When I moved house a few years ago, I got rid of most of my holiday decorations. Not that I had too many. I’ve never spent that much time or attention on seasonal (or any other kind) of decoration.

The obvious reason of downsizing was one excuse. The fact that I was moving to a larger, newer house, another. Then there was the fact that I’d lived in the old house for nearly forty years. A lot of what I had was old and decrepit.

So I kept a very few things for which I had special memories and got rid of the rest. My intention was to start out fresh.

I like the idea of seasonal decorations. They add interest and, I think, help me connect to the here and now. I spend a lot of time in my head or on a computer. There’s not much room for what goes on outside in those spaces. I need prompts. Decorations can be great prompts.

I don’t much like to shop. And pandemics give me even more excuses to not leave my house. So the rate at which I accumulate decorations for minor holidays is pretty slow. All of my Easter decorations, for example, don’t fill a shoe box.

Every year, I try to add one item to my decorating stash. That’s about all the time and patience I have for the process. I wasn’t impressed with what was available for decorations at the grocery or drug stores (big surprise), so, as is my want, I looked for what was available to print on my 3D printer.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of 3D objects available for printing. Some are adorable. Some are beyond tacky. Some fall into the class of private jokes. When I see a pattern that catches my eye, I save it in my ‘Easter’ folder. I’ve probably got a couple dozen items bookmarked that way.

As it got closer to Easter, I looked through that collection. Really, there was only one object that I had any interest in printing, the dragon egg. I’d gotten some new gold silk PLA filament recently and thought that might make an interesting print.

Well, when you put together a great design and beautiful filament, the result can be stunning. In my 2+ years of 3D printing, I count this as the most stunning thing I have ever printed. I liked it so much that I scaled up the model to print it in two larger sizes. So far, I’ve printed six of these eggs. I may print even more.

The dragon eggs as shown in the photo are printed in two colors of filament: gold and copper. The eggs themselves screw together from two halves so that you can hide surprises within. As someone with a container fetish, that really appeals to me.

Happy Easter!