You know when you see the perfect project. You admire it. You think about it. You realize you could absolutely do THAT project and it would look fabulous in your home. Yes, I have many of those 'ah ha!' moments. My problem is that I always feel the need to make the project my own. So with that for shadowing, let's start with my latest project
It's an egg garland. Made from brown eggs. Seriously, how much easier could it get? I have certainly blown out eggs before. We actually eat quite a few eggs in a week. No issues with eggs.
My journey began with my quest for brown eggs. You may have noticed from my last post with the table runner, I'm going for a more natural feel for Easter this year. So I figured I would just buy 5 dozen brown eggs at Sam's or Costco and call it good. Or...not. Neither store carried brown and the minimum to buy was 15 dozen at Sam's. Yeah, I don't need that many!! Second, only my local grocer sold brown eggs, and at $3.50 a dozen, it was quickly adding up to what my egg garland could cost.
Then I have a light bulb moment. I would simply tea dye my eggs! I've used tea or coffee to stain many things before, and I find natural fibers dye the best. Eggs are natural, right? So this is what my first dozen looked like:
NOT pretty. Certainly not anything that I would want to hang up every year. And blown eggs are so delicate! While I do store my holiday decor in plastic totes, it wouldn't take much for the egg garland to get smashed and broken.
Not willing to admit defeat, I thought about a few more options. Like papermache eggs. But I'm feeling pressured on time to make them (and I was worried they'd look homemade!) and I couldn't find any local that were what I would consider to be an affordable price. Back to the drawing board.
I was at Hobby Lobby today exchanging bias tape when I remembered a wreath I had pinned. I seemed to recall that she just spray painted plastic eggs to match her decor. Could it really be so simple? I have a ton of eggs I bought after Easter last year at Target on clearance. My only concern was that my eggs are small, and I thought maybe I might want some a little larger. So I picked up a couple of packets of medium-ish sized eggs, a can of paint, and headed home.
Oh. My. Some of these eggs are BRIGHT! I didn't think the first coat of paint did much, until I saw the top photo. Ok, so that's toned down. But still not neutral creamy-tannish color I'm going for. Clearly, it's going to take several more coats of paint to get them where need them to be. I've already added second coat as I write this blog, and they're looking...better...still not quite right though. I'm hoping the third coat is the charm! Well, then there's the speckling to do as well. Because I need brown speckled eggs for my garland, right?
To add insult to injury, this is what's hanging on my front door:
I didn't even bother to edit the photo, it's such a pathetic excuse for a wreath. So I need these eggs to come out as I'm picturing them in my head to save me from total egg disgrace!
More to come...
It's an egg garland. Made from brown eggs. Seriously, how much easier could it get? I have certainly blown out eggs before. We actually eat quite a few eggs in a week. No issues with eggs.
My journey began with my quest for brown eggs. You may have noticed from my last post with the table runner, I'm going for a more natural feel for Easter this year. So I figured I would just buy 5 dozen brown eggs at Sam's or Costco and call it good. Or...not. Neither store carried brown and the minimum to buy was 15 dozen at Sam's. Yeah, I don't need that many!! Second, only my local grocer sold brown eggs, and at $3.50 a dozen, it was quickly adding up to what my egg garland could cost.
Then I have a light bulb moment. I would simply tea dye my eggs! I've used tea or coffee to stain many things before, and I find natural fibers dye the best. Eggs are natural, right? So this is what my first dozen looked like:
NOT pretty. Certainly not anything that I would want to hang up every year. And blown eggs are so delicate! While I do store my holiday decor in plastic totes, it wouldn't take much for the egg garland to get smashed and broken.
Not willing to admit defeat, I thought about a few more options. Like papermache eggs. But I'm feeling pressured on time to make them (and I was worried they'd look homemade!) and I couldn't find any local that were what I would consider to be an affordable price. Back to the drawing board.
I was at Hobby Lobby today exchanging bias tape when I remembered a wreath I had pinned. I seemed to recall that she just spray painted plastic eggs to match her decor. Could it really be so simple? I have a ton of eggs I bought after Easter last year at Target on clearance. My only concern was that my eggs are small, and I thought maybe I might want some a little larger. So I picked up a couple of packets of medium-ish sized eggs, a can of paint, and headed home.
To add insult to injury, this is what's hanging on my front door:
I didn't even bother to edit the photo, it's such a pathetic excuse for a wreath. So I need these eggs to come out as I'm picturing them in my head to save me from total egg disgrace!
More to come...
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