DIY Easter Egg Decoupage With Marimekko Napkins
Love decorating eggs for Easter, but want something a little different? Try these colourful decoupage Easter eggs made with Marimekko napkins. This easy craft turns ordinary eggshells into bright Scandinavian-style decorations using simple paper napkin decoupage and glue. They’re surprisingly easy to make and look gorgeous displayed in a bowl, wreath, or spring table setting.
Every year, I love to do a bit of Easter egg decorating. Last year, I made rustic upcycled denim eggs and the year before, no-sew patchwork fabric Easter eggs. This year, I decided to go with one of my favourite obsessions, Marimekko.
I've decoupaged lots of things with Marimekko napkins, from a garden bench to large Christmas wall art, and I even made some DIY Marimekko shoes. So why not some Marimekko Easter eggs?
How To Do Easter Egg Decoupage
I always use real eggs for my Easter egg decorating, as I often have scrambled eggs for breakfast, so they are readily available and cost me nothing. You can use craft eggs if you can't be faffed with blowing your eggs.
The only problem with using real eggs is that I struggle to get hold of white eggs. In the UK, all the eggs in the supermarket are brown. So, I had to paint my eggshells white for my Easter egg decorating.
I know in a lot of other countries, chicken eggs are white. I used to think that was because they were bleached white. That's what my dad told me. As it turns out, he was wrong! It's all to do with the breed of chickens.
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What You Need For Decoupage
- I used real eggs, which I blew (you can see how here), and then painted them white. If you can get white eggs to start with, paint is unnecessary. Or you can buy some white craft eggs.
- Marimekko Paper Napkins - I used the KAINO print. There are loads of wonderful Marimekko prints available as paper napkins on eBay. I used about two paper napkins to cover half a dozen eggs.
DIY Marimekko Eggs
Step 1: If your eggs aren't white, paint them white.
Step 2: Next, Marimekko paper napkins are three-ply. You will only be using the top printed ply, so carefully separate it from the rest of the paper napkin.
Step 3: Cut away small flowers and design elements from the napkins.
Step 4: Cover the egg with a 50/50 water-and-Mod Podge mixture, then carefully stick the paper napkin cutout to the egg.
Use a clean foam brush to push the napkin down onto the eggshell.
Step 5: Cover the eggs with bits of paper napkins until they are covered. Fill in any gaps with tiny pieces of paper napkins.
Step 6: Finally, cover the eggs completely with two coats of Mod Podge to act as a protective varnish. Let the first coat dry before adding the second.
I found that resting the eggs on a wire frame made this easier.
I habitually buy a pack of Marimekko paper napkins whenever I visit a Scandi shop. And now I have quite a collection, so I will decorate some more eggs with Marimekko, as I did with this spring egg box craft.
You'll find more detailed instructions for paper napkin decoupage here, along with more Easter crafts for adults.
Other egg crafts on Pillarboxblue include,
These are gorgeous! I'm so excited to feature this project in the To Grandma's House We Go DIY Crafts, Recipes and More Wednesday link party! Thanks so much for sharing this with us.
Thank you,and I’m excited to be featured!
Wow! These are amazing and so unique. What an awesome display these would make. Thanks for the tutorial Claire.
Thank you so much, Laurie.
They look very eyecatching. I can't help thinking they might be dragon eggs. Perhaps I am too much into Game of Thrones.
Thank you, Ginny. I haven’t watched game of thrones yet so I’ll look out if ever I do.
You literally never cease to amaze me Claire — you're a crafting machine!!!!! I love this little tutorial. We're lucky as one of our chickens lays pure white eggs (your dad was totally fibbing!)! I might give this a go with the boys — thanks for sharing Cx #HomeEtc
Thank you! How lovely having your own chickens and fresh eggs.
I love the look, and now to go do some of my own. Thanks for sharing with us at #CCBG
Thank you so much and have fun with them.
You create such beautiful eggs! Pinning to my Easter board!
Ahh, thank you so much Tonna. I think your crochet is very creative.
These look amazing Claire, sooo cool! Love the napkins too!
Thank you, Katrin. I have a large collection of Marimekko napkins.
How creative! Thank you for sharing at Vintage Charm!
Thank you, Cecilia.
Gorgeous Claire!! The napkins all have such a beautiful patterns, almost zentangleish. LOL, I had a quite chuckle when I read about the bleached eggs, I believed the same thing for years 😀 Until a friend of ours told me that you need to look at a chicken's earlobe to see what color the eggs will. Go figure, I don't think I've ever seen a chickens earlobe but I'm guessing they're all brown here in S Africa since we don't get any white eggs either .
Thank you,Michelle. Yes I heard that too that you can tell the colour the eggs will be by looking at the chicken. I do feel happier now I know white eggs aren’t bleached.
These are divine! I've pinned some on pinterest and you've made it look completely achieveable... So I can see these popping up on my insta at Easter. Thanks for sharing this #homeetc
Thank you, they are so achievable, even the kids could do them!
These are wonderful. I had no idea that the UK only had brown eggs, in Canada we have both. The decoupage looks great.
Thank you. Apparently you can get both in the UK too but not in the shops I use though.
Those are amazing. Our local eggs are brown too, although it is easy enough to get white eggs if you want them.
Thank you so much. I know you can get white eggs but I couldn’t find any near me.
So creative! The lines really draw the eye...how will you display them?
Thank you. I will just put them in either a bowl or small wooden tray on the dining room table for spring.
Your eggs look fantasic, Claire! I love the napkins you chose for this project.
I also checked out your decoupaged Marimekko shoes. They look great as well. May I asked how they kept up? Were you able to wear them for a whole season or even longer?
Thank you, Julia the shoes lasted a good season but are beginning to look a bit worn in places. So are now regulated to dog walking and gardening.
I’m swooning!
I thought you'd like them Wendy, being a fellow Marimekko fan.