The Egg Brigade

By Corliss Clayton

To make each decorated egg, you will need: boiled egg, bread clay (see recipe), paint, paintbrushes, and felt-tip pens.

Gently work the clay around no more than half the egg, then mold the clay to form animals or objects. Slightly dampen the clay, or use glue to attach clay details to the main body of the clay figure. When you are finished molding your creation, let the clay harden. Bread clay dries quite fast, so if you don’t finish your sculpture, or if you have leftover clay that you want to use later, cover it completely with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. When the sculpture is completely dry, paint it.

Bread Clay

8 slices day-old bread

1/2 cup white glue

hand lotion

1. Remove the crusts from the bread and discard them.

2. Tear the bread into small pieces. Put them into a bowl, add the glue, and mix the ingredients with your fingers for five minutes or until the mixture is smooth and can be formed into a ball. If it is too sticky to work with, add a little more bread. If it is too dry, add a little more glue.

3. Wash your hands, put a little hand lotion on them to keep the clay from sticking to them, and start molding.

Caution: Do not eat the bread clay.

Illustrated by Shauna Mooney