Whether you drill a hole or remove a wall, it is always difficult to repair a stippled or textured ceiling so that the patch doesn't show.
First, check the size of the grains in the texture, and buy a textured mix that has the same sized grains.
Apply your patch with a stabbing motion of your paint brush and put on less than more. It is easier to come back and add a little than to remove it. I like to do my final blending touch-ups with a piece of braided electrical wire as a stabbing brush. It helps you to shape the texture to an exact match.
This entry was originally written in 1999, and since then the stucco manufacturers have developed touch-up kits in a spray can. You still need to be a bit of an artist, but the job is now easier.
Don't forget that you need a sealer over the patch before the paint or the patch will always show through.