Saturday, March 31, 2012

6-year Easter Eggs

O-K!  One of the reasons that I started this blog was to finish all of the projects that I had laying around.  (Believe me when I tell you there are A LOT.)  This particular project I began when I was staying home when I was home on maternity leave after my son was born.  He is six.  That's right, six.  SIGH!  I got the idea for this project from my Martha Stewart Magazine.  There was this completely cute arrangement of thread-wrapped carrots, bunnies, and eggs.  I knew that I could do that!  HERE is the link from Martha's website. (I still have the pages from the magazine that I pulled out for reference.)

I spent several days wrapping eggs - 40 of them.  Then, I moved on to another project before I could finish decorating them.  SIGH!  Fast forward several years.  I was finishing my old projects, trying new recipes, blogging about my efforts when I was pulled up short.  Decorating these eggs was on deck waiting to become my next accomplishment when I got strep throat.  Everything came to a crashing halt.  After that, it seemed pointless to finish an Easter craft after Easter so I put it off again.

Now,  I can finally say...HOORAY!  I finished another one!  Of course, I readily admit that I am about six years late with this project, but it is done and that is really all that matters right?  Right!

Eeek!  Huge thumb!

I don't have any photos of the wrapping of the eggs because I wasn't thinking about blogging then.  I will tell you the technique that I used to wrap the eggs.

  • Start by putting a straight pin in one end of the egg (or sphere).  
  • Brush around the pin with a thin layer of glue (I used white glue) about a half and inch or so.
  • Leave a tail of thread about 2 inches long.  Brush it with glue to secure it to the side of the egg.
  • Begin wrapping the thread around the pin.  The first few wraps are the most difficult.  
  • Continue wrapping around the egg until you get to the middle.  
  • Stop wrapping and begin again at the other end of the egg (or sphere).
  • Finish the wrapping in the middle.

Make sure you keep the glue layer very thin.  While it does dry clear, too much glue will saturate the thread fibers and affect the sheen of the thread.  This cannot be fixed once it is done without removing the bad thread and starting over.  This would not be as much of a problem when using larger cord or yarn.  I used embroidery floss so it was a definitely something I had to think about. 

Once your eggs are dry (no need to wait 6 years)....DECORATE!

I used both white glue and hot glue to stick down the decorations.  I used various small ribbons, trims, and other embellishments to decorate the eggs.  Here are some photos...

Gluing on the decorations.  I got the above bag of tiny trims for $5!  Amazing!

I had some "help."

Lots of "help."
(I still haven't finished organizing my ribbons and things after all of this help.  :) I see a post in that mess somewhere!

Now...the moment you have all been waiting for...here are the finished eggs!




I cut the long ribbon of trim into individual daisies. 

I like the effect achieved by the flash off the corner of the glass.

More "help."

You can see darker spots on the upper blue and green eggs where the thread got too saturated by the glue.

Here is a favorite.

You want to use flexible trim to decorate the oblong shape of the eggs. 

You can add screw eyes to either the top or the bottom of the eggs to make them suitable for hanging.

I really like the look of this bow on the top of the egg,

Here I used a vintage button.



Well, that's it.  These are my eggs.  I am glad that they are done (finally), and I am pleased with the way they turned out!  I can now truly enjoy the fruits of my labor instead of feeling guilty about the bag full of undecorated eggs lurking in my craft closet year after year patiently waiting for me to get my act together. 


Finish a project that you have been putting off.  You'll be glad you did!  I know I am!

I would love it if you became a follower of my blog.  You can also find men HERE on Facebook and HERE on Pinterest.  

If you enjoyed this springtime post you might enjoy this post on Making a Fabric Flower Wreath or this post to make a Bunny To-PEEP-ary.  You could also try this post fora fun Teacher Pencil Bouquet

5 comments:

The Atomic Mom said...

Ok...When I saw it said "6 year eggs" it made me think of the second Easter on my mission, when I saved a real Easter Egg someone had given me on the book shelf because it was so pretty. Then one hot July day we came home and it had exploded in the house....totally stinking up the place. I'm glad this was not the case here! :)

Lorilee said...

Wow, they are so pretty. I have a sampler quilt that I started over 13 years ago! I may have to try some eggs first!
Blessings,
Lorilee

Leah H. said...

You got a beautiful helper there.. Colorful eggs and fancy..

Visiting for Pink Sundays- hope you can stop by:)

http://www.loveablecassandra.com/2012/03/shes-my-yellow-bear.html

Tina said...

These are so pretty. I love them.

Kristie said...

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO beautiful!! SO much more amazing than the image I had in my head when you told me about them....how many years ago? ha ha ha. :) These are incedible!! Bravo, Bravo!!! That pic with them all is like a Martha photo shoot! SO beautiful!!!