Gift your loved ones an Easter gift they will always treasure with an exquisite quilled papier-mâché Easter egg, which you can fill with sweet treats, jewellery or a pair of super-cosy socks. To create your fillable papier-mâché Easter egg carefully cut a premade papier-mâché Easter egg in half across the middle. For a different look, you could cut a peephole into the papier-mâché Easter egg to pop the treats into.
First - let's learn how to make papier-mâché! Check out our full guide to papier-mâché, with step-by-step photos and handy video guide. Once you've learnt how to make paper mache, why not try some of our brilliant paper mache projects for kids? If you're new to the world of quilling, you can check out our handy ideas guide to quilling. You might also like our Easy Salt Dough Recipe post!
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How to make a papier mâché Easter egg
You will need
- Water balloon
- Newspaper
- PVA glue
- Brush
- Cup (or another stand for your egg while it's drying)
Step 1
Blow up a water balloon to create a small egg shape. Tie a knot in the end of the balloon to secure it, and stand it up in your cup (or eggcup!). Water balloons are better when learning how to make a paper mache Easter egg, because of their smaller size - but you could also use a normal balloon and just blow it up a little way, around 10cm is good, although you can make your egg as big or little as you like!
Step 2
Dilute some PVA glue using some water and mix to make your paper mache recipe (around 1 part water to 2 parts glue gives a nice consistency - so twice as much glue as water).
Step 3
Next, tear up some newspaper into little squares - around 1cm is ideal. You can also use tissue paper, but the newspaper will yield a stronger finish and will be more durable. The smaller the squares, the more even a finish you'll get for your paper mache Easter egg.
Step 4
Soak the newspaper squares in the PVA-water solution to get them nice and saturated.
Step 5
Start applying the newspaper squares to your balloon! Smooth down the paper using your fingers or a paintbrush, moulding it around the balloon as you go.
Step 6
Continue covering your paper mache egg with newspaper pieces. Overlap the pieces of paper so that your whole balloon is covered.
Step 7
Add a second layer.
Make sure there is no bits of balloon visible, apart from the knot.
Step 9
Set your paper mache egg to one side and leave to dry. It's a good idea to leave your paper mache Easter egg for a couple of dayss, as it's important to make sure your paper mache egg is completely dry before moving onto the next step.
Step 10
Once completely dry, hold the knot of the balloon, grab a pin (or another sharp object) and pop the balloon! If you're holding the knot - you can then simply pull the balloon out. It's likely your balloon won't 'pop' in the traditional sense, more likely it will just deflate.
Step 11
Cover the hole (if you wish) by adding another layer of newspaper. If you want to fill your homemade paper mache Easter egg - make sure you add your treats before covering the hole!
Step 12
Paint white and leave to dry. Then - decorate however you like!
Fancy making a quilled paper mache Easter egg? Keep reading for our easy step-by-step tutorial below.
How to make a quilled Easter egg
You will need
- Papier-mâché 10.2cm eggs
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrush
- Quilling paper strips
- Quilling tool
- Quilling circle gauge
