A Bit of History
Faberge Eggs is a treasure that is forever linked to the name of Russian Royalty. Why? Because they were created for the Russian Imperial family. They are also known as Russian Imperial Eggs.
The last Faberge Egg on the market fetched a fortune and created quite a stir. You need to hear this story. A Midwest businessman bought a golden egg at a rummage sale for $13,000 hoping to resell it with at least $500 profit. Failing to get rid of the egg he typed two words he found on the egg “Vacheron Constantin” into Google. Imagine his surprise when he discovered that it was an Imperial Russian Egg made by Faberge, lost since the Bolshevik revolution and estimated at $33 million!
DIY Faberge Eggs
I – Hallow the Eggs
To Hollow the Eggs
Eggs (how many Faberge Eggs are you planning to make?)
Pin (I got mine from the collar of my husband’s new dress shirt)
plastic bowl to collect raw eggs
toothpick
baking pan (to sanitize the eggs)
2. Stick a toothpick (or something else clean and sharp) in to break up the yolk. Hold the egg over a clean bowl and let the content flow out. Use a toothpick to help this process along. Shake the egg from time to time to get things loose.
3. Rinse the egg with clean water, shake it gently and repeat rinsing.
4. Dry the egg and put it in an oven safe pan. Repeat with all your eggs and then bake them at 300F for 10 minutes. This kills bacteria and makes the eggs stronger.
II – Preserve the Eggs
The next step is to preserve the eggs so that your grandchildren would be able to play with them because you know, scientists predicted that all plastic toys will evaporate by the year 2018 and there only things left to play with would be your DIY Faberge Eggs and maybe a turtlenecked stone gnome from garden supplies store. To preserve eggs we will cover them with a solution of Mod Podge inside and out.
To Preserve Eggs
Mod Podge
Eyedropper
Small container for mixing
Measuring spoon or cup
Eggs
1. Gather your supplies.
2. Add equal amounts of Mod Podge and water to the container and shake it up. Use an eyedropper to drop it inside the egg. Use a finger (on the other hand) to hold the second hole in the egg closed.
3. Close both holes with your fingers and shake it up and down.
4. Use an eyedropper to drop the same solution on the outside. Cover it generously and let it dry.
III – Decorating Fun
This is a super fun part if you like glitter and glue. If you need inspiration I have a Faberge Eggs Pinterest Board. I might have mixed some Faberge Cakes in there. I couldn’t resist the temptation.
What you need
Chopsticks
a bit of play dough (to serve as a base)
paints (tempera and acrylic)
paint brushes
ribbons
glitter
buttons
rhinestones
markers
nail polishes
glue
toilet paper roll (can be used as an egg base)
tape (if an egg doesn’t stay put on a chopstick)
stickers (we used a clock sticker as some Faberge eggs have clocks)
and whatever else you can think of for decorating your eggs
1. BASE COLOR
What I like to do first is to apply a bright base color. It’s easier to do if you put a chopstick through one end of an egg to make it look like a lollypop. If the hole on the top of the egg is too large and the egg is sliding down, make chopstick fatter by wrapping a few layers of tape around it. Now stick the base of your lollypop in a piece of play dough. Voila, you have two free hands and easy access to all the sides of an egg. Even a child can paint it now.
2. SPARKLE
If you like your egg to have a shimmery glow all over, apply glitter right after you paint the egg. Glitter will stick to the wet paint. I prefer to do this step outside if the weather cooperates. You might also do it at home over a newspaper or large plate.
Stick your eggs outside to dry.
3. DESIGN
Instead of copying one particular egg what we did was study pictures of Faberge eggs, then close all pages and just let our imagination guide us. There are many different things you can do to your eggs. For example, you can glue a ribbon to the egg
and then glue rhinestones to the ribbon to imitate diamonds.
You can make designs with gemstones and glitter (silver glitter was sprinkled over mounds of glue).
DRAGON
My daughter is into sticky beads
So her favorite egg is covered with jewels.
My favorite egg is probably this one
I love the simplicity and symmetry. It’s made with white tempera paint and flower sticky beads. Don’t forget the white glitter. When in doubt apply more glitter.
CLOCKS
If you want to learn more about Carl Faberge, try this website. And if you want to learn more about Faberge Eggs, try here. And if you are interested in some fun Faberge math, check this post (it’s in the second section of the unit study).
If all fails, you can go on Amazon and buy this beautiful Faberge Jewelry Egg. Or get inspired by reading Faberge’s Eggs by Tony Faber.
PIN our Faberge Eggs for later
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