Say goodbye to plastic Easter eggs! These DIY air dry clay eggs are an easy craft to make for Spring decor! The best part is, that you don't even need a rolling pin, egg shapes or a cookie cutter to make this DIY project! To make a basic clay egg, all you need is a lump of clay, a drop of water and your hands!!
These air dry clay Easter eggs make great gifts and are an easy craft that adults and kids of all ages can make. This is such a fun project, you're guaranteed to enjoy crafting along together.
Easter egg blog hop
Today, I'm teaming up with some of my lovely blogging friends to bring you even more Easter egg inspiration. Thanks to Janet of A Life of Balance for organising this great hop. If you're visiting from Janet's blog, welcome to Chalking Up Success! Isn't Janet's 'hoppy' Easter egg craft just so pretty? I love her 'new look' blog too!
Air dry clay -v- Polymer clay
You may be wondering what the difference is between air dry clay and polymer clay. A great part about this fun activity is that, unlike polymer clay crafts, air dry clay crafts don't have to be baked. You just leave the clay to air dry naturally. See my tip below for more details about the drying process.
Table of contents
- Easter egg blog hop
- Air dry clay -v- Polymer clay
- Air dry clay projects with eggs
- Supplies for making clay Easter eggs
- How do you make a clay Easter egg?
- How to create a smooth finish on air dry clay eggs
- How to decorate air dry clay Easter Eggs
- Watch it on YouTube
- Conclusion
- Easter Egg Blog Tour
- These posts are good too!
I'll be using my clay eggs as part of my Easter table decorations or Easter table centrepiece alternatively, you'll find some different things you can make with air dry-clay eggs below.
Air dry clay projects with eggs
- Add clay eggs to wreaths, rustic bowls, cloches and all sorts of spring decorations.
- Create a simple grass nest and pop it inside a DIY taper candle jar with some clay Easter eggs.
- Make a small hole through the top of the eggs to use as hanging Easter tree decorations. (See the tip below for how to do that).
- Use clay eggs to create a hanging egg garland.
- For dragon fans – Add paint and glass beads or beach glass to make colourful dragon eggs.
TIP: If you are new to making air-dry-clay projects and are wondering “What the heck is air dry clay”, you should first read my air-dry clay ornaments post. It's my ultimate guide for working with air dry clay and is full of tips and tricks for making a perfect project. If you want to get the most satisfaction out of your clay craft project this post is a 'must read'.
Supplies for making clay Easter eggs
Here are the supplies you'll need to make air dry clay Easter eggs like mine.
A note about the products listed: If you order a product from one of my partners via links on this page, I receive a small percentage. I only recommend products that I have already used myself or have selected with care. You pay the same price whether you use my affiliate link or not. Please read my full disclosure here.
Craft supplies
- Air dry clay
- Acrylic paint
- Paintbrush
- Parchment paper
- Sandpaper (120 grit)
- Acrylic sealer (optional)
- Ribbons Twine or string in three shades
- Mini key ornaments
- Craft Feathers
How do you make a clay Easter egg?
Air dry clay Easter Eggs are easy to make. As mentioned above, to make the basic Easter egg, all you need is a lump of air-drying clay, a drop of water and your hands.
Below, you will find the step-by-step instructions for making eggs and easy ways for turning them into a beautiful clay Easter decoration.
Step 1 – The first step is to remove a lump of air-dry clay from the packet.
Step 2 – Knead the clay with your hands until it becomes soft and pliable. If you have stored your air dry clay in a cold place, it may take a while before it becomes soft enough to use. If you find the clay is too dry, add a drop of water to your hands. Have a damp sponge ready to wet your hands if needed.
Step 3 – Roll the clay into a ball.
Step 4 – Roll the ball of clay between your hands to make an oval shape.
Step 5 - Roll one end of the clay egg shape a little more to create the narrow end of the egg.
Step 6 - Once you are happy with the shape and size of your clay eggs, it's time to let them dry.
Step 7 – Place the clay eggs onto a piece of baking parchment to dry. They might become a bit flat on the underside during drying, (mine did) although, as I want my eggs to lay flat in decorations, I'm not worried about that. Alternatively, you could try placing the eggs into an egg carton to dry. In either case, it's important to turn the clay eggs now and again for even drying.
TIP: I let my clay Easter eggs dry for twenty-four hours although the drying time won't be the same for everyone. Please see the tips in my clay ornaments post for how to dry air dry clay to avoid cracks and how to fix cracks if they occur.
How to create a smooth finish on air dry clay eggs
To create a smooth finish on air dry clay eggs you need to smooth out the finish and remove any excess clay and bumps. You can do this by gently rubbing the eggs with sandpaper until the surface is smooth (I used 120 grit). Wipe the eggs with a damp (not wet) cloth to remove the clay dust.
How to decorate air dry clay Easter Eggs
Here are some fun ways to decorate clay Easter Eggs. Try using acrylic paint to make patterns on the eggs or use the paper decoupage technique to create fun designs. Alternatively, sharpie pens are a good choice for making patterns.
