Yesterday, I talked about alternatives for plastic Easter eggs. Like many other things that can be bad for the environment, we have gotten used to the convenience of plastic eggs, but there are great (and fun to make!) alternatives.
PETA lists a recipe on their web page for making Clay Easter eggs. All that is needed for this recipe is cornstarch, water, and baking soda. Combine one cup of cornstarch, 1 1/4 cups of cold water, and 2 cups of baking soda and stir in a saucepan over medium heat for 4 minutes. Once the mixture looks like mashed potatoes, add food coloring, stir and remove from heat.
Put the mixture on a plate and cover it with a damp cloth. After allowing it to cool, knead it like dough and shape into eggs. You can store it in an airtight container and make the eggs later. Once dry, you can paint the eggs.
Another good idea for alternative Easter eggs is paper-mache Easter eggs. I used to love to do paper-mache as a child, so I can only imagine that my five year old would love it as well. For this project, you will need balloons, newspaper cut in 1 inch strips, water, flour, and sugar. To make the paper-mache mix, bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Mix 3/4 cup of flour and 3 more cups of water in a bowl. Stir the bowl mixture gently into the saucepan. Bring that to a boil then remove from the heat and mix in 4 to 5 tablespoons of sugar. Let the mixture cool and thicken before use.
This will be messy, so you may want to cover your table with a plastic tablecloth. Blow up a balloon as big as you want the egg to be and tape it the table. Dip the newspaper in the paper-mache mixture and smooth it down over the balloon. Keep dipping and placing strips until the balloon is completely covered, then allow it to dry (overnight if possible). Once dried, you can paint the “egg.”
(This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.)
