Making an Easter Egg Swag with Creative Paper Clay®: Part 2

Hi! This part 2 of my tutorial Making an Easter Egg Swag. If you missed part 1 it is here.

In this section, we are going begin by fixing any cracks in the clay. We will then move onto sanding, painting, and decorating your eggs. Finally, we will put it all together and you will be able to share and enjoy your Easter egg swag made with Creative Paper Clay®.

Fixing the Cracks

Now the eggs are dry you will have to fix any cracks. To so this you will need some glue, a paint brush and a little of the clay.

1.Use your paint brush to put the glue in the crack.

 

2. Roll a very thin noodle of clay and place on crack. Use the paint brush to gently push the clay down in the crack. Remove any excess and smooth as before.  Set aside to dry.

 

 

 

Adding a Raised Pattern (Optional)

I decided to add a flower to my egg after it was already dry. Luckily with Creative Paper Clay®, you can add fresh clay to dry clay by using some glue.

1. Roll some tiny balls of clay about the size of a green pea and set aside.

2. Paint the area you will apply the clay with some glue.

3. Press the balls of clay on the egg starting with the center of the flower and then adding petals around.

4. Pinch the outer edge if each petal slightly to make it look more like a petal. This if course depends on the type of flower you are actually making!

5. Smooth as before and set aside to dry.

Finishing your Creative Paper Clay® Eggs

Once all eggs are fully dry use a fine sand paper and gently sand any rough patches away. I use 3M UltraFlex 220 sanding sponge and cut into tiny pieces so it is easier to use on small sculptures.

 

Painting your Eggs

Now your eggs are all smooth it is time to make them look gorgeous! We are going to start by coating with some gesso. This seals the egg and helps prevent the paint from being absorbed by the clay.

There are many types of  Gesso to choose from. I have used Martha Stewart, Pebeo, Golden and Liquitex brands. All do the job! For this project, I used Liquitex Clear Gesso.

 

STEPS

1. Paint your eggs with the gesso taking care not to leave any spots out. You may need to do this in two stages as it is very tricky holding the egg and painting at the same time! Set aside to dry.

2. Choose you colours that you want your eggs. I chose spring pastel colors. Once you have decided, paint each egg with the paint. You may need two coats depending on your paint. Set aside to dry.

 

 

 

3. This step is for the eggs with detail i.e. the ones with the patterns indented in the clay or on the surface.

You will need a little black paint (a pea sized amount) diluted with about a teaspoon of water. Basically you are making a wash.

 

Using a paint brush apply to the egg ensuring that it gets in all the grooves. Use a paper towel to immediately wipe off the paint leaving it in the grooves. This provides great definition to the piece.  Set aside to dry.

 

Decorating the Creative Paper Clay® Easter Eggs

Now your eggs are all painted it is time to decorate them. You can use anything you choose for this. I used washi tape, Martha Stewart Glitter Paint and white acrylic paint.

I used Martha Stewart Gold Glitter Paint to paint gold glitter dots on the yellow egg.

 

For one of the pink eggs,  I used washi tape to add some stripes.

 

I added some white dots using the end of a paint brush to the other pink egg.

 

I used washi tape on the green egg, this time horizontally around the middle.

 

I painted the turquoise egg with a thin layer of glitter paint to add a little pizzaz.

 

I did the same for my yellow egg with the flower on it.

 

 

I decided I likes this look and painted a thin layer of glitter paint on all my other eggs.

 

I set them all aside to dry.

 

Putting it all Together

For this step you will need:

The string/twine/ribbon you are using.

Hooks for the tops of the eggs.

Scissors

Glue Gun

Ribbon for bow

Steps

1. Screw an eye pin screw into the top of each egg. This is to thread the string through.

3. Cut string in a variety if lengths between 12″ to 18″. They won’t be this long when we are done but we need space to tie them.

2. Thread string through the eye of the hook and tie. Secure each knot with a little glue.

3. Hold them all together deciding how long you want each one. When you are happy with how they look, tie a knot at least 6″ from the eggs.

4. Tape the string to the table and separate the string into two parts. Braid each part.

 

5. Tie another knot to secure braids leaving a loop in the middle. This will allow you to hang your swag.

6. Tie a bow with a piece of ribbon and attach it to the knot closest to the eggs with a glue gun.

 

Your Creative Paper Clay® Easter Egg Swag is now complete! Be sure to hang it in a nice spot for all your family and friends to enjoy! I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and thank you for visiting my blog.