic easter eggs instead of real ones. Seems they would last longer.

[tn.]

prepared like this and looked after properly, a dragon's egg would last long enough to qualify as an heirloom.

[BlackFang171]

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

[tn.]

lol - i was just gonna say that a dremel takes all the hassle out of step one.

[overfiend2069]

Mega Cool!!!

[selftaughtgenius]

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!

[wolfwidow]

You did a fantastic job and I love how you chose to stand them. Thanx for sharing

[slaveboy2000]

these are wicked great job

[albylovesscience]

nice work

[sgsidekick]

Nice eggs! But how did you make the base? Just glue rocks together? Or glue the rocks to something else?

[KaptinScarlet]

They are absolutely brilliant. Thanks for the lovely message and the great images. If you like that sort of thing I have a website of my own filled with such stuff. dadcando. In it you'll find a is a neat section called the Dragonry (in the Making Section). But whatever, those eggs are just how I imagined they'd be. Love the nests by the way ^_

[selftaughtgenius]

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!

[KaptinScarlet]

Thanks for your lovely comments, yes they are pretty happy... ^_ got loads of cool stuff coming up!

[Jaquezy]

Ive just visited dadcando and it is awesome. I hope to join but i dont really have money to spare.. shame. great ideas though.

[wolfwidow]

Thanx for these instructions I am definately going to try this.

[mrhird]

I like these very much. Another fun thing to try would be to paint a color first, add the glue, and use gold or silver leaf on the glue. It WILL stick to hot glue.

[holly9696]

Thank you so much for some inspiration. I started to make the first one and decided it needed some incubation buddies....lol
I used paper covered plastic eggs I purchased from a craft store. Paints are acrylics and I used puffy metallic paints for the silver gold and copper. I coated these in brush on glaze. I liked that I had much more control over the color by hand mixing and painting.
Thank you!!

[Boppylop]

im going to make these, but I cant find any latex paint...

[KaptinScarlet]

Acrylic, spray or emulsion will do just as well

[Boppylop]

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?

[NatureGeek24]

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. ;-)

[KaptinScarlet]

Fantastic, glad you enjoyed the project and the eggs look great

[Dejaykomm]

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. :-)

[Zephyra Dragonborn]

Heres mine!

[clibanarius]

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.

[shadow123456]

the red one is cool

[reinovator]

the Family and I had a blast making these turned out very nice
Thanks

[bbehm]

Can't wait to try this out. I wanted to get a larger egg so I ordered one from this site... http://beverlysgoosehatchery.com/

[SteampunkManiac]

also aucious

[liesl78]

These are so cool. My soon will be Harry Potter for Halloween and I'm definitely going to make these & the wands!

[Ballabirdie]

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.

[topaz08]

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.

[KaptinScarlet]

glad you like it can't wait to see your pictures

[topaz08]

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.

[SoccerChic923]

i love the blue ones nice idea for the silver on blue

[KaptinScarlet]

these are fabulous I love the blue one and the antiquing on the gold one is lovely. I imagine the pearlescent one being laid by an rare arctic dragon of some kind... top stuff

[hishealer]

Wasn't Ruth a rare white dragon?  PERN FTW! ^.~

[thedragonmaster]

Idid it on my first try =3

[KaptinScarlet]

 cool, you have the touch then!

[Creativeman]

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

[KaptinScarlet]

I love these, but I like your glue gun insects even more. How would you feel if I drew up that project and made it in to a project for dadcando? I have loads of great projects on there and I would credit you in the name of the project.

[Creativeman]

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

[KaptinScarlet]

I love these, they're great, what a superb idea

[KaptinScarlet]

thanks

[d3monhax0r]

needles work well

[shadowsong13]

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

[keith.tseng]

you must pay for this .

he wants mony ^^ v

[strikerdude8]

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.

[KaptinScarlet]

great pictures and gorgeous egg, leave a comment on dadcando with your email address and your favourite dadcando project (that you would like to do) and I'll email you the download for that project (for free).

[BgRdDragon]

since their eggs are they really fragile or are they somewhat stronger because of the glue?

[daninja]

or an Emu!

[azuledracon]

This was a fun project to do. I did a little different by filling with sand to give extra weight. You just have to be very careful because it will make them top heavy

[alice cullen]

thats soooooooooooo cool! i love the eragon books. i love fiction. great craft!

[KMOM14]

http://craftsandcreationswithkathy.blogspot.com/2009/02/pink-dragon-egg.htmlHere is the pretty pink princess girly version that I made with a Pink plastic Easter Egg and colored with pink nail polish. I am hoping to get candy for Easter in it.

