Air dry clay eggs - Easter DIY - Chalking Up Success!

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.

Pinterest share image - air dry clay eggs painted and decorated for Easter — Air dry clay eggs DIY

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

Supplies for making air dry clay eggs - clay, pain, paintbrush, twine, ribbon, decorative keys — Supplies needed for making air dry clay eggs

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.

A person rolling air dry clay between her hands to make an egg shape — Roll the ball of clay between your hands to make an oval egg 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.

air dry clay eggs 'speckled' with black paint — Air dry clay Easter eggs DIY

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.

Three air dry clay eggs, decorated for Easter — Air dry clay eggs look great in an Easter nest

Watch it on YouTube

Watch DIY air dry Easter eggs on YouTube — Air dry clay eggs video tutorial on YouTube

decorated air dry clay eggs in an egg carton — Air dry clay eggs displayed in an egg carton

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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