DIY - Decorated Easter Eggs!

Every Easter at primary school, we had a decorated egg and Easter bonnet competition... and having a very creative and talented mother, my brother and I always had fab entries. I thought I'd try and recreate some of the decorated eggs myself and make them into a DIY for you to have a go at with the kids over Easter... I say with the kids because although I made them without children, they have a "youthful" look about them (I'm definitely not as crafty as my mom!). I ended up using them to make an Easter tree, and I think it turned out very cute and it wasn't too difficult. Keep reading to find out how I made it...

1) I prefer to use hollow eggs rather than hardboiled ones (hardboiled ones are much heavier and go a bit smelly after a while...). The process of getting the whites and yolk out of the egg without cracking the shell is a little bit tricky at first, but you soon get the hang of it...

- Make a hole in both ends of the egg (I find using a push pin is best). This actually takes more force than you think and it's easiest if you leave the egg inside the box whilst doing it. Wiggle the pin around the holes to make them a bit bigger. Don't worry if you make one larger that you meant to as you can disguise it later.

- Use a tooth pick or a cotton bud (with one bud cut off) to poke around inside the egg and break up the yolk... this will make it easier to get it out.

- Using a straw, blow into one hole as hard as you can. The whites and egg should come out of the opposite hole. It may take a while, but I found that it was a quicker process with each egg I did!

- Wash the eggs with water and dry them thoroughly.

2) Paint you eggs with a base colour - opaque paints/colours work best. Paint brushes tend to just spread the paint around the egg, so using a small sponge to dab on paint instead. You will have to paint one half of the egg then leave in it the egg box (or in an egg cup or a bottle top), wait for it to dry and then pain the other half. You can use a hairdryer to speed up the process... but beware of doing this without physically holding the egg... they are so light that the hairdryer will just make them roll all over the place!

3) Now it's time to decorate! I made a fun spider and ladybird with simple decoration, pipe cleaners and googly eyes. The rest I just decorated with patterns and flowers... do whatever you fancy! I found that it worked  well to rest the egg inside a small plastic bottle top whilst painting - that way you can paint most of the pattern in one go (as you have access to most of the egg), without having to wait for one side to dry etc.

4) Use a strong glue to attach ribbons onto the top of each egg - this is where you can disguise any large holes! You can add a bit of variety by tying the ribbon around an egg or two and adding some ribbon bows.

5) Now just add them to your tree/branch! Or if you couldn't find a suitable twig, just hang them around your house.

Let us know if you have a go yourself and send us some pics on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter!

Have a great Easter! 

Jane

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