We had so much fun making these easy easter crafts, and I had everything in the house. I planned to make easter egg money boxes that looks like bunnies but the older kids always surprise me by taking their creativity a step further and making something else. So Ilané decided to make a bigger one, and make it an
easter egg box. I love how hers turned out and I think its a great idea. Here’s how we did it:
Paper Mache Recipe:
- Add 1 part flour to 5 parts water with a pinch of salt (preservative) and a little cinnamon (non-stinkiness… yea so it won’t stink when you work with it)
- Boil for 3 minutes and let it cool
- Alternatively you can mix 1 part water with 1 part craft or wood glue (up to 1:3 parts) but the recipe above is cheaper, better to work with and really not that hard to make… believe me the extra time is worth at as its much more slippery- try to stick 4 layers of paper to a balloon using sticky stuff- not fun!
Easter Egg-bunny- money boxes:
This can take 2-3 days to do so don’t start too late!
Cut up newspaper, or even better, old telephone book pages into strips of about 1,5-2cm. The telephone book pages just makes it much more smooth leaving no bumpy paper parts which also lets it dry quicker.
Blow up a balloon- not too big otherwise it will take forever to fill up unless you really want to have a big Money box. Paint the first layer Mache mush on the balloon.
Now paste the paper strips neatly to ensure you don’t overlap too much, but make sure every layer covers the whole balloon. Tear pieces off to fit odd shaped spaces. Cover with 4 layers of Mache mush and let it dry for at least a day to see how hard the shell is. If its not hard enough, like if you can press your finger in to make a dent, repeat.
We covered the last layer with white print paper because we did not have enough white paint for a base layer but the white paper is a bit thick so I don’t like the rough finishing so much but this is an option. You will have to have a white base otherwise it will take a few layers of your color paint to completely cover the newspaper.
Cut bunny ears out of a cardboard box and then cut a money slot out of the top of the head. Paste the bunny ears behind the slot by bending the bases of the ears a bit and sticking it on with craft glue.
Now paint your creations! The white one above was done by Corrie (8) all by himself, and of course the bottom one by Zanie (10) too… toddlers may need some help though. Mine was asleep when I had to finish but it’s still totally doable for toddlers- don’t make it too perfect!
To give them a base to stand on, cut a strip of cardboard box and measure the bottom circumference of your bunny’s head. Glue the ends and paint it. I love how it looks like little collars 🙂
Easter Egg holder (treasure box):
Follow the steps above… just blow up the balloon a bit bigger and don’t add the bunny- ears or money slot. If you want to put the easter eggs in the egg and close it up, do the first 4 layers, let it dry, cut the hard shell open and put the eggs in. Now you can repeat with another 4 layers of Mache and paint it afterwards. This way the egg will have to be cut open to find the eggs.
Alternatively you can just make it like the one in the picture and add a tab with velcro dots and felt so you can open and close it. It can double as a jewelry- or treasure box.
Other Eater Activities:
