How to Make Insanely Epic Lava Fire Dragon eggs with Easter Eggs

It's been a long, snowy winter here, but Spring has finally arrived! If the weather isn't an indicator, you've probably noted the pastel invasion of plastic Easter eggs at your local discount store. If you're like me, you're more into dark fantasy egg craft ideas than pastel bunnies, but we're going to take advantage of those ready-made egg forms to dive into this dragon eggs tutorial (easy). So let's transform that crappy dollar store egg into a smoldering, fantasy-inspired dragon treasure egg!  I didn't want to replicate other Game of Thrones Dragon I made four dragon's eggs inspired by the four elements of nature; earth, air, fire, and water. This article will summarize the fiery, glowing lava egg, but you can watch the build video here, or read the  build articles for the water, earth, and air eggs (coming soon!)

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Step 1: Gather Your Materials
To make your own DIY dragon egg craft, you'll need to gather the following materials:

• Plastic Easter eggs (the bigger, the better)
• Papier Mache supplies (check out this article or this video for a break down of my paper mache process)
• Sandpaper or a nail file (I really like these nail files for crafting)
• Rubber band & pencil
• A pressed paper (cardboard style) egg carton
• Acrylic Paint Supplies (check out this article or this video for a break down of the dry-brush paint technique we'll be using.)

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Step 2:  Prepare Your Egg

• Lightly scuff the surface of your plastic egg to roughen the surface.
• Apply a layer or two of paper mache to the egg. Use really small patches of paperfor smooth layers
• A great tip is to apply a coat of paper mache to one end of the egg, set it in a cup to dry, then flip the egg over to complete the other end.
• Once the egg is completely dry, you can use your nail file to smooth out any bumps in the paper mache.

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Step 3: Divide the Egg into 8 Sections

• Use a rubber band to mark a center line around the egg vertically.
• Trace along the band with a pencil to mark your first line.
• Rotate and repeat to divide the egg into 4, then 8 segments.
• These sections will help guide your texture placement.

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Step 4: Begin the Lava Island Texture

• Tear flat portions of the egg carton lid into rough shapes that will fit between the guidelines. 
• Work down inside one segment  creating some "lava islands."
• Add a second layer on top of a few areas for extra elevation.
• When you've filled the first section, skip the section closest to the one you've just completed and repeat the technique on the next section. Repeat until you've filled 4 alternate sections. Let the glue thoroughly dry.

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Step 5: Continue the Lava Texture

• When the first four sections are dry, you will go in ad fill the remaining sections with lava islands. This time, leave narrow gaps between the edge of each section to suggest lava flows.

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Step 6: Prime and Base Coat the Egg

• Give the entire egg a coat of white gesso or primer. There's a helpful recipe for my DIY homemade primer/ gesso in this article (scroll down a bit).
• Paint the entire egg in a bright yellow base. I used Liquitex Basics cadmium yellow . I typically add a bit of cornstarch to my first coat of paint when using yellow. This helps me get better coverage on the first coat!
• Let the egg dry thoroughly before moving on to the next step.

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Step 7: Build Up Colour with Dry Brushing

• We'll continue the rest of the paint job by using a dry brush paint technique. If you've never used this technique, you can find a great beginner's break-down in this article or this video. 
• Dry brush orange over the lava islands, leaving yellow visible between. I mixed my orange with a combination of Liquitex Basics cadmium yellow and Liquitex Basics cadmium red.
• When the orange paint has dried, dry-brush red paint over the lava islands. I used Liquitex Basics cadmium red. Leave some yellow and some orange visible around the edges of each island to create a glowing lava effect.

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Step 8: Add Black and White to Make the Lava Pop!

• Lightly dry-brush black into the middle of each island. I used Liquitex Basics mars black. The lava will be black on the highest and central areas where the lava has cooled, so focus on dry-brushing in these areas.
• When the dry-brushing has dried, go back and wet-paint a small area of solid black in the center of your black areas.
• (optional) Add a fine white line down the middle of the lava rivers for a molten glowing effect. I used Liquitex Basics titanium white.

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Step 8: Seal and Display

• If you'd like, you can seal your egg with a matte or satin finish polycrylic top coat.  I don't usually bother as i find the acrylic paint I use has a nice finish itself. 
• I've displayed my egg on the cardboard center of a roll of electrical tape that I've painted black. These eggs also look great on a gothic style candle holder, or in a small dish.

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If you upcycle a plastic egg into a fantasy dragon egg based on this tutorial,  it would make my day if you’d share it with me. I’m @JaneSawyerMakes on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Threads,  and Twitter (X). Find lots of other budget-friendly art projects on my YouTube Channel. Please share and pin this article!