embroidery hoop eggs four ways: embroidered

 I picked up a small bag of embroidery hoops at my local thrift store some time ago and thought I would turn the oval shaped hoops into eggs of sorts...mister went off camping last weekend while I nursed my allergies and enjoyed a pajama day and got to egging it up with burlap and hoops. Here's a traditional(ish) egg...simple embroidery with fancy french knots...

spring diy: hanging egg mobile

I spotted these ombre-esque egg packs at Target a few weeks ago and snatched 'em up to create some sort of hanging dealio. With only twelve eggs I like how it turned out...not sure if I like it better with washi tape or without. Two packs of eggs would probably create a super nifty chandelier. I may do that if I get back over to Target and if they have any left. 

I used a large-eyed darning needled threaded with embroidery floss to string the eggs together using the convenient holes already in place. At the bottom of each egg, I looped my thread back through the bottom holes to create a knot of sorts. The egg can still be manipulated along the floss but it isn't loosey-goosey enough to slip every-which-way. I wanted more than three strands and so I mixed 'em up as best as I could. One of the strands only has two eggs on it but I spaced them out enough so that I think it works. More eggs would probably look niftier. I should have picked up two packs. Drats!

For the base, I used an itty-bitty embroidery hoop. Each strand was knotted to the base with mostly equal spacing in between. I write mostly equal as I didn't actually measure anything, I eyeballed it and knotted away. To cover up the knots, I added a bit of washy tape to the hoop but not until I tied on two longer lengths of floss to use for hanging. So that the mobile hangs fairly straight, I played with the distances of the tied bits and then knotted the two hanging lengths together about three inches down from the top. The knot secured the balance (sort of) and the loop at the top is perfect for hanging.

Hang in a happy place and enjoy...or add some washi tape and then hang. 

My eggs are now clattering away outside on the front porch. They add just enough happy spring color to make me smile when I wander out to get the mail. Happy spring crafting!

making the bed: art of the month

For the march bed I had this idea to make a bunch of frilly newspaper flowers to put up on the wall but couldn't decide on which kind to make. I then spotted this project (via decor8) which I immediately pinned and wondered how it would translate into larger flowers.

I love painting newspaper. Love it! It takes me back to kindergarten and gives me a chance to play with odd color combos. By doing up a new sheet of paper every week or so (or day), I manage to create a small pile for crafting into when the mood takes me there. All you need to do is blob paint onto one side and along the center fold, fold paper in half and smooch away. It's quite cathartic, inexpensive, and it packs a pretty punch. Thank goodness for that stack since I somehow managed to miss-cut my flower base three times! I kept cutting all the way through my folds thus ending up with two pieces instead of one happy flower shape (I was beginning and ending my cutting on the same side, don't do that). Not one to let it all go to waste, I figured out a way to incorporate the mistakes and ended up with a large floofy flower of sorts that adds just the right touch to my march bed.

You might be able to see that I accordion-folded the two miss-cut pieces and then tied them together. I cut two small slits in the large flower and used the yarn-tails to adhere the middle sized petals by lacing the yarn through the slits and tying the ends together in the back. I then cut one of my other miss-cut pieces into a smaller flower following the pinned instructions, with success! A short length of crepe paper streamer was fringed then rolled to create the center of the flower. I used a piece of washi tape to keep it together and a big whopping blob of glue to adhere the smallest flower to the middle and then the flower center to the top. Does that even make sense? Let's see...the largest flower layer is layer one, followed by the tied layer two, then the glue layer three and finally the center. The whole shebang is taped to my wall using packing tape that so far has not attacked us in our sleep. Overall, a fairly quick (save for drying time) and easy project (as long as you cut along the right folds...think diamond shape).

the march bed

Okay, here it finally! The march bed! I am so happy I managed to get that darn newspaper flower done. My orignal plan was an utter failure but when life gives me lemons I get to making lemonade. Wheee! 

And I filled it out with tons o' green! Green! Green! Green! What do ya think...is that a lady or a man up there? 

mister and I have turned off our internet for awhile as the cost was slightly prohibitive. If all goes well, we'll be up and running sometime next week and I'll be piggybacking on the wifi at the homestead. Happy St. Patrick's Day! I have discovered that I only own two green things to wear other than socks. I have quite a few pairs of green socks) so I need to whip up something along the lines of this, reinspired by this. 

paint a tinted garland for St. Patrick's Day!

Here is a grown-up version of my ombre garland from scrumdilly-do! By grown-up I mean I cut the bottoms a smidge fancier than a kiddo would and stitched the whole thing together instead of stapling. I finally got a bit of crafting in what with being sick and all. Oof! 

One color of paint with white added a wee bit as you paint each fold of the paper. After cutting, fold over each strip and scallop it all up before stitching it. You can also use a whole punch and string it up, or maybe some glue or staples even. It doesn't need to be fancy, just happy!

i once spied...

A dapper man of a certain age cruising the produce aisle at my local market. He danced about with an air of forced nonchalance which had me eyeing him at the get go. His companion (wife? sister? girlfriend?) hummed to herself as she floated the shopping cart around the perimeter of the produce section completely oblivious to his dapper snacking. I watched as he plopped a strawberry into his mouth, tossed in a handful of grapes, sampled an apple of all things and even twirled a mushroom or two. I stopped my cart to watch with a smile on my face and found him watching me back, with a wink (yes a wink!) and a tip of his straw hat (I told he was dapper), he hooked his thumbs at the side of his pink and blue plaid vest and shuffle stepped away.

Then I laughed out loud when he snaked a tangerine from a display and tossed it up in the air, catching it in his worn hands that must have held a gentle heart or two at one time or another. Oh the things we can see if we only stop to look.