How to Make a Vintage Easter Egg Look-Alike

You may have seen beautiful vintage Easter eggs on Pinterest.  One of those pins is the inspiration for this DIY vintage Easter egg look-alike.  Let’s bring that Pinterest inspiration to life with this step-by-step guide on creating your own stunning vintage Easter egg look-alike.  

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Supplies for Vintage Easter Egg Look-Alike

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You can find the large wooden egg at your local craft store.  I couldn’t find any of this size on Amazon.

• Candlestick holder
• 5 – inch Wooden egg
• White Tissue paper
• Vintage graphics
• Printer
• Sharp scissors
• Mod Podge
• Acrylic craft paint
• 1-inch Flat Paintbrush
• Decorative Finial 
• Decorative trim
• Tacky glue
• E6000 glue

Preparing The Tissue Paper for Printing

The first thing you want to do is use flat tissue paper.  You can use a warm iron, no steam, to press any wrinkles out of the tissue paper.  My tissue paper pack is loosely folded twice and pretty flat.  I didn’t think this was necessary.

Cut the tissue paper the same size or slightly smaller than a printer paper or cardstock sheet. 

Next, attach the corners of the tissue paper to a sheet of regular printer paper.   Be sure to face the dull side of the tissue paper up and the waxy side down.  The ink will absorb better on the dull side.  Don’t worry if you forget!  I attached one sheet with the wax side up, which still printed okay.

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There are several different methods to do this.  You can find directions for the method shown in this post and two other processes ◄ here.  This technique requires Quilt basting spray.

Just place a piece of scrap paper over the middle of the tissue paper.  Then, spray the basting glue along the top edge and the bottom edge of the tissue.

Using Basting Adhesive Method

Simple Trick with Basting Adhesive.

Tissue adhered with 2 bands of Basting Adhesive.

Easily peel off the tissue paper.

 Loosely fold the bottom up as you attach the top edge.  Holding the bottom edge, gradually smooth the tissue down onto the paper.

 

Print the Graphics and Seal

The next step is just to feed the paper through the printer and print as you normally would.   Let the ink dry for a few minutes.  Then, peel off the printed tissue paper.  Use an envelope opener or a dull knife to slide along the top or bottom if the tissue is sticking.

Print the graphics on the tissue paper.

Use a letter opener to detach the tissue paper easily.

How To Keep The Images From Smearing

Whichever method you use, you will want to seal the ink if you are planning on using it for crafting.

Now, you have your printed images.  To keep the ink from bleeding and smearing, first, use a clear acrylic spray topcoat.  Use a cardboard box or newspaper to protect your surface.  Make sure you spray the topcoat outdoors! 

Spray a couple of light coats of the sealer over the image.  Be sure to allow the first coat to dry before applying the second.  Then, turn the tissue paper over and spray the backside.

Paint the Wooden Egg

Paint the wooden egg.  I chose to use an acrylic craft paint that matched the color of the taper candlestick holder.

Ceramcoat Light Ivory Acrylic Craft Paint

Paint the egg.

Use a flat paintbrush to cover the egg with paint.  When the paint is dry, use a small piece of brown paper bag to ‘sand’ over the entire egg.  Then, apply another coat of paint.  Sand again with the piece of paper bag.

Sand with brown paper bag.

Apply a second coat of paint.

Apply the Tissue Paper Graphics

Carefully cut or tear around the vintage tissue paper graphics.  I like to have a torn edge.  To do this, place your thumb on the edge of the image and your forefinger underneath.  Hold the tissue paper firmly, protecting the image, and tear away the excess with your other hand.

Hold the edge of the image with your thumb.

Remove excess tissue from the edges of the image.

Apply a small amount of Mod Podge to the center back of the image and then position it on the painted egg.

Dab a little Mod Podge onto the painted egg.

Place the image on the dab of glue.

Then, paint the Mod Podge underneath the graphic on one side, use the paintbrush to apply Mod Podge, and press the graphic onto the egg.

Press the graphic firmly onto the painted egg to ensure it adheres well.  To keep the tissue paper flatter, use scissors to cut in strategic places.  You can see below that I cut a slice in the paper along the edge of the sheep’s hoof.  This allows the hoof to slightly overlap the girl’s foot and the tissue lays flatter against the egg.  You can see I’ve made a few more cuts around the outer edge. 

Smooth out any air bubbles or wrinkles by gently pressing from the center outwards.  Use the round handle of a paintbrush to roll over wrinkles to push them out or flatten them.