Easter Project - Egg String Lights Tutorial

I'm really excited to share this one with you!  I made Easter Egg String Lights!  The idea came to me in the middle of the night a couple of days ago, and I finally got all the parts and pieces together.  I went to Target to get stuff for this project, and got distracted by the clearance duct tape that I used to make the Easter Baskets.  So once I finished that, I started my Egg String Lights.

(Just a quick disclaimer though - I haven't run these long term, and I use them outside.  They haven't melted anything or overheated anything, but still, anytime you put something around a light, it can potentially be a fire hazard.  I'm not liable for any issues you have concerning this project)

I used:
3 giant bags of plastic Easter eggs, regular size (I needed 100 eggs, plus some for mistakes)
1 string of white wired fairy lights (100 lights)...I wanted to use LED lights, but I couldn't find any.
a battery powered drill with a 5/16 drill bit for wood (has a sharp, pointy end)
a piece of wood (to protect my floor while I drilled)

Here's how I did it:
First, I plugged in the lights to make sure they worked. It's like Christmas lights...you don't want to finish decorating only to find you have crappy lights.  Just saying.

Then I took the eggs apart, and decided to use the longer piece of the egg shell.  That way, after Easter, I can dismantle the eggs and use the tall part on the lights as tiny lampshades.  I know, I thought it was a good idea too. :)

On my eggs, there was a center indentation and two vent holes on either side of it.

I placed the drill bit on the center indentation, applied a bit of pressure, and went full drill force on them.   Press hard at first, and use full power on the drill.  Then let of the pressure as you start making progress on the hole.  I stopped halfway to show you the size of the hole.

When you make it through the egg, the drill bit will go straight down into whatever you have under it, so that's why I had the board there.  I decided a hole in my carpet or picnic blanket would be frowned upon. Some people are just too particular. :)

 For drilling, interestingly, some colors were better for drilling that others. Orange was the hardest to drill, and I had to push down hard with the drill to get it going.  Any with blue in them (blue, teal, white, purple) couldn't handle as much downward pressure, and would melt in a little bit if you weren't careful, or even crack. I had to use probably 115 eggs all in all, since the blue-ish ones had issues and I'm not as practiced with a drill as I would like.  The drill bit gets warmer as you go along too, so it takes a shorter time on each one.  We tried drilling from the other side too (inside the egg cup instead of outside), and although it was maybe faster, you couldn't center it as well.  You'll find that you might have to remove a circle of plastic from the bit after you drill, before you do the next one, FYI.

Then I put a light through the drilled hole in the egg shell, and forced the shell over the base of the light, until it sat firmly on the plastic part of the light.

It takes a little bit of elbow grease, but once you get the hang of it, it's not hard.  I didn't break any of them doing it this way, and they were on snugly.  Once you have all of them on, replace the bottoms of the eggs.

Hang them on the mantle, use them as part of a centerpiece or a table runner, decorate an outside playhouse or your porch with them, lay them in the flowerbed...whatever you like.  I strung them around the boys fort.

They glow magically at night, and they're a nice soft light and not glaring.  They turned out even cuter than I thought they were going to! (Night photos coming soon - after the sun sets!)

Selma the cat, on the other hand, was not amused at her new hat. Well, 1 out of 2, right?

Have a great weekend!