Paper Mache Easter Eggs

Easter was always a fun time for crafts for with family.  My mom always had fun stuff for my sister and me to do.  One of my favorite things was making paper mache Easter eggs.  This year I decided to make them with my girls.  Remember my paper mache maracas?  Well, this is not one of those posts.  These turned out absolutely adorable!

My girls thought these were just as fun to make as I remember they were at that age.  In fact, I still think they are really fun to make!

To make your own paper mache Easter eggs you’ll need:

• Flour
• Water
• Newspaper
• Balloons
• Paint
• Anything you want to put inside

Step 1)  Have your kids cut up newspaper into strips.

Step 2)  While your kids are cutting up the newspaper, use a mixer to blend four and water.  Mix 3/4 cup flour to 1 cup water.

Step 3) Cover your table with uncut newspaper to prevent the paste from getting all over.

Step 4)  Dip a strip of newspaper in the paste and slide your fingers down to get rid of any excess paste.

Step 5)  “Paste” the strip to the balloon.

Step 6)  Repeat steps 4 & 5 until the whole balloon is covered with pastey newspaper.  Leave the balloon tie uncovered though.

Step 7)  Smooth over the balloon with your fingers.

Step 8)  Add a minimum of one more layer of newspaper up to a maximum of 4 layers.  The more layers you add, the stronger your egg will be.  Too many layers, however, will not dry well.  If your kids are impatient like mine, 2 layers will do just fine.

Step 9)  Tie a string around the balloon tie and hang the balloons up to dry.  It can take anywhere from 24-48 hours depending on how many layers you did and how wet your newspaper is.

Step 10)  Once your balloons are completely dry and hard, cut the tie off of the top of the balloon.  You will hear the air release and you may hear some small cracking noises as the balloon deflates and un-sticks from the paper mache.

Step 11)  Optional:  If you don’t want a hole in the top of your egg, you can cover the hole with one layer of pastey newspaper again.  If you don’t mind the hole, just leave it.  You can use a paper clip and some string through the hole to hang up your egg if you want.

Step 12)  You can stop here and move on to step 13 or you can continue and use a scissors to cut a large hole in your egg.  This will allow you to put things on the inside.  If you simply want to decorate the outside of your egg, move to step 13.

Step 13)  Paint your egg.  Note that the paint will temporarily soften your egg again especially if you are using thick layers of paint.

Step 14)  After your paint is completely dry, add some Easter grass and decorations to the inside.  Sit back and admire!