So Easter is pretty cute, right? There’s adorable spring colors, cute little eggs to hunt for, and candy everywhere. My nana used to make these amazing sugared string Easter egg baskets for me every year. I was obsessed with them and thought she was a magician or something because they were always perfect and sparkly and made with SUGAR. As I got older, she stopped making them, but there is not a year that goes by where I don’t talk about about her awesome Easter creations.
This year I decided I would make them and show you guys how it’s done. I texted her to make sure I remembered the steps correctly and she texted back with blurry pictures from the pages of her decades-old crafting notes. They read:
SUGAR EGGS
3 cups sugar
1 cup water
Approx. 9 drops of food color for pastel sugar (optional)
3-9 inch balloon
1 spool crochet thread (350 yards)
Lace or ribbon
Acrylic Spray (optional)
“Blow up balloon to approximately 1 foot in length and tie. While holding balloon close to your body, wrap thread firmly, vertically, horizontally, and criss-crossing until you have used the whole spool. Just leave the end of the string tucked or loose, the sugar coating will keep it in place.”
“Mix sugar and hot water. Pour large spoonfuls of the mixture on to the balloon letting mixture run down sides. Mixture is thick and won’t run too fast. Periodically and toward the end, use your hands to spread the mixture over the egg so all the thread gets moistened.”
“Place balloon on the empty cardboard-like spool to dry. Place a plate under the spool to catch drippings.”
“Let dry for about 24 hours. When bottom is still a little soft, pop the balloon with a needle or pin, and sit on counter, the bottom will flatten out. With a pen, mark an opening about 5″ wide and 7″ long. With sharp scissors, carefully cut opening.”
“Spray inside and out with two light coats of clear acrylic spray (to preserve). Decorate with ribbons, bows, flowers, etc. Two rows of lace looks best to cover raw edges of opening.”
That’s it! The sugar mixture dries to becomes a hard, sparkly, crystalized shell.
Decorate your little bunny houses how ever you’d like. I used pastel colored crochet thread and white sugar. I like the look of the raw edge so I kept mine simple and decorated with colorful Easter grass, flowers, a bow, and of course a chocolate bunny and candy inside.
Click here to learn how to make these Sugar String Nests, too.
Melodrama 
These are sooooo cute!!!!
So I did the recipe for the sugar egg basket. It’s drying but wondered how long they last for and are ants attracted to it? Do I need to spray something on outside? Thanks. 😊
Hi! I actually still have the yellow one from this post and it is just as good as when I made it. So they hold up extremely well after they’ve dried for long enough. If you’re worried about ants you can spray the entire thing with shellac or poly sealer. Hope that helps!
I made one about 40 years ago and did not use a spray preservative, and it still looks pretty good. We have weathered the years together!!!!
Making the baskets in our sunday school class. Was going to wrap balloons with string, one week, and pour sugar glaze the next week. Do we have to worry about the balloon shrinking over the course of the week. Should we do both steps the same week?