Eggs have such a long connection to the celebration of spring.
Ancient Egyptian parents would give eggs to their children as symbols of fertility.
Easter egg hunts to gather a fresh food would have been a famliy or community endeavour once enough light was again available and birds were able to produce eggs. Classical Greek and ancient Roman recipes included eggs, especially after their explorations took soldiers out into the wider world where they found a range of birds domesticated for egg laying purposes.
Instead of composting your egg shells, try saving a few for a quick and easy spring craft project. If you don`t have a local supplier, I use www.wicksandwax.com. They ship.
You will need:
egg shells, cleaned and washed
egg carton or something similar to hold the egg shells
flat beeswax in yellow or orange
container soy wax, about 1 Tbsp. melted wax per half egg shell ( I used CBASOY – advanced )
t-lite size wicks for soy wax (I used htp-83 but check with your supplier as they may source their products differently.)
Place the soy wax in a small container, over water and heat slowly until melted. Using a measuring cup allows for easy pouring once the wax is melted. It is also possible to melt soy wax in the microwave using small blasts of heat (10 – 20 seconds at a time). Stir regularly. This can sometimes be a good option if working with young children where steam burns are more likely to happen.
If you have the correct size cookie cutter, cut out circles of flat beeswax for the egg yolks. If one is not handy, then use scissors to cut out the circles. Farm fed free range chicken eggs tend to have darker yolks, so I opted for orange rather than yellow for these yolks.
Beeswax is a natural product and when it is stored in a warm location, the wax can develope a bloom. You can see that there are little bits of white on the wax to the left. It will come off easily once wiped like the cut out circle on the right side of the picture. Using the tip of a pair of scissors, place a whole big enough to slip over the wick in the middle of each circle.
Inspect and place the egg shells in the egg carton. Egg shells should be reasonably even in their break points.
Visually crooked is good but you don’t want to compromise capacity by having too many high and low points.
Fill the egg shells to their individual capacities and allow to cool for a few moments until the wax begins to go cloudy.
Add the wicks and let cool a little longer, until the hardening soy wax is firm enough to support the beeswax yolks.
Gently place the beeswax yolk hole over the wick and lower onto the cooling wax.
Put aside until hard and allow the candles to sit unlit for 24 hours before burning.
As always do not burn unattended and be aware of possible hazards near the flame.
A simple, melt and pour option to decorate your Easter Brunch.
Egg Shell Candles from My Kitchen Wand