[KMOM14]

I made mine out of larger plastic Easter Eggs and going to fill them with candy and put them in my son's Easter Basket. It is one of the few craft that I have made that he thinks is cool. Thanks for sharing the Instructable with all of us.

http://craftsandcreationswithkathy.blogspot.com/2009/02/dragon-eggs.html

[KMOM14]

This is one of the few craft projects that my son actually though was awesome. I used larger plastic Easter Eggs as the base for mine and I am going to use them as Easter Eggs for my son's basket and fill them with candy. Thanks for sharing your wonderful Instructable with all of us!

[KMOM14]

These are awesome! This is definitely going on my to-do list of projects.

[george weasley]

thats a great instructable! i want to make a red and black egg but i only have water colours

[MrsZ]

First time here and it's awesome! I tried a plastic egg with nail polish and glue. Didn't know if glue and polish would stick but it looks fine. Am going to get my class of 10 yo's to make Chinese New Year dragon eggs. Ni hao!

[KaptinScarlet]

great, so glad you like it. This week on dadcando I am putting up a Chinese New Year project, and if you like dragon projects suitale for your kids to make you'll find a few really nice ones on dadcando.com in the Making section>> Dragonry... it is a paid membership site, but it only costs £9.95 to belong for a year. Good luck with the CNY Dragon Eggs

[INSTRUCTUBAL]

oh shiats! nice! i just made one :D but i havent made the silicon really gold and buffed out yet, im still working on that

[INSTRUCTUBAL]

EDIT: oops, i just tried something stupid. if you spraypainted your egg, do NOT put WD 40 on it or the paint will come off. now i have to make another egg.

[INSTRUCTUBAL]

also,could you make an instructable on how to make the antique mailing box?

[KaptinScarlet]

If I have time, but you can get that from my website, dadcandodadcando. Glad you like the filigree egg.

If you put WD40 on it, you can correct that by washing it off with white spirit and then detergent and warm water, let it dry and then spray it.

[Draxis]

ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the way back to experimental pyrotechnician's comment "if you don't do steps 1 and 2 and you use a fertilized egg the chicken will hatch out instead of a dragon", if you have a toad on top of the egg something very different will happen, if you know what I mean...

[KaptinScarlet]

I'd love to say that I know what you mean..... but I don't really. Me being thick?? probably

[magicentral]

I followed the 'ible and will post pics soon, but does anyone have tops on using rub 'n buff? mine got all smeary.

[KaptinScarlet]

You have to put a very very little on. I usually just touch my finger to the end of the tube and get the smallest amount on the tip of my finger and then apply only a tiny amount. Then wait for it to dry for about 10 minutes befroe buffing it. I also use a product called Gold Finger, which I have found to be better.

[magicentral]

how do you spread it out that much? Is goldfinger a paste? where do you get it? what does buffing it do? how do you buff it?

[KaptinScarlet]

I sprayed the eggs gold in the first place and then used the goldfinger just to highlight here and then on the glue gun ridges. You don't need touse it, you can use silver or gold paint applied with a very fine brush. Yes gold finger is a paste. It comes in a tube just like rub n buff, search on the web for it to find a stockist near you.

[svhsmail]

We loved this project! We did use styrofoam eggs though, because we wanted them to be BIG, and then painted them with Krylon enamel spray paints. A fair warning to anyone who wants to try the styrofoam though: you have to coat the egg with a bit of Elmer's glue (I think it's called PVA in Europe?) or the spray paint tends to eat up the styrofoam. Oh! and if you roll the egg on a smooth surface and then buff it lightly with an emery board after the glue coat, it gives it a smoother more "egg-like" texture. Now if I could just figure out how to make a stand of some sort for these, it would be truly excellent.

[magicentral]

I like the texture on the eggs, Nice!

[KaptinScarlet]

hey you could use the dadcando stand and just enlarge it. all it is is a square of card with a circle cut out of the middle and then creases in the four corners and then cut on of the sides off and fold up the other three to make a open topped pyramid. Easy.... Wicked looking eggs BTW

[Carlos Marmo]

Wonderful Work! Congratulations!

[westfw]

Something that works well for making the holes in the fresh egg is a pair of manicure scissors. They're sharp and sturdy enough to poke through, and you can actually CUT the shell pretty well. Also: the end that you blow in can have a very tiny hole, while the end that the egg needs to come out of should be a bit bigger (relative viscosity of air vs egg...)

[Mardee]

Most feed stores or farm supply stores carry syringes. If you live in a rural area, you might try one of them. I haven't made any of these eggs, yet. But, this project is high on my list of projects. Instead of styrofoam or real eggs, I might try the paper mache ones that are sold at Hobby Lobby or Michaels'.

[experimental pyrotechnician]

if you don't do steps 1 and 2 and you use a fertalized egg the chicken will hatch out instead of a dragon.

[KaptinScarlet]

and you keep it warm.... but errrr, yuk, but then again yes, weird though

[lawizeg]

I love how your projects are so easy to make, yet they look like you bought them! And you make really good use of that hot melt gun. I've really got to get one.

