Tutorial Tuesday: Embroidered Easter Eggs (the easy way)

Last week, Craft Gossip posted a link to these embroidered eggs featured on the Needle n Thread blog:

and I've been thinking about them ever since. That led me to find this project

posted along with a tutorial by CelineG on Hand Dyed Fibers.com. First you punch the holes, then you stitch the ribbon through and hope to God it doesn't crack.

I also found these on Wikipedia

 

made by  a Ukrainian folk artist named Forostyuk Inna. Amazing!

I just had to try this myself, so last night I whipped up these:

Except I cheated. I let someone else do the embroidery... a long time ago. I simply got out my vintage suitcase full-o-embroidered pieces that I've purchased at estate sales, flea markets, antique shops, etc. over the years and chose a few to (gasp!) cut up. Apologies to the ladies (I'm assuming) who worked so hard on these but remember, I rescued them because I recognized the time and talent that went into each piece and I held on to them for the perfect project. This was it.

Here's how you do it:

First, blow the yolk out of some eggs. If you're not sure how to do this, read this tutorial - How to Decoupage Easter Eggs - which I posted in 2009. 

Now, find an embroidered linen, the thinner and more lightweight, the better.

Next, carefully cut out the embroidered part close to, but not clipping the stitches.

Now, coat the backside with Mod Podge.

and carefully press onto an egg. For an all-over shiny look you can Mod Podge over top of the embroidered piece if you like. Let it dry overnight. To add a hanging device, squirt some hot glue into the hole and insert a wire or ribbon.

 

 

 

It's the perfect project for those delicate intricately embroidered hankies you never want to blow your nose into but can't bring yourself to give away. It's nice to see these pieces out of storage and on display.

 

How To Decoupage Easter Eggs

I'm on an egg decorating kick right now. Today I completed these:

They're decoupaged with cut-outs from a vintage Ladies Home Journal. Here's how I did it:

First, punch holes in either end of the egg like this:

I found if you use a strong straight pin and punch small holes in a circle like that, you can remove the center and have a decent sized hole. Next, blow out the yolk. Better yet, get a kid to do it.

Rather than dump all those yolks down the drain, make yourself some quiches!* I added broccoli, ham, swiss cheese and ground pepper to some roll-out pie crust. So easy!

(*Quiches may contain traces of tiny eggshell bits and kidspit.)

Next, find some images that inspire you. I chose this:

and this:

Then cut out the parts you like. Here's how I made the miniature album covers egg. . .

First, coat the egg in Mod Podge (or your favorite decoupage), apply your paper cut-outs, then add more decoupage over top.

Keep layering it until it's covered. When the paper gets saturated it becomes more pliable. I used my fingers to smooth the rough edges.

Leave one of the holes open so you can add a hanging device. When it's dry, squirt some hot glue in the hole and insert a ribbon.

Tie the ends in a bow around the base and you're finished!

Here's how I made my shrunken egghead. . .

First, I painted an egg with nail polish and cut out Sofia Loren's lips and eyeballs:

Again, coat the egg in Mod Podge (or your favorite decoupage), apply your paper cut-outs, then add more decoupage over top and smooth down the rough edges when the paper becomes pliable.

Hot glue some hair on top and Viola!

Nothing says Happy Easter like a sexy shrunken egghead!

Studio Tuesday - Ribbon wrapped coffee can tutorial

It's not February anymore, but I never got around to posting this:

He's holding his Valentine container that we made together. Here's a side view:

And here's the top. I let him use my label maker:

We stayed up past his bedtime making it the night before his Valentine's party at school. He enjoyed using the hot glue gun (maybe a little too much) and it was tedious and messy, but when I tucked him in that night he said, "You know mom, I like making stuff with you. We should do that every night." Awww. He was so proud of it when he took it to school the next day.

Coffee cans are great for storing notions and other little things. There are lots of ways you can spruce up a plain old utilitarian can. I recently saw a beaded one Susan Beal posted on CraftStylish and some she made with bias tape and posted on her blog West Coast Crafty.

I've made these over the years and they've held up nicely:

They hold my elastic and bottle caps.

Wanna make your own? It's easy. Just get some ribbon, measure it to fit around the can, and line it up so it fits together and covers the surface.

Then start gluing it down.

I use hot glue, doing an inch at a time, burning myself occasionally. You could try other craft glues if you like. It's going to be messy either way.

If you can line up the edges nice and neat, then more power to you. I can't. You can cover it with a ribbon though, so don't worry if this part isn't pretty.


You'll probably go through about 10 sticks of hot glue, so have them ready. Also, don't let the glue sit too long before you press the ribbon down, or it won't stick right. When you've covered the entire can, glue the end of a ribbon over the edges like this:


Then fold it over and glue it down. When you get to the end, fold it under and glue it down so all your raw edges are nicely hidden.

It'll look like this:


Here's the front:

I didn't like the words on the lid so I found this picture in an old Ladies Home Journal:

I cut out part of the image to fit inside the circle:

and Mod Podged it down.

And here's how it turned out:

Here they are all together:

Crafting with Glasses - A Tutorial.

Inspired by the pin from yesterday's post (thank you anonymous crafter!), I made these:

This is how I did it:

First, I popped the lenses out of two pairs of my old and broken glasses. Then I searched around my studio for images that would fit inside them.

Then I cut out the fabric (make sure to leave room around the edges - you can trim it later).

Coat the lens in Mod Podge, lay the fabric down, and coat the back of the fabric to saturate it:

I also cut out this picture from my old Woman's Day magazine.

Pretty Eve, indeed. I also chose an embroidered S and a picket fence:

Then I let those dry and went to pick up Sage at kindergarten. On the way home I stopped by the American Way in Burbank and bought these ugly glasses:


And turned the lenses into a dancing couple, a lemon, a shirt and a strawberry. These are the backs:

I hot glued flat-backed craft pins to the backs of them, then cut tiny holes in the felt for the prongs to fit through, then glued the felt down. I suggest a craft glue or super glue for this, as well as for adhering a decorative cord around the rim. Hot glue is a bitch. Also, this craft is messy. Don't do it on the new ironing board cover you just made and were so proud of, because you will end up getting glue on it and cursing in front of your children.

This was completely unintentional, but I like how these three fit together:

Happy crafting!

edited to add: After a bit of Googling, I found more tutorials for this here and here. I like this craft because every one comes out different.

also edited to add: Thanks to Jenny for featuring this on Craftzine.com! . . . and Jen from indie fixx!. . . and the folks from the HGTV message boards!