Friday, March 2, 2012

Eastery DIY...

So Easter comes early this year folks; well here at the StayLucky it does anyhow. Those that know me know I am rarely (if ever) ready for an occasion this far ahead. I am a more do it all the night before cursing myself and my bad time management skills (maybe crying a little into whatever fancy craft I have decided is a must for said occasion) sort of gal. 
Well not this year! 
I would love to say I have turned over a new leaf, but that would be a super huge fib. I have however been asked to do this in a timely fashion by the lovely folks at Today's Parent.
We were super stoked to host a photo shoot for the magazine here at the house last week. The theme was Easter. So the kids got into some fancy Easter duds, invited over some friends and we decked out the place for the occasion. 
I managed to come up with not one, but two DIY's for this event - personalized, speckled Easter eggs, and a build your own nest centrepiece to put them in. Neither are hard, anyone can do them. I find the biggest challenge with DIY is the actually getting around to getting it did (if I can do it people, so can you)!


First up Speckled Eggs:


You will need:
- Eggs (dozen or so)
- Food colouring
- Vinegar
- Initial stickers
- Brown acrylic paint
- A toothbrush (preferably an old one)
- Bowls for mixing dyes and paint


Hard boil as many eggs as you need. Boiling extra is a good idea as some will always crack open, or roll off the counter in a mutinous sort of way. There are many different schools of thought on how to boil an egg (for real...who knew)? I went to Simply Recipes and followed their instructions.



Pick your desired initials and affix them to the boiled eggs. I got these lovely typewriter font stickers at Michaels.


Make sure each sticker is on good and snug or the dye will get underneath and mess with your crafty plans.


Combine 2 cups of warm water with 1tbsp of white vinegar and about 20 or so drops of your favourite food colouring into a bowl or coffee cup. Repeat steps for as many colours as you plan on using.


Place an egg in the dye. Gently roll the egg around a bit or you will end up with a whiter circle where its behind was poking out.



When eggs have reach your desired shade remove and pat dry.

Thin out some brown acrylic paint with water (not too watery). Dip an old toothbrush in and run a finger along the bristles to create a spatter effect on the eggs. I took the stickers off prior to this step, next time I would take them off last and keep the white initial underneath spatter free.


It is best to spatter at a distance keeps the drops more evenly spaced out (I got a bit close to the pink egg). Make sure you have laid down enough of a drop cloth, it can make quite a mess.


Let eggs dry and there you have it folks - lovely speckled personalized eggs perfect for your Holiday brunch. 


Next week - a DIY birds nest made out of a repurposed grapevine wreath to display all your pretty eggs in. Stay tuned, and in the meantime look for us in the next issue of Today's Parent on newsstands soon!
xo.










4 comments:

  1. These photos are beautiful! I can't wait to see the Today's Parent feature. They should hire you to do crafts for them all the time.

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  2. your lips to their ears!! thanks emma:)

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  3. i just saw this through the marion house. your pictures are beautiful! this might sound weird, but i wonder if you could use coffee instead of brown paint?

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  4. Thank you for such a simple project that we, who are not too crafty and short on time, can do! I linked to your project and used two of your photos in a post today and I hope that's okay. If not, I'm happy to take down the photos and leave the link. I'll look for the mag - I assume we can get it here in the States. Really looking forward to it.

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