[KaptinScarlet]

Thx, I have a lot of fun making them as well no point making stuff that looks lame... ;-)

[akagoldminer]

Awesome idea ! As for filling the egg i might suggest melting parafin wax and using a syringe to inject it. also if you want to give the egg a scale like appearance you cn cut pieces of craft paper into small scale shapes and gle them on wit elmers glue starting from the bottom to the top overlapping them as you go once dry then paint .

[KaptinScarlet]

that's a neat sounding idea, I might try it!

[CrafterCassie]

These are beautiful... they look so real! These would be perfect for a school project too! Like a book report! *cough*Eragon*cough* I've gotta try this!!

[KaptinScarlet]

You got something in your throat Ms. Cassie, or is there something you want to tell the rest of us??

[Smalfrii]

what if u used plastic easter egs??? BTW Ausome 'ible

[desert eagle]

this is the coolest dragons egg

[KaptinScarlet]

thx

[sdallesasse]

This is eggcellent (sorry just had to!) We were at a Ren faire yesterday and my son had to be a wizard. A project like this will bet the proverbial cherry on top of the weekend.

[KaptinScarlet]

great glad you like it, you should post a picture of the egg and any others of the fare, I love to see them

[Sunny124613]

I just have to say, The authors of Eragon would be very proud! (HA)

[KaptinScarlet]

thx, yes it does have that feel to it

[Thugkhris]

They look like big veiny... dragon eggs : )

[KaptinScarlet]

mmm, yes well they are rather veiny, but to be honest they're not all that big... now how many times have you heard that... not many I'd wager

[stuffman366]

try filling the empty eggshell with plaster covering the hole on the bottom and when it is dry remove the eggshell and continue making it normaly

[KaptinScarlet]

thx, yeah and good suggestion

[stuffman366]

youre welcome

[stuffman366]

great instruuctable though

[sabbott]

Your illustrations are amazing! In addition to some really cool looking eggs.

[KaptinScarlet]

thx glad you like them, are you going to make some?

[graywoulf]

Well it took me a while to finish my version but it is done. I used a styrofoam "Ostrich" sized egg I bought at a crafts store. I coated it by hand with spackling paste and sanded it to give it a harder smoother surface as I said in an earlier post. The hot glue was a challenge but I used an 1850 watt hair dryer to smooth it out some. The paint is mostly automotive metallic touch up spray paint and the gold and copper is hand brushed on. The stand is an "votive" size metal wrought iron style candle holder stand I bought at Wal-Mart. Both the stand and egg measure nine and one half inches tall. I hope you approve Kaptin Scarlet and thanks again for the idea.

[KaptinScarlet]

That is superb. I love the finish on the egg, and the stand really finishes it off. I mostly certainly approve. When I get a moment I'll put it up on line at dadcandodadcando. I'm re-designing the site at the moment (to have loads of new features) so I might be a couple of weeks, but I'll put this up on the new site as soon as I am live... if you approve that is!

Cheers

[graywoulf]

Of course I approve. I hope I can further inspire others to try this for themselves. Maybe my next egg project will be a group of them in a nest... hmmmm. Thanks! graywoulf

[Keith-Kid]

What could I use to fill the eggg with? Something that will hold...like plaster.......or maybe even paint! Old paint that u have leftover? Could that hold the egg?

[KaptinScarlet]

No I think old paint would not be good as it would take ages to dry. You could try epoxy resin, that is two part glue with a quick setting time, say the 5 minute stuff, but for this volume, you need something that the air does not need to get to for it to dry or set.

[Keith-Kid]

And also liquid enough that it can be poured nside the egg, not something that can get pasty. I think we would need something that dries in about 15 minutes.

[KaptinScarlet]

Yes I think you're right. COuld you mix up some 15 minute epoxy and dispense it through a syringe. Should be easy if you can get hold of a syringe. No probelm for me when i was a boy as both my mum and dad were doctors and my dad's surgery was on the side of the house. Plenty of my inventions had syringes or hypodermic needles somewhere in them

[smokehill]

Syringes are extremely handy for lots of things. I started bumming used ones from a diabetic that I knew many years ago, when I got tired of buying those ink-cartridges for my fountain pen. I did the math once and found out I was paying about 40-50 times as much for that ink, compared to what it cost for a bottle of ink. The syringe saved me a bloody fortune over the years. Ask around -- I'm sure you know someone who knows someone who uses insulin, and they'd be glad to save you a couple of syringes as long as it's for a legitimate-sounding purpose. Or, even, ask your veterinarian or dentist. You can also buy some craft-type syringes (plastic tips, no metal needles) in various craft outlets. As far as filling the eggs .... I think all you need is a thin layer of epoxy on the inside, not a complete filling. We used to do that when making Ukrainian wax-dyed, or etched, Easter eggs. We'd enlarge the bottom hole to fit the smallest funnel we could find (usually about an eighth-inch), mix up a small batch of 2-part epoxy, pour it in, and move the egg around until it seems like the inside should be completely covered. Just BE SURE to cover up the top hole when you do this (duct tape or whatever), or hot epoxy liquid will drip out. For blown eggs, lightness is the secret to durability if you drop them. We dropped several of these on the table from a foot or two high, and never cracked one. If we'd had it filled with epoxy, which is heavy, I believe they'd have cracked badly.

