THEPIGFOOT

It’s always nice to be home for the holidays, not least because my mum is the absolute best at decorations. Here I am at Easter and it’s a flowery egg bonanza.

She’s raised me with a taste for all that is aesthetically pleasing, hence my inability to ever stick to thrifty living – one of my first purchases for my student room (and one which left me worryingly broke) was a Kartell Bourgie lamp. Irresponsibly but deliciously extravagant.

So the best time to be back home is around the holidays, when mother really flexes her creative muscles.

So pretty. 

What better setting for a twee afternoon tea?

This year, why not try a new twist on the traditional hand-painted egg and try your hand at some papier mache goodness.

Use a needle to poke holes into either end of your egg.

Make one of the holes bigger (big enough to insert the tip of a syringe).

Stick your syringe in and start emptying the egg. We used a syringe this year as it seemed more hygienic (neither whites nor yokes were wasted: they made us some yummy scrambled eggs the next morning), but don’t worry if you don’t have any to hand, you can just as easily use some good old fashioned lung power and blow the eggs out.

Once they feel pretty empty, rinse the eggs under a tap to get rid of any residue.

Use the syringe to help get them squeaky clean.

Rip up whatever paper you would like to use (old book pages, newspaper, magazines) into little pieces, soak it for a few seconds in some watered-down vinyl glue and get pasting.

Try and wrap as closely as you can (ripping and overlapping your pieces of paper as you go), so you get a lovely smooth finish.

  Once you’re happy with your handiwork, leave the eggs to dry and have yourself one of those aforementioned tea parties.

Arrange your creations dandily in a receptacle of your choosing, throw in some greenery and voila! How effective is that.

Well done, mother.