By General Crafts Contributor Michelle
When I was growing up, it was a tradition in our home to make hollow sugar eggs with a little Easter scene in them. Damp sugar was firmly packed into plastic Easter egg halves, hollowed out, and then allowed to dry. Once dry, we assembled and decorated them with frosting, and then placed a small figure of a bunny or chick in some Easter grass inside, and usually some small jellybeans to represent colored eggs. Here’s a method to make your own faux sugar eggs that are just as fun to make, but offer a more permanent decoration that you can use year after year.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:
- Paper Mache Easter Egg Small by Craft Pedlars 4 in.
- DecoArt Dimensional Effects Texture Paste Carded 4oz, or Lightweight Spackling
- Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint by Delta 2 oz. #2505 White
- FloraCraft Foam Accessories Twinklets Diamond Dust 3oz, or Sulyn Glitter 2 oz. Crystal
- Craft Knife
- Plaid Mod Podge Matte
- Woodsies Clothes Pin Doll Stands 20 pc.
- Hareline Dubbin Cactus Chenille Medium Pearl
- 3/8″ Ribbon
- Petaloo Flowers
- Easter Bunnies PDF (printed on cardstock) Bunny graphic from “The Graphics Fairy” at graphicsfairy.com
- Krinkle Shred by Cindus 2 oz. Hunter Green, or Easter Grass
- Scissors
- Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
- Plaid Paint Brush Super Value Pack All Purpose 25pc
- Sandwich-Sized Zip-Top Bag
- A Spoon
Optional Suggested Decorations: Darice Decor Easter Resin Egg Ornament Mini 18pc, Darice Decor Polyester Chick 1″ 12pc, Midwest Design Butterfly 1.25″ Feather Assorted 1pc, Jesse James Dress It Up Embellishments Easter Collection Carrot Crop, Jesse James Dress It Up Embellishments Easter Egg Hunt.
To begin, use your X-Acto knife to cut an oval hole in the front of your egg. My egg was totally paper, some of the “paper mache” eggs actually have a thin plastic egg inside–both are fine.
Use your hot glue to adhere a wooden doll base onto the base of the egg. Paint the entire egg (inside and out) and base white with your acrylic craft paint. Let dry.
This was the lightweight spackling I used to make the “frosting” on my egg, the texture paste also works well.
Take a glob of spackling or paste, and place it into the corner of your plastic bag. Twist the bag so the paste is in the corner of the bag, and snip the tip of the corner of the bag off, so you’ve created a piping bag for your pretend frosting. If you’re not familiar with piping frosting, practice making designs on a piece of paper, until you’re happy with the look.
Decorate around the base, around the hole, and up and over the sides to create a fake seam, where a real sugar egg would have its sides stuck together. If it is not sticking well, mix a little water into your paste until it does. Let dry according to package.
Paint the “frosting” with a coat of white paint. Let dry. To “sugar” the egg, use a small flat paintbrush to thickly apply a later of Mod Podge onto the surface of the egg, working around the frosting. Use a spoon to sprinkle Diamond Dust onto the Mod Podge, tap off extra. Let dry. Be aware that the Diamond Dust glitter is tiny pieces of glass–if doing this project with kids, you may want to use the glitter instead.
Choose whatever sized bunny you wish to use. Cut out the bunny, leaving a white base at the bottom. Fold the base over so you have a tab to glue to the bottom of the egg.
Using your hot glue, stick the bunny to the inside of your egg. Tuck some Krinkle Shred or Easter grass around him. Then have fun decorating your egg! I put a bow and some flowers on top of mine, and then added another sprig of flowers inside, and some tiny pom-poms to represent eggs. Instead of the paper bunny, you could use chenille Easter chicks in your eggs, or other small figures. Decorate with butterflies, buttons, beads–what else could you embellish these cute eggs with?
Happy Crafting!