[neubaten]

most towns have a place called a needle exchange you can go there to buy fresh fits (syringes) and picks(needles) they also have free condoms....

[Keith-Kid]

good idea

[KaptinScarlet]

here here, sounds like an excellent idea. You can probably get syringes from a craft shop or a model shop.

[PureBreed]

hmm, get a funnel and some slightly thick( about the consistency of syrup) liquid that will harden over time and pour it in, then you can fill it up to the top with hot glue (or hotmelt, as you put it), then just cover the hole. I also had the idea, that if you have a lathe, or something of the sort, you could spin yourself a solid egg out of wood or, if you order your supplies from a special store, they might sale things such as bowling ball material, to make a cool egg.

[DragonessD]

Very cool. I know some people who would love this

[lbrewer42]

Try using a pic to make the holes - much easier than the knife (and less dangerous). Use the pin to make a circle of pinholes, then use the pin to poke out between the pinholes. The circle will come out. Works great - have done it for years.

[catacopia]

Have you tried using the gun to reheat the glue? When it melts it should be simple to pull the stick out.

[KaptinScarlet]

Yes you could, but cutting off the stick is no hassle really, and pulling the coctail stick out you might break the egg.

[bowow0807]

really good and inventive

[KaptinScarlet]

thx, glad you like it

[theosullis]

Awesome, fill the egg with elmers glue, or plaster. I would recommend elmers glue to make it more dureable!

[KaptinScarlet]

Good idea, but if you did either, then you would have to wait for the egg to fully dry out before glue gunning and spray painting it because both Elmer's Glue and plaster have a very high water content.

[Beadielo]

You can buy inexpensive hot glue sticks in glitter and various colors at Walmart, Joanne Fabrics and other craft stores. Hot glue sticks for wood projects are a creamy yellow color.

[KaptinScarlet]

Yeah, you can get them from the web too in the UK (but they'll ship worldwide) go to remtrak and Blockheadstamps in the US. I haven't used either of these companies, but they seemed the best on the web after a quick search.

[wzeller]

This is very cool. It might be worth it to follow one of the other instructables on boiling the eggs in onion skins to give the eggs an interesting texture and then follow this one, using a light enough coating of spray paint to keep the texture visible. I wonder if you could melt the hot glue in a paper cup, mix food coloring into it, heat it back up and then drizzle it? Some glitter mixed into the glue itself with some red food coloring (or maybe black) could give a really interesting look and make it so that you could almost skip the spray paint, relying on the onion texture for the egg itself....

[KaptinScarlet]

Nice idea, but as someone else has said you can get coloured glue gun glue. Also I'm not sure wether glue gun glue would mix with regular food colouring, that is water based and ther plastic of the hot melt might well not take up the dye.

[dkfa]

what grade of eggs did you use?? i used AA and they broke very fast and I couldnt get the holes big enough.....

[KaptinScarlet]

I don't really know. I just used the free range ones I had in the fridge. That must have been very disappointing for you. All I know is that I did do the knife turning very carefully and it took what seemed like ages. I would say that you need a very sharp craft knife (new blade) with a nice hard point. Then gently scratch a cross where you want the hole and then put the tip of the blade in the centre of the cross and turn back and forth gently. If you are breaking eggs it's because you are pressing too hard, or the blade is not sharp enough. Immediately that the knife makes a small hole, you need to even more gently, there's a knack to it and I certainly chipped or broke about 2 or 3 eggs before I got it right. Persevere if you have enough eggs and then do post a picture when you're done (of the final Dragon's Egg)

[PureBreed]

an easier way to make the hole is to start it with a thumb tack or push pin, then getting the craftknife (boxknife in US)

[bluknight]

I'm working on this project right now, but to do the egg portion I actually used a drill... I used three different sizes so that I could make the bottom hole bigger without cracking the egg. I did 5 of them and the final one is perfect. I did the hot glue on that one last too... Yup, on to the painting stage now. Trying to find a good system before I tarnish that final one.

[KaptinScarlet]

sounds great, we've just got to see a picture, please post one here when you're finished. I'll put it up on dadcando on the project page if you put a picture here!

[DBarr]

Now take to your nearest sci/fi-fantasy convention and sell like hotcakes!

[iq_abyss]

My hot glue skills aren't nearly as epic as your and I was having issues with stringers and wrinkles. So I put the egg (with the hot glue already applied) into the oven (at 180 degrees fahrenheit) for 5-10 minutes.
That is tinfoil all scrunched up on a Cookie tray. With toothpicks (3 of them) holding up the egg in such a way that none of the hot glue is touched. Set it in your preheated oven, let it cook for a few minutes, or until the the glue has soothed out. Then turn off the oven Do not move the egg or touch the tray Let it cool before it you move it. Then paint it to perfection.

