Need eggs for Easter decorations? Make them in every shape and color using papier-mâché!

Eggs are certainly one of the most traditional and iconic of Easter decorations: they are a symbol of the celebration and they are also chocolate delicacies that we get to eat. They are also often central to the activities and games we participate in at Easter as a family, such as decorating the eggs themselves and the "treasure" hunt around the home or for the garden looking for hidden eggs.

Using real eggs is not always very practical - although traditionally they used to be used for this festivity - and for certain types of decorations, it is much more convenient to have fake ones available. A fun and economical way to make fake eggs by hand, to be decorated in a thousand different ways, is by using the papier-mâché technique.

What you will need for making papier-mâché:

• Balloons of various sizes (their dimensions, once inflated, will be those of your finished eggs)
• Thin paper (like tissue paper, preferably white but you can choose any colors you prefer - with translucent materials the light emitted is obviously more intense), or even sheets of newspapers or old magazines.
• Wallpaper glue, PVA glue (white glue) or corn starch glue
• Two bowls (one for the glue, one to hold the balloon upright)
• A brush
• A permanent marker

Prepare a basin, line a work surface with paper or cardboard and inflate a balloon to the desired size for your decorative egg. Then place the inflated balloon into the bowl.

In the other bowl, mix the glue with a little water - just enough to spread the glue out easily with the brush.

Then cut the paper into small pieces, brush the balloon with the glue and place the paper piece by piece onto the glue, covering the entire outer surface.

Continue like this with a second or third layer, if you like (the more layers, the more robust your egg will be). In this way you will create a hollow sculpture, in the shape of an egg. Let the egg dry and become stiff and stable. Once dried, you can pop the balloon using a thin needle!

Depending on the project you have in mind, you may prefer to paint the newly coated paper egg with a little white, or some other color, paint. Then you can also, if necessary for your project, draw a shape to cut out with the marker, and proceed to remove it with a craft knife or sharp scissors, taking care not to break the overall structure of the egg.

At this point you just have to decorate the egg as you wish and maybe you can even fill it with sweets, candies and chocolates.

You can also use colored tissue paper to create cute little eggs.

And coloured tissue paper is perfect for making straw confetti for the eggs to nest in!

You can indulge yourself when decorating the eggs using cutouts of all shapes and even using glitter glue on embossed motifs.

Just like traditional eggs, you can paint whatever you like on the outside of their surfaces.

In this way, you will have eggs with which to present chocolates, eggs to hide for the treasure hunt, eggs to use in wreaths and all the other compositions to decorate the house for this holiday! Happy Easter!