Easter Egg Tree Decorations (Ostereierbaum)

When I was a teen, my sister went to Germany at Easter time on a school exchange trip and came back ladened with gifts of delicate, decorated eggs hung on fine thread. She recounted how it was a centuries old tradition to decorate trees and bushes with Easter eggs, known as the Ostereierbaum or Easter egg tree, and proceeded to hang them on cut forsythia stems.

We decided to make some of our own decorations using some polystyrene eggs, ribbons and sequins we had.

You'll need:

• polystyrene eggs
• ribbons (I used adhesive ones that I'd had in my craft drawer for a while)
• sequins
• glitter
• PVA glue
• bamboo skewers
• acrylic paints in pastel colours

What to do:

1. Insert the bamboo skewer into the top end of the polystyrene egg. This will make the egg easier to paint and decorate without getting painty fingerprints all over the eggs.
2. Paint the egg with the acrylic paints and leave it in a glass or jar to dry.
3. Once dry, use the PVA glue to decorate with ribbons, sequins and glitter.
4. Remove the bamboo skewer and insert PVA glue into the hole.
5. Tie a loop of thread and insert the knotted end into the glue hole and leave to dry.
6. Hang on cut Spring stems from the garden.