[KaptinScarlet]

sounds good, we need to see a picture, could you post one... or two... sounds very neat and I'd love to see what they looked like.

[iq_abyss]

The finished one was broken before I could get a pic (I wish I was an only child), but here is what I do have.--The first one is before baking (sorry it's so dark) and the second one is after, with the rig.

[KaptinScarlet]

excellent, that oven treatment certainly sorts out the glue and makes it much better. What did it look like after it was sprayed / painted? Greta work though

[iq_abyss]

I'd post a pic, but my sister sat on the box (containing the eggs) before I could find the time to take a picture. But they looked much more organic. TTFN

[omgimbeasthoe]

that is srly cool like really

[graywoulf]

Excellent idea! Thanks for the inspiration to create a beautiful art egg. My take on the concept was to make a much larger egg and so it led me to a local craft store where I bought a styrofoam "ostrich" sized egg. I coated it by hand with spackling paste to seal it and lend some rigidity as well. Then after some sanding, I gave it several spray on coats of primer. Oh yeah, I used a bamboo skewer for a handle which worked great. I am still in progress of the painting and decorating but I am looking forward to finishing it soon. Thanks again for the Instructable and everyone's comments and suggestions.

[KaptinScarlet]

that sounds really cool. Would love to see it when you're finished. if you manage to post a picture, then I'll be happy to put it up on line at dadcando as well, a big ostrich sized egg... that should inspire everyone!

[dudemonkeys]

What brand of spray paint would you reccomend?

[KaptinScarlet]

Depends what effect you are trying to go for, and even then it depends on only a couple of things. For most colours, any spray paint will do really. however I would go for a silk or mat version for most colours and eggs tend to have a silk / mat finish. I used Plasti-Kote (projekt paint), although in the past I have used enamel spray, and celulose car paint either from a can or through an airbrush, thinned with cellulose thinners. For the gold egg, if you want it to look like metal then you have to use one of Plasti-Kote's Brilliant Metallic range. I used gold and silver for this project but they also do a copper and a few others I think. The trouble is, I don't think you can get it all over the world and I am pretty sure that Plasti-Kote don't sell a brilliant metallic in the US, because I have had this discussion with an incredibly talented model maker on the site Curious Goods (definitely worth a visit), who bemoans the lack of brilliant metallic spray in the US. If you are not abloe to get this type of metallic spray, then I would recommend using gold leaf for the golden egg. Even if you can't put it on perfectly, (and who can?) the effect should be really dragon-esk. hope this helps. BTW, dragon claw idea, really good!

[dudemonkeys]

It would be really cool if there were a dragon claw stand to go with it

[Keith-Kid]

I like the gold one best

[KaptinScarlet]

Yes it is my fav too. Actually it's gold and at the bottom I sprayed a bit of silver. This eggs works so well because I used a very metallic gold paint that is designed to look just like metal, it is really this shiny in real life. I have heard that you can't get this spray in the US tho.

[Keith-Kid]

I owe two friends 2 birthdays. They like dragons so you just got me off the hook!

[KaptinScarlet]

glad to be of service, it would be good to see a picture if you have the time to post one, I'll also put it up on dadcando as well then. have fun making it and good luck

[Keith-Kid]

It comes to my mind to hollow out the eggs and fill em with something that will hold. Then do all this stuff and it would make an amazing gift? +1 Its areally cool Instructable

[KaptinScarlet]

tThx for the rating and the nice comments. Great gift indeed...After all, Faberge eggs began in 1884 with an Easter egg made for the czar that became a gift for his wife, Czarina Maria. and there after they made one each year for the czarina at Easter. So as you say fill it with plaster, maybe make or refurbish an old wooden box, or download theAntique Mailing Box from dadcando and you're away. if you fill it with plaster, don't forget to put the cocktail stick handle in before the plaster dries, because you will really need a handle when you come to glue gun it.

[Patrik]

Gorgeous illustrations, and the glue gun decorations are a great touch.

However, I did notice that this is copied directly from the dadcando website you linked to. Are you the same Chris Bernardo who owns the copyright to all these images? Just checking...

[Penny]

What about filling it with plaster? Would that give it sufficient weight? (Would you be able to get the plaster in through such a teeny hole?) Love your projects, as always, KaptinScarlet! I used your non-LED wand pattern for a Harry Potter party guest of honor - she loves it!

[Keith-Kid]

filling it with plaster would make a great gift. Or maybe something else that wil hold.....

