I've started this column with eggs, because they are so common to most households and because they are so versatile.
Eggs are an ancient symbol of fertility, new life, and the cycle of birth, death and rebirth of the Universe. As such, they make terrific charms for fertility, pregnancy, new endeavors, and similar types of magick.
Besides all of that, eggs are just plain fun! They are easy accessible, relatively inexpensive, and can serve a multitude of purposes.
Here are several of my favorite egg-related magickal crafts.

Magickal Egg Garden:
This craft does take a little bit of forethought ~ not the easiest thing for me at 6 a.m. since I'm not a morning person *grin.*
To start, when you crack open your eggs to cook, try to crack them as close to the narrow end as possible. By doing so, you can leave most of the eggshell intact, forming a little cup.
Empty and rinse out the egg with hot water, setting it to dry in a place where the kids (and the cats!) won't be able to knock them off. I usually keep mine eggshells in the original cardboard containers.
When you have at least a dozen or so, you have the start of your magickal garden! These eggshells make great miniature planters for starting seeds in. The eggshell symbols new birth and growth, and when the seedlings are large enough, they can be planted in the ground, eggshell and all. Roll the shell gently between your palms to crack it, so the roots will be able to work their way through, and plant.
By starting the seeds in their own little "egg pots," you can charge them in groups for specific purposes, or just provide them with general blessings.

Eggshell Chalk:
This was an idea that Oak came up with, but I admit I had to search for a recipe. Here is one that I found:
Take 6 Eggshells; wash them thoroughly so they do not have any egg left in them. Dry them well.
Take them outside and grind them with a rock on the sidewalk, or some other concrete surface. Make sure the grinding rock is clean, so there will be no dirt ground into the mixture. Grind the shells to a fine powder.
Alternately, this is a good rainy day project, if you trust your children with your mortar and pestle. When you (or they) are sick of grinding and have enough powder, pick out any little bits of eggshell that remain unground, and toss them into the compost pile. Scoop the eggshell powder into a paper towel or container, and you're ready for the next step.
Measure out 1 teaspoon flour and 1 teaspoon very hot water from the tap; mix them together in a small bowl into a paste. Pour in 1 soupspoonful of the eggshell powder and mix well. You might try mashing the paste with the back of a spoon to help blend.
Shape this mixture into a chalk stick (these quantities make 1 chalk stick). Roll up in a strip of paper towel and let dry. This will take about 3 days, so keep the chalk sticks somewhere safe.
After 3 days, the chalk should be ready to use. Simply peel off the paper from 1 end.
NOTE: This recipe is suitable for sidewalk chalk only; do not use on the blackboard.
Here is another recipe that I found, that offers the option of making colored chalk. Now, I have not tried either of these recipes yet, so if you have any suggestions, please email me.
Materials needed to make one stick:
                 6 large, white eggshells
                 mortar and pestle or a rolling pin and waxed paper
                 3 small bowls
                 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch
                 hot and cold tap water
                 1 teaspoon of high-gluten or pastry flour
                 5-8 drops of food coloring
                 3 x 5 card
                 2 rubber bands
After removing the membranes on the inside, wash the eggshells and allow them to air dry.
Grind the eggshells into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle or by placing them on waxed paper and crushing them with a rolling pin. Put the powder in a small bowl.
In another bowl, mix the cornstarch with a half teaspoon of cold water. In the third bowl, mix together the flour and food coloring and then add hot tap water until the dough reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Mix the eggshell powder and cornstarch mixture into the dough.
Knead the mixture between your hands. In a few minutes the blend should reach the firmness of play dough. If it seems too wet, knead in a few extra pinches of flour; if it's too dry, add a few drops of hot water.
Roll the mixture into a stick, wrap a 3 x 5 card widthwise around it, and secure the card with rubber bands. Allow chalk stick to dry for two days, remove the card, and let it dry for two more days.
Tips: If you want to make white chalk, don't add any food coloring. Only use this chalk on sidewalks because it is abrasive and may leave marks on wood, ceramics, and walls.
 

