How to decorate a Fabergé inspired egg!

Do you love to do creative crafts with your kids?  

Would you like to learn how to make one-of-a-kind decorated eggs that last forever?

Create your own Fabergé inspired egg from a real egg!

In this article, I’ll show you how to hollow a real egg and use authentic Fabergé eggs as the artistic inspiration to decorate your own Fabergé style egg.

What are Fabergé Eggs?

These lavish Easter eggs were created by legendary artist and goldsmith, Peter Carl Fabergé.  He was the goldsmith to the Russian Imperial Court between 1885 and 1916.

Easter was the most important religious holiday for the Russian Orthodox Church, so Tsar Alexander III hired Fabergé to create unique one-of-a-kind Easter eggs for his wife the Empress Marie Fedorovna.  This lavish tradition of jeweled eggs continued for 32 years until 1917.

According to Fabergé.com:

“A centuries-old tradition of bringing hand-coloured eggs to Church to be blessed and then presented to friends and family had evolved through the years and, amongst the highest echelons of St Petersburg society, the custom developed of presenting valuably bejeweled Easter gifts. So it was that Tsar Alexander III had the idea of commissioning Fabergé to create a precious Easter egg as a surprise for the Empress, and thus the first Imperial Easter egg was born.”

In recent news, a new museum has opened in St. Petersburg and has an exquisite collection of Fabergé eggs now on display.  You can see a few of them here.

I first became interested in Fabergé eggs when I was a child.  My grandmother’s friend had a hobby of creating her own Fabergé style eggs.  My grandmother is approaching her 90th birthday and these eggs from her friend are still a featured treasure on display in her home.

Are you ready to make your own Fabergé egg?

You Will Need

To hollow the eggs:

• Eggs (one egg for each person)
• Large safety pins
• 2 Plastic bowls
• A small cup of water

To paint and decorate the eggs:

• Bamboo cooking skewers
• Small rubber bands
• Acrylic or tempera paint (any water-based opaque paint for kids)
• Paintbrushes
• Craft glue
• Permanent markers
• Glitter
• Beads
• Ribbon
• Scissors
• Glitter Glue
• Paper plates for mixing paint
• Paper towels
• Small cardboard roll

Preparation Time

30 minutes to gather supplies and hollow the eggs

Activity Time

30 minutes to decorate the eggs

Now let’s get started!

#1: How To Hollow Your Eggs

First we need to empty out the egg white and yolk inside of each egg.  This will leave us with an empty eggshell to decorate.

By hollowing the eggs, you’ll be able to save your eggs forever and not have to worry about your egg being perishable.

Time to hollow your eggs!

Here’s a YouTube video to show you how: 

Now that your eggs are empty, gently rinse them out, dry them off, and prepare them for decorating. 

#2: Prepare Your Eggs for Decorating

Gather your empty eggs and bamboo skewers.  The bamboo skewers are a great way to hold your delicate egg and easily decorate all sides.

Since your egg has two holes (one on each end), insert the pointed end of the skewer into the bottom hole of the egg and guide it through the top hole as well.  If the top hole is small enough, the egg will sit nicely on the top of the skewer and not slide down.

If the holes in your egg are too large for the skewer and the egg slips down, you can use this simple trick:  

Take one small rubber band and wrap it tightly on the skewer.  Insert the skewer into the bottom of the egg and the egg will sit on the rubber band.  Add another rubber band on top of the egg and slide it down to secure the egg.

Now that our eggs are ready, let’s find some inspiration!

#3: Find A Fabergé Egg That Inspires You

I created a Pinterest board of Fabergé eggs to make it easy to find an egg for inspiration.  You can choose an authentic Fabergé egg to inspire you or create a unique design of your own.

Notice that most eggs have a base color and unique decorations in gold, silver, and precious gemstones.

Create an egg along with your child to share this creative activity as a family.

We chose these two eggs for our inspiration.

 #4: Time To Paint And Decorate Your Egg

Gather your painting and decorating supplies.

First, choose a color you would like to use as your base color and mix your paint. 

While the paint is still wet, lightly sprinkle glitter into your paint to create a shimmering egg.

#5: Decorate Your Egg

Using your ribbon, beads, and glitter glue, apply your decorations to your egg.

When using craft glue to apply your ribbon, it’s best to let the glue dry a little so it’s very tacky before you apply the ribbon.  This will help the ribbon adhere to the egg better. 

Have fun embellishing your eggs!

Allow your eggs to dry by placing your skewers in a small vase.  

Voilà!  Fabergé eggs!

 #5: Create A Personalized Egg Using What You’ve Learned

You can use what you’ve learned to create your very own personalized egg.

My daughter decided to create her own egg with her favorite colors, her portrait, and her signature!

#6: Create A Stand To Hold Your Egg

Now it’s time to create a stand to display your egg and keep it from rolling around!

You can use an everyday cardboard roll to create an egg stand.

Cut the paper roll open and cut a strip an inch wide from the top of the roll.  Slide the two ends together to make a roll that is small enough for your egg to sit on top of and not fall inside.  Once you have the right size, staple the ends together.  

Decorate your egg stand any way you’d like.  We simply wrapped our stand with ribbon and secured it with a staple.

Display your finished Fabergé egg!

Some Final Thoughts…

While real Fabergé eggs were made with precious metals and gemstones, you can recreate their glimmering effects with your craft supplies at home. 

This craft is a fun way for families to spend time together appreciating the artistry of Fabergé and creating keepsake eggs that will last longer than Easter candy. 

Personalized eggs also make great gifts for family and friends.