[KaptinScarlet]

Thx for the nice comments. Nice to know that the HP wand was a success. Plaster... hmm, yes that would make it much more robust as well. I guess if you made a slightly bigger hole in one end and then used an icing piping syringe then you might have a chance provided you left the other hole open. then you could poke the cocktail stick in while the plaster was going off (because you do need something to hold when painting and gluing). However I have tried to pump grout using a big syringe type pump and the weird way the particulate fluid fluid flows means that it tends to bind up solid as you apply pressure. have a go and let us know how you get on...

[finfan7]

The problem with the grout and plaster would be like you said they don't exactly flow. I made one of those little paper naruto kunai that are probably on this site somewhere a ways back and wanted it a bit stronger than floppy cardstock. I just went with the first thing at hand. Elmer's school glue. (the stuff your friends loved to eat in first grade or maybe not depending on your age and how weird your friends were) I filled the tip and coated the inside by squeezing some in and turning it over and over and then let it dry. It soaked into the cardstock and made it hard at the tip and stiff where it was just a layer on the inside. Its actually fairly strong.(gouged a tiny hole in my drywall tossing it aside and again later in my friend, tip's still not bent)

[KaptinScarlet]

Thx, yup TUA is right, that's me, in my youth I wanted to be an illustrator, I guess I am now, a bit. But thx for the compliment, copy right is importnat so that is why I draw and originate all my own work.

[Patrik]

As I said - just checking...

I'd love to see an instructable on how you make those beautiful illustrations though! :-)

[Tool Using Animal]

They're one and the same.

[KaptinScarlet]

Cheers TUA, glad to see you're on the ball. ta

[builder2.0]

i used wooden eggs they don't break!

[KaptinScarlet]

They're much harder to blow though ;-)

[srilyk]

I have to say this is freaking sweet! I mean, who doesn't like dragons? I can't wait to try this out with my airbrush... Thanks for the inspiration!

[KaptinScarlet]

cool... airbrush, now there is a really wicked Idea, you just got to post a pic of that when you're done.

[SteveSak]

Wow. You're drawing me out of my lurking ways, because I just can't pass by this instructable without comment. For one thing, the eggs are gorgeous, and your instructions are spot-on. The detail in your guidance is extremely thorough, without redundancy. The icing on the cake, however, are the accompanying images demonstrating each step. Incredible! Fantastic work; thank you for sharing!!

[KaptinScarlet]

Glad to get you out... it's clear that the power of the Dragon's Egg is already manifest. thx for the great comment... have fun making if you do.

[harlen333]

looks sooo cool...lol

[KaptinScarlet]

love you tooooo

[teh darkcloud]

KaptinScarlet, you come up with the -best- Instructables! o.o

[KaptinScarlet]

thx, that's a nice thing to say.

[Ward_Nox]

...I wonder if you could light it up from inside

[musicalbee2003]

You can, someone wrote an instructable for an Eggcellent Night Light.

[Ward_Nox]

ahh nice thx

[KaptinScarlet]

good idea and a nice instructable, but if you do this consider 2 things, 1) the paint will be more or less opaque, but then maybe you could try another finish. 2) you might want to put a resistor in the circuit to make sure that the LED lasts and you don't draw too much current.

[musicalbee2003]

Just want to make sure people know that the Eggcellent Night Light was written by Momo, not me.

[KaptinScarlet]

Never thought otherwise

[Father Christmas]

an idea to get around the light blocking nature of the paint, use a small lancing device meant for testing blood glucose levels to make tiny holes in the egg before or even after it is painted. the lancets(100 or so for 5 bucks at walmart) are very, very small, less than half the size of standard earrings.

[KaptinScarlet]

that's a great idea, and the end effect would look like it was sparling as each hole would be a point of light. Best to do it after it is painted, or else the paint could fill up the holes

[Father Christmas]

if i ever get around ot it, ill put some pictures of the end result.

[JerBear]

I wonder how I would go about making an alien egg this way.

[KaptinScarlet]

Well... I would have thought it would be easy, see the images I have attached of the Alien egg, if you put a light under it then you could make a pass at the title sequence egg, better still if you were able to crack it slightly, then the light could be inside and shine through dramatically like the title sequence. Obviously post pictures if you get round to it! The first image is the original cast of the original Alien Egg from the Movie, a good place to start, but not as detailed as you might like. The second image is a picture of a CGI model made by some random dude on the web, the third image is a toy Alien Egg, the forth image is the original sketch by HR Giger and the fifth is from the title sequence complete with light. good luck

[JerBear]

Thanks! That's very helpful!

[Stanislaw]

Wow, this is an awesome take on the traditional blown-egg concept! It would really make a cool centerpiece for a steam punk themed display.

[KaptinScarlet]

Yeah, as I was doing it I was thinking SteamPunk. If you look the mailing package and the egg satnd kind of lend it a really nice pseudo Victorian era look. To compliment this I wrote a little bit of text to go with the package, which you'll find here. I think I should do a Steam punk project next... hmmm

[zybro]

Very nice instructable. How did you make those illustrations?