If you decided to paint your eggs, you may want to seal the clay eggs with an acrylic sealer or Mod Podge first.
Here's how I decorated my clay eggs for Easter:
Step 1 - Water down a small amount of black paint. Using a small bristle paintbrush, gently flick the bristles towards the eggs to create the look of speckled eggs.
Step 2 - After the paint is dry you can decorate the eggs with ribbons.
Step 3 - Final touches - wrap the eggs with string or twine in three shades.
Step 4 - Thread a tiny key decoration onto one of the pieces of string and tie in a knot or bow.
Step 5 - Push a small craft feather underneath the twine on each egg.
Watch it on YouTube
Conclusion
To sum up, one of the best air dry clay ideas at this time of year - making air dry clay Easter eggs is a fun activity and craft project for the whole family.
If you nourish your creative side with crafty projects like this one, I guarantee that, you will have so much fun, you won't want to stop creating!
Will you be ditching plastic eggs and making air dry clay Easter eggs this year instead? How will you decorate yours?
NEXT UP on the Easter egg tour is Kristin of My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia. Have you seen all of the beautiful Easter eggs Kristin has made this week? Be sure to pop on over to Kristin's blog to learn how to create these concrete easter eggs using concrete mix, water, and drained eggs. This lovely DIY project is so easy to make and will mix in perfectly with your Spring decor.
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Easter Egg Blog Tour
More Amazing Easter Egg Inspiration
Click the links below the images to go straight to their posts. ENJOY!
Chalking Up Success // My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia // Bluesky at Home
The Everyday Farmhouse // Saved from Salvage // Zucchini Sisters // Cottage on Bunker Hill
This Dear Casa // A Life Unfolding // A Life of Balance
These posts are good too!
Sharing at these link parties.
Jennifer Dynys says
These are so sweet! I would love to make these with my kiddos! I love the way you embellished them with ribbons and feathers!
Jayne Westerholt says
I'll bet your kiddos would love making these eggs for Easter, Jenn!
Libbie Burling says
What a great idea. I love your clay eggs, and they are decorated so beautifully! Pinned for later. Happy Weekend.
Jayne Westerholt says
Happy weekend to you too, Libbie! Thanks for commenting and pinning, I'm glad you like my clay eggs!
Rebecca Payne says
Fabulous eggs. I love this post.
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks so much, Rebecca! I had so much fun making these air dry clay eggs!
Kristin salazar says
These are adorable, I love how you decorated them as well, so cute! They seem to be a lot less messy than my cement ones and my son has some of this clay for his art class, I'm going to give it a try!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks, Kristin! Hmmm, I'm not sure about the clay eggs not being messy but they were definitely fun to make.
Cindy says
Jayne this is so me. I love the natural elements
Pinned!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks so much, Cindy! You should definitely try some air dry clay projects, you will love working with this medium!
Carol@Blueskyathome says
Jayne, This is a great project. I’ve never worked with air dry clay, but your instructions are so clear, I think it would be a wonderful medium to work with. The eggs are so pretty and will look beautiful in any arrangement.
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks so much, Carol! Air dry clay is one of my favourite mediums to work with!
Jennifer Howard says
I love this idea of using air-dry clay! Your eggs are so cool! I just ordered a couple of different shades for some Spring projects.
Jayne Westerholt says
Ooh, Jennifer, I can't wait to see what crafts you make with your air dry clay!
Michelle | Thistle Key Lane says
Your eggs turned out so pretty and I love the way you styled them with the tiny keys! Pinning!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks so much, Michelle! I'm so pleased you like my clay egg project! I love those tiny keys too!
Marie says
These look really beautiful! Your dragon egg idea would be a hit with my son. Happy hopping with you.
Jayne Westerholt says
Oh yes! I'm sure your son would love creating dragons eggs from air dry clay - how cool!
Rebecca says
Jayne, I love how you decorated your eggs with the keys and feathers. They are so unique! I really need to try crafting with air dry clay. It looks like such fun! Pinned 🙂
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank so much, Rebecca! Yes, you should definitely try some air dry clay projects! Clay is such a fun medium to work with!
Janet says
Jayne, you knocked it out of the park again. Your clay eggs are "eggs"cellent and the way you decorated them is inspired. Thanks for joining the hop.
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank you so much, Janet, always happy to hop with you! It was my first time making Easter eggs with air dry clay and I'm really happy with how they turned out!
Regina Jenkins says
I share your love of air dry clay. It is so versatile. Your eggs turned out amazing, such detail. Thanks for sharing! Great hopping with you.
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks, Regina! I certainly do love working with air dry clay and you're right, it's very versatile!
Rachel Harper says
Jayne,
These are just the cutest. I'd love to share a link to your tutorial on my Sunday Dirt Road Adventures. I hope that's OK.
Jayne Westerholt says
Yes, I'd love for you to share my air dry clay eggs tutorial, thanks so much, Rachel!