Eggshell Mosaics:
This is a great idea for those leftover Ostara eggs. Search your yard carefully, before the dogs or the birds get to the dyed eggs ~ this is usually the hardest part of the project! LOL
When you've collected the eggs, peel them, sort by color, and them turn the shells over to the kids. Hand them a rolling pin and some paper towelling or newspaper, and let them crush the shells into small pieces.
These eggshell bits make great mosaics, and can be created for either magickal or mundane purposes. Maybe this would be a good project for your child's first pentacle, or perhaps for some windowsill magickal decorations.

Fairy Dust:
This is one of the easiest projects, and was created by our 8-year-old, Willow. Take eggshells (she was partial to blue), and grind to a fine powder. Toss in a pinch of rose petals, and you have instant "egg fairy dust." Of course, she thinks this powder attracts eggplant fairies, so who are we to argue? *smile*

Fairy Beds:
Another easy project. Take egg half-shells, rinse well and let dry. Then go to your dryer, and pull out some lint. (Red and green clothes make nice-looking lint for this project.)
Take some of the lint and stuff the eggshell with it. Instant fairy bed!
This idea could be taken a lot further ~ a really imaginative child could make a whole fairy village from eggshells and bits of other things.

Egg Charms:
These types of charms are fairly easy, and very versatile.
Start with raw eggs. My favorite tool to pierce the shell is a small nail ~ for some reason, I've never had good luck piercing the shells with needles.
Pierce the narrow end of the shell with a tiny hole. At the wider end of the egg, use the nail to pierce a wider hole. This is the trickiest part of the operation, but I've been lucky and only lost a few eggs. Just handle the eggs gently, and once you make the hole in the wider end, use the tip of the nail to gently enlarge the hole.
Then, for those of you who have never done this before, simply place your lips over the smaller hole and blow. (No, you don't want to know what it looks like! LOL)
When the egg is blown out, place a finger over the smaller hole, and fill the egg about halfway with warm water. Shake well and rinse; do this several times to make sure the egg is completely cleaned out. Put in a safe place to dry.
When these blown-out eggs are dry, they can then be filled with various herbs and such, and decorated as charms. The decorations can be as simple, or as elaborate as you wish.
Here are some possible color, symbol and herb combinations for a few different magickal purposes:
fertility/pregnancy: spring green or bright yellow; basil, poppy, cucumber, acorns, myrtle, all nuts, apple, pomegranate, mistletoe, myrtle; roosters and hens, spiral, the runic B, raindrops
protection; red, white or purple; ash, basil, dill, fennel, hyssop, mistletoe, rosemary, rue, vervain; pentagram, equal-armed cross
healing: green or blue (purple is good for severe illnesses); rosemary, red carnation petals, sage, saffron, lavender, myrrh; pentagram, oak leaves
When preparing the herbs to put inside these charms, they must be ground very fine. Remember, these are very tiny holes you will be putting them into.
Once the herbs are ground and charged, you are ready to pour them in. If you plan on hanging the eggs, you must first thread a cord or string through the egg. I would tie the knot at the smaller hole, leaving the larger hole to pour the herbs through.
If you don't plan on hanging them, you could use any number of things to seal the hole, and provide additional magick. "Seals" that come to mind include acorns, small stones, pieces of wood and shells.
Fill the egg as much as possible with your herbal mixture of choice, and then seal the other hole. (Note, if you plan on hanging the eggs, this second seal is not vital; simply be careful where you hang it.)
My personal preference would be to decorate the egg first, and then fill it with herbs, but you do whichever works best for you.
Once the charm is completed and fully charged, you can either hang it up, or place it somewhere where the egg might remain intact.
I would also plan on renewing these charms periodically.

These are just a few eggshell crafts you can explore. Whether your crafts have a magickal purpose, or are just a way to pass a few hours on a rainy day, have fun with them and let your imagination play!
 

Amberflame ~ 5/10/99