Lacy Easter Eggs

These eggs can be used as a centerpiece on your Easter table or you can cut a hole in them and they can be used as an Easter basket. These are easy enough to make that it can be a family project.

If you are going to have your children help to make these eggs then I would suggest using quick drying glue instead of a glue gun when applying the decorations. It will just make it safer for the kids. What I love about these is that they are delicate and lacy but pretty sturdy when you go to store them. These can also be made from thrift store or yard sale finds on half empty spools of thread, just tie your ends together to make two toned eggs.

These can be made all different sizes by varying how much you blow up the balloons. So have fun and make a dozen. You can display them on your table in a small bowl if you make small ones. One large one filled with Spring silk flowers makes a wonderful display.

Time to complete: 1 hour plus dry time

Materials

• one spool of crochet threads your choice of color
• one spool of wide wired ribbon to contrast or match
• some flat lace enough to go around the opening of the egg
• ribbon roses, pearls, or rhinestones or silk flowers for decorating
• Stiffy Fabric Stiffener or white glue and water or full strength starch
• small bowl or margarine container for fabric stiffener
• another small bowl, margarine container, or coffee can to use as stand for drying.
• 1 package of 12 inch birthday balloons
• paint brush

Use some white paper or old sheet or table cloth to cover the work area, a old shower curtain would work well here also. I would try to avoid newspaper as the Stiffy or glue mixture can make newspaper ink bleed.

Instructions

1. Blow up balloons to desired size. I just put the starch in a bowl and dip the string in the starch and apply to the balloon.
2. Wrap the balloon with crochet thread making sure that thread goes in all different directions as if wrapping a ball of yarn. How many times you wrap around the balloon is up to you; the less you wrap the lacier it will look, the more you wrap the sturdier the egg becomes.

3. In addition to dipping the crochet thread as I put it on the balloon, I put it in small margarine container, the Stiffy Fabric Stiffener or your white glue and water mixture or full strength starch. With your paint brush, make sure that you saturated your crochet thread completely. This can be quite messy so I would cover your table with an old sheet or an old shower curtain. Stiffy Fabric Stiffener and the glue and water mixture or starch are water based so they will wash out.
4. Set your covered balloon in a margarine container to dry.
5. When it is almost completely dry, I flatten the bottom by pushing down on a flat surface so my egg will stand up right.
6. Now pop the balloon.
7. Wrap wired ribbon around the egg and hot glue a bow to the side of the egg or top your choice.
8. If leaving the egg whole for a centerpiece, fish out popped balloon with a crochet hook.
9. If you are going to cut into the egg, take sharp scissors and cut a hole in the side of your egg. Take out your popped balloon. Now glue flat lace around the opening that you have made to cover all raw cut edges.

10. Now you can decorate the opening with pearls or ribbon roses or rhinestones. You can fill the inside with Easter grass and use as an Easter Basket or you can fill the inside with small figures like a diorama or with silk flowers.
11. If you would like your egg to stand up rather than lay on it's side you can cover a small container with lace to set your egg into like a base for it. Or use a crystal bowl or silver bowl as the base.

About The Author: Debra Frick is a mother of 5 and a grandmother to 8 grandsons and one granddaughter. She is a published author and poetress. Recycling and saving money are her passions. She also loves crocheting and cooking. She is also a pet rescue volunteer and has many pets of her own.