Eggless Easter eggs…. And pun alert.
Egg prices are soaring, and with no end in sight, it might be the perfect time to shake things up and start some new Easter traditions! This year, our Easter eggs are getting a bit of a glow-up—and we’re planning ahead because, let’s be honest, we might not be making as many the traditional way. While dyeing real eggs is a classic, we’re putting together a list of creative, budget-friendly ways to decorate and hide “eggs”—without actually using eggs!
We pulled together some fun, outside-the-carton ideas and gave a few of them a try ourselves! Below, you’ll find:
✨ Egg-citing alternatives we brainstormed–it took a village… thanks moms 🙂
✨ A few that we actually tested
✨ Other creative inspo we spotted online (thank you, Facebook + Instagram rabbit holes!)
Hop on and check them out—and let us know what you think!
Some fun alternatives to try this year:
🎨 Painted Rocks – Collect smooth stones and turn them into colorful Easter masterpieces (a crayon take on this is below)
✨ Marshmallows – A small amount of food coloring and dipping square or larger marshmallows makes for an interesting alternative (link below)
🖍 Paper Eggs – Cut out egg shapes from cardstock and decorate with crayons, markers, or stickers
🌿 Wooden Eggs – Available at craft stores and perfect for painting, stamping, or even decoupage
🗂️ The same goes for cardboard or foam eggs
🧦 Sock Eggs – Fill colorful socks with rice or beans and tie them off for a fun, reusable craft
🪵 Salt Dough Eggs – Make your own with simple pantry ingredients, bake, and paint them
⛳️ Golf Balls – Find a variety of colors, grab some Sharpies and stickers and decorate away. Also, a great option to hide them around the yard.
Now a few ideas we tried:
The only thing we purchased were the eggs. And that included both matte and shiny plastic eggs, the fillable eggs–the same kind kids soon will be finding at egg hunts and wooden eggs. Then we raided the craft bin, desk and junk drawer and a few holiday decoration containers in the garage for all other things used to decorate the eggs.
Read on for our full list of creative Easter egg decorating ideas—because tradition is what you make it! 🐰✨ If you have your own twist on Easter eggs? We’d love to see it!
Here is a quick photo of most of the eggs we experimented with. Hot mess? Absolutely. Still cleaning up the mess? Yup! Glad you tried this multi-stepped idea? Without a doubt. Scroll to the end to see the photo of all of the supplies we scrounged around and found!
Tie-Dye-Like Magic, Kid-Style
We grabbed a few colors of paint, a baking pan, and a wooden egg—and let creativity do the rest. With lots of swirling motion moving the pan around, our little artist wobbled the egg around the pan. The result? A totally fun, slightly chaotic, and super pretty tie-dye effect!
Sure, it got a little messy (okay, a lot), but she had a blast—and honestly, the finished egg was kind of a masterpiece.
We Tried Glitter… So You Don’t Have To
Full disclosure: we’re not a glitter-loving household. But in the name of Easter, we made the ultimate sacrifice—glitter eggs.
Armed with hot glue and a “go big or go home” attitude, we dipped, sprinkled, and repeated (over and over and over). The end result? Shiny, sparkly, gorgeous… and an explosion of glitter that may haunt us until July.
Was it worth it? Honestly, kinda. Will we do it again? TBD.
Eggless Easter Egg Era Vibes
We’re fully living our eggless Easter egg era this year, and this little pink gem is giving major Swiftie energy. After painting a wooden egg pastel pink, we added letter beads—because if we’re not making friendship bracelets, we’re at least making Easter eggs that look like them.
It’s cute, it’s crafty, and it won’t crack under pressure. Just like a true Swiftie.
Sharpies, Not Splurges
In our house, the fancy, fillable eggs usually come packed with goodies, treats, and a few shiny coins. But this year? We added a little extra flair with a pack of Sharpies—and honestly, it was kind of genius.
We tested all sorts of colors, though the metallics and darker shades definitely stole the show. Just a few of our creations are pictured here (because let’s be real, some eggs turned into… abstract art).
Cheap, cheerful, and no dye cups required!
Yarn + Patience = One Fluffy Masterpiece
We had a hunch that yarn might make a cute egg cover—and we weren’t wrong. It did take some trial and error (turns out ovals aren’t the easiest shape to wrap), but with a little hot glue and a lot of yarn, we made it work.
The end result? A soft, fluffy egg that’s about 1.5x the size of your standard plastic one, and way cuter. Cozy, colorful, and definitely a standout in our eggless Easter lineup.
