Several weeks ago, Mr. Sam and I had our first ever crafting session together {ha!!!} I’d whipped up a batch of our go-to homemade modelling clay to make little hand and footprint keepsakes, and when I had some leftover, I decided to cut out several egg shapes knowing that Easter would soon be on its way.
Well, that stack of clay eggs sure came in handy this week while we were cooped up inside the house with a sick Miss G! The end result is this pretty clay Easter egg garland that is now hanging from our mantle… Lovely, isn’t it?
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First up, the clay. If you’ve not made your own modelling clay or baking soda clay before, I’d highly recommend it! It’s easy to do and the clay dries bright white, which means it’s perfect for decorating. {You can find our recipe and tips for successful clay projects here, or if you prefer to use store bought clay, our go-to is DAS air-dry modelling clay.}
After making three hand/footprint keepsakes with baby bubba, our leftover chunk of clay made 6 thin, but decently-sized eggs. {Keep in mind that for a project like this one, thin is good. First off, thin clay pieces tend to crack less, and secondly, it makes them lighter, which is important for the garland aspect of this project.}
With our eggs ready to go, we picked out a few colours from our acrylic paint collection…
And got to painting! No rules – just pretty patterns and colours.
Afterwards, once the paint was fully dry, we took out a couple of black Sharpies and added some details to our eggs.
Here’s what they looked like when they were done.
Now while I knew I wanted to use the eggs to make a garland eventually, I knew I didn’t want to have holes in the tops. I originally thought I’d attach the embroidery thread to the eggs with thin strips of hot glue, but when the time came, I thought I’d give duct tape a try {classy!} and it worked perfectly.
On the plus side, you can’t see the duct tape when the garland’s hanging. ☺
Pretty, isn’t it?
To hang it, I simply looped the ends of the thread and wrapped them around a couple of tacks.
Ta-da! Done!
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I just love air dry clay – you inspired me there – so I just LOVE these ideas and what a fantastic idea to do the feet and hands too!!! Is there any reason why you chose not to do holes? I was even thinking two holes next to one another so you thread up and then back down the hole next to it and then onto the next egg? Have you had a bad experience with trying it with holes? I love them either way.
I have never made clay or painted it, thank you for the lovely idea! I think my kids would love this! Do you think other paint would work? We just received our Sax watercolors and I can’t wait to get creative with it.