Eggs are that one ingredient that you’ll almost always find inside your house even if the rest of the refrigerator is empty. They are such a versatile ingredient used in almost every dish from savory breakfast foods to puddings, ice creams, cakes and other desserts. In fact, if you really know how important eggs are in your life, try going without them for a week – we challenge you.

But it happens quite often that you buy a large carton of eggs but aren’t able to use them all up before the expiry date. So what do you do with eggs that are no longer safe to eat? Surprisingly there are plenty of creative ways to use up eggs besides eating them.

Make Candles

Why buy expensive candles when you can make them at home, and that too out of eggs! Start by making a hole in a raw egg using a toothpick and carefully breaking away the shell until only two-thirds of it is left behind. Now pour out the contents of the eggshell and give it a gentle wash to remove any egg residue. You can also leave the shell in simmering water for a few minutes to make sure it is completely sterilized.

eggshells work great as candle wax holders for DIY candles

Now melt organic beeswax until it is completely liquid. If you want to create scented candles, add your favorite extract at this point, whether it’s vanilla, chamomile or cocoa. Now pour the melted wax into the eggshell and let it cool down. You just created your very own biodegradable candle!

Keep Bugs Away

If you have a garden with beautiful flowers that you’d to protect from bugs, don’t throw away the shells after using the eggs. Instead, crush them up and scatter them in the garden to prevent snails and slugs from eating away at your flowers.

An All-Natural Face mask

Eggs aren’t just good for your health but also for your skin, which is why they make a great face mask. The protein in the yolks boosts collagen production and makes your skin look visibly younger and wrinkle-free. Eggs also contain a bacteria-killing enzyme called lysozyme which makes it a great ingredient to add to an acne-clearing face mask. Moreover, the protein in the egg is great for promoting collagen production and reducing signs of aging.

Eggs contain a bacteria-killing enzyme called lysozyme which makes it a great ingredient for an acne-clearing face mask

Feed them to Birds

We’re not the only ones who love eggs for breakfast, snack, and even dessert. If you keep a birdfeed in your backyard, throw in some crushed eggshells because birds love to snack on them. Eggshells are also rich in calcium and other minerals thereby providing great nutritional value to nesting female birds. If you’re worried about handling raw eggshells, simply throw them in the oven for 30 minutes at a low heat to kill any bacteria before feeding them to the birds.

Decorating Cookies

If you’re not Martha Stewart, making homemade cookies look pretty for the festive season is a task next to impossible. Luckily, if you have some spare eggs in your refrigerator, you can use them to make edible paint for decorating your cookies.

if you have some spare eggs in your refrigerator, you can use them to make edible paint for decorating your cookies

All you need is two egg yolks mixed with two teaspoons of water and your favorite edible food coloring. Brush the resulting mixture on your cookies before sticking them in the oven for baking. Your guests will be left in awe as you pull out a tray with colorful cookies that look like they were made in a bakery.

Cleaning Dirty Dishes

Most of us shy away from cooking dinner because of the hassle of doing the dishes, especially those burned pans and pots that take hours to scrub clean. Even after leaving them soaking in water overnight and filling your entire kitchen with the stench of burned food, cleaning filthy dishes can become a task in and of itself. But if you have a few crushed eggshells on hand, you can make the process of doing dishes a whole lot simpler. Just sprinkle the eggshells on the dish that needs cleaning and scrub it clean with a sponge.