We are all familiar with the Faberge eggs - the large Imperial Easter eggs which contained surprises especially commissioned as gifts for for the Russian Romanov royal family. But the legendary master jeweler also made a lot of smaller and less ornate ones including tiny gemstone Easter egg pendants.
I saw a marvelous collection when it exhibited in Montreal a few years ago - check out the post as I shared a couple of my pictures of these egg pendants. Also this post
Rare Gemstones : Alexandrite and the Last of the Romanovs for some fascinating history on this tragic family.
Most Easter egg jewelry designs are usually brightly colored, rather like the actual painted or dyed eggs often done at this time of year. So this tutorial does something different - inspired by Faberge's inch long gemstone egg pendants. Instead of gemstones, I used polymer clay in jewel tones - black for onyx, a buff colored clay for faux pearls and blue to represent a wide variety of blue gemstones. Instead of real diamonds, I used rhinestone crystals.
Some ideas do take time to get right!
My first try was with
resin clay (Apoxie Sculpt)
- this is a two part clay which is activated when mixed together and hardens without heat. Its adhesive quality is why I like using it in the first place. But the egg shape was difficult to create as this clay is a bit softer and heavier than polymer clay. So the charms and crystals sank into the clay each time I tried to maintain the egg shape.
The next experiment was with a polystyrene egg. I used it as the form and added a layer of prepared resin clay. It was better than using resin clay alone as the embellishments were less likely to get lost in the clay. Plus you will use less clay. But the resulting egg was bigger than I wanted for the pendants. You can indeed make much larger decorative eggs if you wish - your very own "Faberge" eggs. The dollar stores are selling these polystyrene eggs in all sorts of sizes right now.
So I went on to use polymer clay to make the pendants. I did
not use the polystrene eggs as the forms.
Others have found that polystrene will shrink in the oven. So probably not a good thing for my designs as I do not know if the polymer clay will maintain its shape.
Fimo Soft is not my favorite clay - I prefer
Premo Clay 
which is firmer and better for jewelry making. However, I bought this Fimo a while ago and have to use it up!
I conditioned the polymer clay by passing it through a pasta machine several times. I made a ball and then gently rolled the ends to create the egg shape.
I also applied some pretty silver pearlized mica powder (you can get them
in all sorts of metallic colors
) to make my faux pearl egg.
Next I secured a piece of wire (for the bail) into the clay egg so it will stay put without having to glue it later. This is adapted from the commonly used method of inserting eye pins into polymer clay charms.
I made a short bend to one end of the wire. I marked the depth I wanted the wire to go to without piercing out the bottom of the egg.
First insert the short bend as shown below. Then bring the wire to vertical and push into the egg until it reaches the mark. Then twist the wire so the bend really gets into the clay. See
Cindy Lietz's full instructions here. (This photo below is blur because I forgot to use the timer!)
I used beautiful TierraCast bead caps for the tops of the pendants. They were sent to me for review. There are so many patterns to choose from - these
TierraCast Pewter Bead Caps
are just one example!
The next step is to press metal rondelles , bead caps, crystals firmly into the clay. Make as deep an impression as you can.
I used some vintage crystal chatons which I purchased from a vendor closing up. But you can get
some lovely Swarovski ones! The small ones can be tricky to hold and insert, so use a crystal applicator tool.
There are all kinds - as you can see I use a budget friendly one!
I also used this opportunity to test out for myself if the different coated
20 G Parawire I used would survive in the oven. And it did!
Bake the eggs according to the polymer clay manufacturer's instructions. You can leave all the wire and rondelles during baking. The metal pieces do stick a little but not permanently. I removed the crystals in case they are affected with the heat.
When the eggs have cooled, I gave them a couple of coats of water based varnish like Varathane's Diamond Finish. I got the smallest can possible from my local hardware store.
Dry in between layers.
Once the vanish had dried, remove
all the metal pieces from the eggs. Some pieces might seem to be stuck but believe me that will not hold over time. So glue all the rondelles, wire, bead caps and crystals onto the eggs. I prefer using
Super New Glue
(very strong and doesn't seem to get brittle like the common Super Glue). This is a liquid glue which sets very quickly, so don't tarry.
Super New Glue is less messy than E6000 which is why I avoided the latter. But I was forced to use E6000 for the gorgeous Swarovski marguerite flowers on the blue egg because I failed to make deep enough impressions. So I had to add a glob of it to make sure there was enough glue to hold the marguerite.
Inevitably I got glue smeared on the polymer egg! And compounded the problem by trying to wipe it off with a paper towel!
There is an easy fix. I used
3000 Grit Sandpaper
to gently take off the boo-boo. You can also get this at a good automotive supply shop.
You can then make a wrapped loop for the bail. I used a double loop.
See this past post on how to wire wrap bails for more ideas.Once all the eggs are ready to go, add the chain. I wanted to make a claspless sautoir (long necklace style popular with the Edwardians) so I used a jump ring to connect both ends of the chain to the pendant bail.
Pity I don't have an Edwardian dress for my mannequin!
Do you have the same trouble as me? Designs just simply don't make it to a shop as they get diverted to one's personal jewelry collection!
PhotographyI used natural light, my iPhone 6S with the ProCamera app and the Modahaus TS400 tabletop studio and the Steady Stand for final product photography. The tutorial pictures were taken with the same equipment but with artificial lights in my windowless basement studio. Check out my
How to Photograph Jewelry Webinar .
DisclosureI do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation.
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