Egg decorations are usually made at Easter time, but I love decorating my tree with these egg ornaments. You can use paper with holiday designs, but I love using Chinese newspaper and adding gold paint. Handle the eggs carefully while making the ornaments and storing them; the eggs are fragile, but properly stored, they will last for years.

Gather
• Pieces of used tissue paper, newspaper, holiday wrapping paper, Chinese or Japanese (or other language) newspaper
• Scissors
• 12 eggs
• Sterilized needle (see Note)
• 2 small bowls
• Gold paint (nontoxic but permanent)
• Paintbrushes
• White glue
• Water
• Gold, silver, or other colored thread (you also can use fishing line, if you have some)

You can see a larger image of this craft here.

Create
1. Cut the paper into strips about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) wide and 2 inches (5 cm) long.

2. Using the needle (see note below), carefully make a hole in each end of an egg. The holes should be larger than a pinprick, about 1 centimetre in diameter—just large enough to blow out the egg whites—and the bottom hole should be slightly larger than the top hole. Put one end of the egg against your mouth and blow the egg whites and yolk into a bowl (use them for eggnog or for baking). Repeat for each egg.

3. Paint the eggs gold and let dry. (The gold will eventually show through the paper, but feel free to skip the paint; the eggs look just as lovely covered only in paper.)

4. Take a strip of paper and cover one side with glue. Wrap the strip around the painted egg and gently smooth the edges down. Repeat until the egg is completely covered with paper strips. Repeat with remaining eggs.

5. In a small bowl, mix a small amount of glue with a drop or two of water. With a paintbrush, paint over the papered eggs to seal the paper.

6. With the needle, repuncture the hole through the glued paper at the top of the egg. Then allow the egg to dry for several hours.

7. Cut a 6- to 7-inch (15- to 17-cm) length of thread, fold it in half, and knot each end of the thread. (The knots should be small enough to fit both of them through the top hole.) Using the needle, push both knotted ends through the top hole of the egg. Place two drops of glue over the hole and let dry. Repeat with remaining eggs.

Note: Sterilize the needle by holding it over a flame for 10 seconds.

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Excerpted from I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas, copyright 2009 by Anna Getty. Used by permission of Chronicle Books LLC.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced except with permission in writing from the publisher.