[KaptinScarlet]

thx, I took photos with my small digital camera and then imported them into a line drawing package (I use Freehand but you can also use Illustrator or any similar freeware ones) and drew round them using 50% black (grey) lines and a limited colour palette. You need a vector drawing package and the rest is all about what you leave out, rather than what you put in!

[Solar Bear]

A wonderful project! Your instructions and illustrations are really great. Once you have the cocktail stick in the egg, a block of green floral foam (if handy) would also make a nice drying stand.

[KaptinScarlet]

yes, that's not a bad idea, better than stabbing it in the middle of the egg box, although that does work ok.

[gannon]

Really neat! I think this will be my students' Easter project this year.

[KaptinScarlet]

That sounds like a nice idea. I very much hope you'll post some pictures of the results... and or send them to me at [e-mail] so that I can put them up on dadcando as well...

Happy Dragon's egg making

[technodude92]

another great instructable from the kaptin. BTW I love the graphics you use. Maybe you should write an instructable on making those. P.S. I still have my Harry Potter wand...

[KaptinScarlet]

thx Technodude92, glad you still have the wand, I still have a load knocking round the house and I am still getting emails from this project and postings on blogs all over the world. Clearly caught a bit of the imagination there, and the wands people have made have all been so different and so creative, it's amazing. Love to see pictures of the eggs when you've made one or two... if you do that is.

[Golem100]

Now if you could just put a pulsing LED inside the egg...

[KaptinScarlet]

what a brilliant idea... now there is an LED challenge going on at the moment... if you made one of those I think it would do well. Mind you ... you would need a really bright LED, because first it has to shine through the shell calcium carbonate (mineral) and then through the spray paint (probably mostly opaque), but I guess worth a try. You could use USB power so that you could have a pulsating dragon's egg next to your computer... oooo

[GorillazMiko]

Wow... nice job! I like all your stuff, especially the Simpsons donut. Your pictures are great, how do you make them? Nice job!

[KaptinScarlet]

Simple really, I take photos with my little digital camera and then I import them to a vector drawing package (I use Freehand, but Iluustrator or any of the freeware or shareware packages should do the trick) and then I draw lines over the images. I choose 50% black (that's medium grey) for most of the lines, unless the colour of the object demands something else (NEVER black lines though), and then only use a limited palet for the fill in colours and only then when I think that the use of colour enhances the message and makes a better drawing. In most cases, less is more so to speak. Hope that helps. If you make one do post a pic. Cheers

[Golem100]

*grin* That technique might rate an instructable of its own. The pictures really do look great.

[KaptinScarlet]

yes that has been said before, maybe I should do that, it's quite easy really, although a bit time consuming, but the end result looks good. If I've got time I'll put one together.

[Angulique]

I'm going to try this for an upcoming project. Just wondering - would puffy fabric paint work? I'm going to need to do quite a bit of detailing, hehe.

[KaptinScarlet]

I should think that puffy fabric paint would work ok. however, 1 it's not quite as robust, and 2 a glue gun only costs about $6- $10 (equivalent GBP) so maybe this is the reason you need to go out and buy a glue gun!

[Angulique]

I've got a glue gun, but I need to do some quite minute details. I'll see how it works out and be sure to send you pictures when/if they're finished! (I think you'll like them ;))

[KaptinScarlet]

can't wait to see them, sounds very interesting

[xenobiologista]

I think silicone aquarium caulk would work if you don't have a hot glue gun too. It does take a long time to dry though. Might be worth a try for alternative textures.

[KaptinScarlet]

Actually that is a very nice idea. you would have to wait for it to dry overnight, and the paint might not stick that well to it, but then again you could chose a colour of silicone sealant that was a contrast or a match for the egg you were making. :-)

[darkmuskrat]

Cool and most people got all the materials...+1 If you want to do a better job you will need to acquire a rooster egg ;P

[jongscx]

Not funny!!! That had me thinking for a few minutes before I got it... X_X *face smack of shame*

[pyelitegamerro76]

enlighten me, i still dont get it o_O *even worse face of shame*

[pyelitegamerro76]

never mind... i got it lol

[xenobiologista]

Don't rooster eggs have a risk of hatching basilisks, if they're sat on by a toad? ...tangentially, this is going to be a great Easter present for my Harry Potter fanatic friend.

[KaptinScarlet]

excellent, or should I say eggsellent, ok someone had to say it

[yngla]

Beautiful eggs and an great Instructable!

[KaptinScarlet]

thx

[elfdaughter]

That looks cool - I think I might give this a try!

[pingucat]

wonder if itd look ok on a plastic egg

[KaptinScarlet]

I reckon it would, if you could get the paint to stick to the plastic.

[James (pseudo-geek)]

sand it with 600 grit sandpaper and it will stick

[elescape]

my freind made one with flames using an airbrush it looks tight :) nice instructable!

