Cascarones or confetti eggs are a really fun tradition here in the south, especially around Easter time.  They are a lot of fun to make and they are even more fun to smash over people’s heads!  The fun of it is you smash it over someone’s head and the confetti falls all over.  Don’t worry, it’s all biodegradable so even though there is a bit of a mess it is temporary and worth it!  Here’s how it’s done.

Get some eggs.  We do this a lot so we started out with five dozen. 

Next, take a knife and crack the very top of the egg.  You want to hit it on the side, near the top.  It doesn’t have to be perfect but you don’t want to make it too big.  I use a knife.  If you have one of those fancy schmancy tools that do the same thing perfectly, go for it. 

Remove a little piece of the top so there is a small hole in it. 

Dump out the contents of the egg.  Shake shake shake.  It all comes out in a nice glooooop.  It’s fun. 

See?  After 5 dozen you have a gigantic bowl of scrambled eggs

And a gigantic bowl of egg shells

We then whisk the eggs and have a frittata or breakfast for dinner.  During the whisking process make sure there are no egg shells.  A few small ones might get missed.  It won’t kill you and it adds texture.  Just go with it.  This process is passed to Homeschool Dad while we continue the cascarone/confetti egg process

Wash the eggs thoroughly, inside and out.  This takes a little time especially if you have a lot of eggs.  Use a finger and make sure there is no slimy film.

Turn them upside down on a towel and let them dry.  I use the same carton, or in this case the pallet, the eggs came in lined with a towel. 

After awhile, turn them right side up and let them dry some more.  We usually do all this process one day then continue the next but it’s not necessary.

Set up where you want to color your eggs.  We made a little station with four colors and after a couple everyone rotated. 

The kids had a great time coloring all the eggs.

After they colored the eggs, they were put in the center on the paper towel to dry.  They dry pretty quickly.

When they are fully dry we put them back in their original container before stuffing them.

I usually put the confetti into a bowl only because it is easier to get to this way.  This is completely optional, though.  You can do it however you wish.

Carefully stuff the eggs until they are full.  Don’t tamp down the confetti too much though.

Now you have all your eggs stuffed and they are ready to seal.

Cut squares of tissue paper so they overlap the holes slightly.  We use whatever we have on hand.  They are just going to break anyway.  If you want to match tissue paper to egg color, more power to you.  You can also get really fancy and use pinking shears or scallop the edges.  We used to do that but now that we are into the multiple dozens it just doesn’t seem as important anymore.  There is more fun in cracking them so we go for quantity not quality.  Your mileage may vary.

Run a small bead of glue along the perimeter of the hole. We use white school glue.  It works fine.

Center the tissue paper over the hole

Gently press it down on the edges so it sticks to the glue

Keep going until all you are doing for that batch is complete

The edges may not be very pretty and may be sticking up like this.  No worries.

Get a cup of water.  This is my cup of water.  Get your own.

Dip your finger in the water and run it along the edges of the tissue paper so they stick to the egg.  Be careful not to tear it but you can get it pretty wet.  It dries quickly.

Now you have nice edges

Continue until all your eggs are done

Now all you need to do is go have some fun.  Run around the yard and crack eggs over each other’s heads.  Kids love it.  Adults do too!  Have a happy springtime everyone!