Tissue Paper + Decoupage = Stained Glass Egg Vibes
This one was a total win: plastic eggs, a handful of tissue paper squares, and an inexpensive brush dipped in decoupage. We layered on the color—again and again (and again)—until the eggs looked like mini stained glass masterpieces.
The darker colors definitely took over, but the effect was pretty magical. Super simple, quick to crate, budget-friendly, and perfect for little hands—or impatient grown-ups.
Tiny Pom-Poms, Big Personality
These teeny-tiny pom-poms were actually a happy accident (thanks, online ordering mishap). But with a hot glue gun and a little patience, we turned a plain egg into a fuzzy, colorful masterpiece.
We covered the whole thing—and honestly? It’s giving craft store couture. Bright, bouncy, and odd as it sounds… satisfying to look at. (GLAM Kid description here)😊
A Napkin Never Looked So Cute
We had a few festive napkins lying around, so we got snippy with it. First separating the layers of the napkin and then cutting out shapes from the top layer and using a brush with decoupage to smooth them onto plastic eggs.
One egg got the less-is-more treatment with a single bunny cutout. The other? Full smiley-face chaos with multiple layers. And we kind of love it. 🙂
Turns out, napkins aren’t just for messes. They are the moment. We thought about sharing a video showcasing our process but it was not nearly as pretty of a process as shown here with @cassolive
Googly-Eyed and Gloriously Goofy
We have never seen a googly-eyed Easter egg before—and honestly, we may never say that sentence again. But here we are. Armed with a glue gun, a bunch of plastic eggs, and an unreasonable amount of googly eyes, we went for it. The result? Slightly creepy. Totally hilarious. Weirdly lovable.
They watch you. You watch them. It’s an odd egg vibe.
Fabric-Wrapped & Funny (kind of like us and this Easter egg blog)
We pulled out some spring-colored fabric and got creative—two ways.
First up: we tore the fabric into skinny strips and wrapped the egg like a little Easter mummy. Which felt pretty on-brand, considering Downtown East Lansing lovingly calls us the Greater Area Area Mummies every fall. It felt right to bring that energy into spring.
Next: larger fabric pieces, trimmed and glued on for a cleaner look. Still fun, still festive, and honestly, fabric eggs open up so many possibilities. Soft, colorful, and full of personality—just like us! 💚😊🐣
Streamers, Swirls & Serious Commitment…and we got a bit bored and didn’t quite get to the vision
Think the metallic plastic icicles some put on Christmas trees but in purple and pink hues. We grabbed some—and decided to turn them into Easter egg fashion. A dab of glue to anchor it, then we wrapped (it was shiny and we forgot a photo).
We also used shredded paper in pink and blue for a textured twist. Same method: glue one end, layer it up, let it dry, repeat. We should have added more layers to get a more “festive Fabergé” energy.
Not Eggs… But Still Egg-stra
Okay, not technically Easter eggs—but we couldn’t resist adding in a little rock art. With a warm rock (fresh from the oven—we preheated the oven for 250F and while it was heating up, set the rocks on a foil lined oven safe container–we used a pie plate and it took about 5-6 minutes to be warm ), a handful of crayons and we created beautifully swirled, melty masterpieces. The rocks can be quite warm, use caution. We used the knit “skinny” gloves that are known for getting soaked immediately in the snow but protected her little fingers from the warm rocks.
The colors glide on like butter, and the results? Totally unpredictable and super fun. After they cooled, we placed them outside in the garden—where we’ll eventually plant flowers.
Because who says Easter creativity has to stay egg-shaped?
WARNING: Do you know this can be a wax-mess! Make sure that you have either placement or paper towel underneath the rock.
Easter… But Make It Par-Tastic – already mentioned yet we forgot to snap a photog
No, we didn’t raid the good golf balls (calm down, Dad). We’re talking about the well-loved, seen-better-days balls from the bottom of the bag—or the $5 bucket you snag from that neighbor selling them on the side of the road.
We used Sharpies, paint—whatever we had on hand—and turned them into mini masterpieces. They’re round(ish), white, and honestly? Kinda egg-adjacent.
Our little artist is fully convinced Dad will be using these on the course this spring. We, however, kindly disagree.
Are you still reading? Thanks! Now for a couple more ideas we found that we thought would be fun to try with more faux eggs!
Whew… what a bunch of things we were able to find. Forgot the Mod Podge because it spilled all over a nearby counter…
Was this Eggless Ideas for Easter Eggs blog helpful? Or looking for additional Easter activities, events and ideas? Visit any of the links below for more!
GLAMoms Guide to Easter Fun in Greater Lansing
Easter Egg Hunt and Bunny Hop on the Square presented by Downtown Lansing Inc.
