I do love Easter time – it’s a lovely excuse for gorging on chocolate and making all sorts of festive crafts.  My favourites are always the ones you can use all year round – and these string eggs fit the bill perfectly.  You can use them as an Easter hanging decoration, an inventive way of wrapping mini chocolate eggs or as a centre piece for the table.

This project works great with twine, jute and embroidery thread – go loud with bright colours for something more festive or keep in a simple jute twine for a more rustic approach. You can also add glitter, ribbons, multi-colours and name tags for a personalized touch. Either way, they’re a great way to keep little hands busy in the lead up to Easter!

I was thrilled how these jute twine eggs turned out – I started out using embroidery twine, but the results really hit and miss. Some turned out ok, others stuck to the balloon and collapsed and the rest turned into a tangled mess.  However my jute twine eggs were perfect every time – perhaps they absorbed more of the glue mixture and were able to hold their shape, so I decided to stick to what was working and make a few for a rustic look!

Here’s how to make your own…

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Jute twine or embroidery thread. You’ll need around 2.5 – 3 meters for each egg
• Water balloons
• PVA Glue
• Water
• Scissors

1.Mix in a bowl 2 parts PVA glue and 1 part water. You may need to experiment with the mixture to get the right consistency – it needs to be sticky enough to hold the string together, but not so much that it sticks to balloon when it dries and collapses when you pop it.

2.Unravel your twine into the bowl. It’s best to do this bit by bit – if you dunk it all at once it’s likely to get knotted. Leave for a few minutes to let the twine absorb the glue.

3.Blow up your water balloon. Start winding your glue-soaked twine around the balloon in a criss-cross fashion, alternating between winding across and up and down the balloon. Make sure there are no big spaces left uncovered. If you feel you need more string, soak it in the PVA mixture and repeat the process.

4.Leave for a few hours, or until the glue feels bone dry. If it’s damp outside you may want to leave overnight.

5.Now the fun bit! Make sure your balloon feels completely dry before you take a pin and pop the balloon.   Once popped, take the deflated balloon out from the middle of your egg.

 

And you’re done! You can now hang up as decoration, place in a bowl with leaves and flowers as a centerpiece or place mini chocolate eggs inside and give as a home-made gift.Happy Easter everyone!

PROBLEM SHOOTING: After much experimentation, I’ve discovered that if your string egg collapses when the balloon bursts and is sticking the balloon, you have used too much PVA in your mixture. If you think it’s going to do this before you pop, try taking the back end of a needle and lifting the thread off the balloon first.

If it crumbles as soon as the balloon has popped, then you need a little more glue to make the thread stick together, or leave it to dry a little longer…