How awesome would it be to have a giant dinosaur egg filed with dinosaur themed toys and candies? That was the thought I had when my son told me he wanted a dinosaur birthday last year.
So I decided to do it. Crazy right? I know, but not impossible!
It will take about 4-6 days to complete these. Don’t panic! I don’t mean straight 4-6 days, I am not THAT crazy!
Just a few hours each day with time for them to dry. The hours each day depends on how many you are making and how fast you are at handling the goo and paper. I had to stop a LOT to wash my hands cause the goo grossed me out….just to go get them gooey again…I know. I mentioned I had issues already right? Moving on!
Dinosaur Egg Treat Bags
You will need the following:
Balloons – 1-2 more than you need just in case
Newspaper – torn in strips
White paper – like computer paper, torn in strips
Flour
Water
String
A large bowl, something to hang the balloons from, a whisk and a quiet (or loud) work space.
1: All the preparations in the world….or your work area anyway.
First blow up the balloons to about 10-12 inches and tie a string to the closed end. Tie the balloons to something so they hang over a table or other surface and then lay newspaper down on the table.
If you don’t have a way to hang them just use weighted plastic cups as stands. Works great, but weigh them down or it is not so great. I learned the hard way to weigh them down…there were gooey messes all over.
Mix the flour and water with the whisk in the bowl and then tear the newspaper into strips. Next prepare for gooeyness!
2: The World of Goo!
Start dipping the strips of paper in the goo and applying them to the balloons. Try to make them even and smooth. Also, try not to overlap them too much. It dries faster if its a thin layer.
After you have covered all the balloons with a layer of gooey paper leave them to dry for about 24 hours. It might not take that long depending on where you have them but make sure they are completely dry before applying the next layer.
Once you have applied about 3-4 layers of goo filled paper (should take anywhere from 2-4 days) it is time to apply the final layer. The white paper might take the full 24 days to dry since its a bit thicker, but using this will make it easier to paint when the whole thing is dry. Think of it like painting primer first before the color…but with newspaper…and goo.
3: Stuff your egg!
You can choose to cut them open now to fill them with the favors and candy or after you spray paint. I cut all of mine before hand then used a piece of masking tape to help keep it closed so I could paint them safely. Once it is dry you can paint them any color you want to. I used spray paint to make it a LOT easier and faster.
We are going to pretend everyone will do what I did and cut them first. If you want to cut them after you have painted them skip to the paint part now.
Cut a zig zag pattern in the middle of the egg horizontally from one side of the egg to the other.
Make it large enough to fit all the prizes in.
Make sure any candy is sealed in bags or packages.
After you have filled the eggs use a small piece of masking tape over the middle of the cut (or a couple of small pieces spread out over the cut to keep the cut closed.
4: Ready. Set. Paint!
Since I was making dinosaur eggs I first sprayed them all with this texture spray paint I discovered while looking for colors. It is the coolest thing ever! If you are making a different kind of egg then you might not use this but OMG it was really cool looking.
Ahem, anyway, I lightly coated all the eggs with it so they appeared more rough.
I was making about sixteen eggs so I used it on four of them as the color, which made them look stone-like, which was awesome! The other twelve I sprayed either dark green, tan or gray. With the texture sprayed down first they looked really cool and the kids LOVED them.
If you want to fill the eggs now that they are painted here is a good way to do that.
5: Stuff your egg! (Unless you already did, then skip ahead)
With treats and small toys that is. Cut a zig zag pattern in the middle of the egg horizontally from one side of the egg to the other.
Make it large enough to fit all the prizes in.
Make sure any candy is sealed in bags or packages.
After you have filled the eggs use a small piece of masking tape over the middle of the cut (or a couple of small pieces spread out over the cut to keep the cut closed) and paint over the tape. You can also leave them as they are so they look like they are “hatching”.
Final Step: Party On! Dude! (…I know but I had too.)
Now that you have worked hard for about a week it’s time to have the party. Enjoy the moment the kids see the eggs! Then enjoy it even more when they rip them open! Or do what I did and cry a little at how fast they destroyed your hard work. These make great Easter Egg presents too!
THEN remember to enjoy the moment cause it was for them after all…keep telling yourself that but you might want to make one just for you. Well maybe a little was for me but the kids will LOVE them! Adults will too actually. I had several friends wish they had an egg treat bag but no way was I slaving for grown up kids…that is why I did this post…so they could make their own.
