How to make a decoupage egg

by Molly Saunders, Digital (Crafty) Bear

Since I was little, I’ve been making and decorating blown out eggs for Easter. Because these are such a beautiful keepsake, I wanted to share the simple how-to’s with you.  Then, you and your family can start a tradition or just be the coolest chick on the block with your eggs you can keep all year!

Things You’ll Need:

About 5-6 eggs, color doesn’t matter

Thumbtack

Small container for decoupage or glue-water mixture

Small sponge brush

Tissue paper and other things to decorate your eggs

Here’s how to do it:

1. Be sure you’re working with the supervision of an adult because consuming raw eggs can make you sick. It’s a good idea to wipe off the egg with a wet wipe or one of those bleach wipes, just something to clean it a bit because you’ll be putting your mouth on it.

2. Over a sink, using your thumbtack, poke a hole in the top and bottom of the egg. You might have to make the hole a bit bigger so that you can blow the insides out. I just keep poking around the outside of the hole until I’ve made a hole that I think is about the right size.3. Leaning over the sink, hold the egg gently and blow out the insides. This takes some serious lung power. You may realize you have to make your hole bigger, that’s okay.

4. Once the insides are out, hold it under running water to fill it a little bit with water. Then, with your fingers covering both holes, shake it around, and blow the water out. Do that three or four times until the water runs clear.

5. Set these blown out eggs in an empty egg carton and let them dry for about 24 hours.

6. Now you’re ready to decoupage! I like using the store bought mixture that you can find almost anywhere these days. When I was little, I just mixed white glue and water, and it works just as well.7. Gather your decorations, protect your work surface and think about how you want to decorate your eggs. You might want to tear up paper or cut ribbon into tiny pieces before you begin because your fingers will get really sticky during the process of decorating.

Tip: I found it was best to hold the egg on both ends and fill the middle with the decorations, then hold the egg in front of a fan for a few seconds, maybe count to 25, and then I could handle the middle while I finished off the ends.

Tip: Don’t forget about all of the cool things you can use to decorate with! Buttons, sticks, leaves, grass, colorful napkins (peel off the outermost layer, like in the picture below), ribbon, beads, glitter. In fact, while supplies last, you can get a really cool Glittery Egg Decorating Kit with any purchase of $20 or more right now at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores. The dye in them is very vivid –these came out looking like this after only 20 minutes!

Here are a few of my finished decoupage eggs. These make beautiful centerpieces and I love them on the mantel (that hopefully I’ll have in my dream home someday!)

Check out these other resources I found for egg decorating ideas:

Beautiful sophisticated black and white eggs at ObviouslySweet.com

Super pawsome subway art eggs: It can be done! From LilLuna.com

Leave a comment below and tell me if you like this craft!

Happy crafting, everyone!