Make egg cups for Easter - Mr Beam Tutorial

What shouldn't be missing on any Easter table? Clear! The Easter eggs. And so that they are presented particularly well and do not roll away, it is best to pack them in a nice egg cup. Since this is something that is actually still missing in my Easter decoration box, here are a few DIY instructions on how you can quickly and easily make your own egg holder with your Mr Beam laser cutter. You can also see how other Mr Beam projects can be combined with it to create the perfect table decoration.

 

Cut your egg cups with the Mr Beam laser cutter

The egg cup file from the Mr Beam Design Store is suitable for both the S-head and the new X-head. If you have the S head, we recommend using the cutting mat to avoid gunshot residue on the back. If you don't have a cutting mat or are using the X-head (we don't recommend the cutting mat for our 10w laser as it can damage it), here are a few tricks to help you still get a smoke-free result.

In order for the smoke to escape underneath the material, you need to elevate it in some way. This can be done with magnet clips, for example, in which you can clamp your material. However, you should make sure that the laser head has a clear path to the point where the laser is to be applied.

Or you take a small piece of foam rubber and additionally clamp it in between to reduce the angle and thus the height of the clip. Another possibility are flat magnets or self-made material holders. You can find inspiration for this in the Mr Beam Facebook group.

Optimize file for X head

The order in which the laser is applied is also particularly important when using the clips. If the outline is cut first, your egg cup design may already fall out. As a result, the focus is no longer correct for the remaining cuts. However, this problem can easily be solved by giving the outer contour a different colour than the cutting lines on the inside. To do this, open your file with a graphics program of your choice, mark the object and select Split contour in Pathfinder. Now you can select and colour the outer contour individually.

Now, when setting the laser parameters, you can first set the outline to skip and only cut this contour in a second pass. It's easy to do with drag & drop. Incidentally, with the new X-head you can cut through 3 mm poplar plywood with just one cut, which means you're twice as fast.

Glue your egg holder together

Before you glue your Easter egg cup together, you should definitely remove soot residue from the individual parts on the edges and the engraving, otherwise ugly stains can occur when the glue mixes with the soot. I like to use a clean brush and paper towels for this.

You can carefully dab the engraving with the cloths and run along the cut edges. Then you take the brush and go again into all corners of your engraving. When all the individual parts are glued, it is best to use a screw clamp to build up a little pressure. This will hold your work together better.

How to decorate your table for Easter

As additional decoration, I made a cutlery bag and a pompom bunny from the Mr Beam Design Store. All you need for the cutlery bag is the file from the design store, a purple piece of felt and your laser. You can then thread your cutlery, a serviette or a greeting to your guests into the slots.

I created the Easter bunny cup with a pompom maker. The practical thing about it is that you don't have to thread it through the hole in the middle like you do with the cardboard rings. This makes it easier, especially for crafting Easter decorations with children. Of course, I cut out the rabbit feet with the Mr Beam laser cutter. After that, the whole thing just needs to be glued together and placed in a cup.

The Easter guests can come ready decorated. Or you can give away the DIY egg cup as a souvenir. I wish you a lot of fun imitating it and a great Easter!

Your Marie