[KaptinScarlet]

Hey, we'd love to see a pictire of that, any chance of getting an pic and posting it here?

[elescape]

hmm I woulkd but my camera is broken lol, if I get the chance I will.

[KaptinScarlet]

nice to see it if you can, otherwise no worries.

[wolfsingleton]

Awesome instructable dude. My sister gets polished stone eggs as knick knacks, and I'll probably try on one of those for something a bit more sturdy/permanent.

[KaptinScarlet]

that sounds like a good idea, might want to ask her first tho!

[wolfsingleton]

Where's the fun in that? lol

[KaptinScarlet]

yeah, get your point, after all (not that I am casting any assertions on your sister, but) you could sort of roll the stealing an egg from a dragon into making one into the same project ;-)

[wolfsingleton]

I was considering trying to drop some metal instead of glue since the eggs are stone, but not to sure what would work (and is cheap). I'm thinking solder or something. I'll post a pic if I can get around to doing it (4 kids makes for a hectic schedule).

[wolfsingleton]

www.stoneeggs.com You can see what I mean by stone eggs

[KaptinScarlet]

nice stone eggs. I think solder would sort of work, a bit dangerous (but then hey, what's a bit of danger to an egg stealer), but my biggest concern would be that the solder is designed to snap set and this means that the second it his the eggs it stops flowing and therefore it would be tough to get the rivulets to join up and form what are meant to look like seams or veins on the surface of the egg. The beauty of hot melt is that it stays liquid long enough for all the edges to flow into one another, oh and it comes in a handy dispenser. Snap on the kids front, although only three are at home, the eldest is at college.

[surfreak]

Nah, solder would be fine. You can just re-melt it to join. It'll be really hard to get a perfectly smooth join, but nothing a little sanding couldn't take care of. I'd be more worried about getting the solder to stick to the egg. You'd probably want to lay down some (adhesive) copper foil first in the pattern you want, then go from there.

[Grey_Wolfe]

I was actually thinking along the same lines, though with fine wire. 20-24 gauge copper wire would work well. Trace your pattern tightly across the surface then solder over it. Would be inexpensive as well. I've no idea what copper foil costs, but sounds like it would work well too.

[KaptinScarlet]

good idea with the foil, but that would somehow spoil the organic easiness of just letting the hotmelt dribble on, that is what gives the eggs they natural look, if you have to plan the shape and cut the foil then it won't look as natural, or it will be much harder to do. Either way the foil / solder thing is a neat idea though.

[wolfsingleton]

Actually came back to this idea after a while and found that if you heat the stone egg over a small fire quickly (I used a pot of water on a wood stove), the solder stays semi-liquefied long enough to work with

[gregdoom]

My mom used to buy these wooden eggs from a craft store to paint on. They came in a bunch of different sizes and were relatively cheap if I remember correctly. Cheaper than the stone eggs, and will last just as long.

[KaptinScarlet]

sounds like a neat idea, but half the fun of this project is experimenting with blowing the egg in the first place, still wooden eggs sound really cool.

[Shifrin]

Another Great one! I'm looking forward to see more of your cool projects!! -Alex

[KaptinScarlet]

thx, glad you like it, I'm always trying to think of new projects, so as soon as I have one suitable for instructables I'll put it up online here!

[tmlpz]

this looks like a great project. i think i'll have scrambled eggs for dinner tonight! i was thinking it might be fun to fill the eggs with some sand after they're finished. just to give them a more dragonie weight.

[KaptinScarlet]

now that is a good idea, but fill the sand after you have glued in the cocktail stick, but BEFORE you hotmelt over the other end of the egg.

[fd93]

It goes easier if you take a long pin and wiggle it in the egg to break the yoke or if you have steady hands a drill bit or dremle with a pin type tool works even better to make the blowing easier, in addition it prevents the yoke from making the pressure build and cracking the egg.

[grunnieking]

cool i need to make one

[snoyes]

Breaking the yolk first makes it a little easier to blow out the egg. Shake the egg very hard before drilling the holes, or poke around inside a bit with a skewer or ice pick or something. And don't try inserting a bicycle pump needle to blow out the egg, nor putting it in a jar and using your mom's vacuum sealer. Both mean you have to start over.

[KaptinScarlet]

yes I should have said that. I did poke around inside with the cocktail stick, but wasn't aware that that was a necessary part of the operation. I'll go back tomorrow and amend the Instructable to make this comment... thx

[Doctor What]

Very nice looking. Cheap too. And you just gave me an idea.

[KaptinScarlet]

Great, glad to be of service, now that Easter is early this year, lots of egg ideas will be helpful I think.

[canida]

Looks great- another fantastic project!
Is there anything you can't improve with the addition of hot glue? ;)

[KaptinScarlet]

Thx, I don't know, hot glue seems to be the answer to most of the world's ills :-)

[spike shadows (secret agent man)]

duct tape! duh!