When I was a kid I couldn’t wait for Easter to roll around. That’s when all of us kids would gather in Grandma Putt’s kitchen to make our own Easter eggs to give as special springtime presents. These eggs were so spectacular—each year we tried to outdo our efforts from the year before. Here’s how to make some extravagant eggs of your own:

Using a long carpet needle, very carefully poke a hole at each end of a raw egg, making one hole a little larger than the other. Hold the egg over a bowl, with the larger hole pointed down, and gently blow into the smaller hole, so the yolk and whites flow out. Rinse the inside of the egg thoroughly with clear water, and lay it on paper towels to dry overnight. The next day, decorate the eggs with acrylic paint and decorative trimmings of your choice.

Then, for each ornament, thread the carpet needle with a 12-inch length of embroidery floss, and pull it through both holes in the egg. Tie a knot at the end that’s outside the smaller of the two holes. At the other end, tie a loop for hanging. Spray the finished product with acrylic fixative.

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