Egg Hunt/Chicken - Easter Hanging Decorations Revised

Following on from last week’s “one off” these are my revised Easter Egg Hunt hanging decorations.

I stuck a short, narrow craft stick along the bottom of a small, wooden fence embellishment and then added little green Dovecraft Enamel Effects (The Range £1) along the edge to hopefully look like grass.

I managed to find some MDF laser cut Easter baskets on eBay that were in, more or lets the right proportion to the other embellishments.

To get a clear colour on the eggs, I first went over them with a fine, white Posca pen and then added the acrylic paint colours and a few extra doodliy bits when it was all properly dry.  I also varnished the baskets, which helped secure the paint as well as helping the colours to pop.

I made the sign posts using a small, coloured craft stick, which I trimmed with scissors to roughly the right shape.  I added the writing with a black biro to prevent any ink bleeding into the wood.  The posts themselves are coffee stirrers (from Costa) that I trimmed to the right height.

I added two beads layered together and then stuck them into the hollow of the painted, tin chickens to add extra dimension to the decoration.

Then came all the putting together, first the chicken was glued to a fence post followed by the signpost, added in the same way.

It looked a bit bare round the bottom of the fence, so I added some grass made from scraps of green paper with a few extra doodles to add contrast colour.  I also decided at this point to colour the signpost post brown as it didn’t really show up very well against the fence.

Next followed a scattering of fimo nail art flowers to add a little Easter colour, the baskets and two ladybirds, using a little less than my usual attention to proportion, but I think I’ve got away with it.

On the back I stuck a small jewellery bail to hang the decoration by.

I think they turned out pretty well …….. and there maybe another version brewing …….

Easter Chicken/Egg Hunt Hanging Decoration.

This particular idea is a one off because I only had one each of the sign post and basket stickers I used on it, however I liked the idea so much I am currently thinking about the possibility of making a few more, but using an MDF laser cut basket and my own made up sign post, to embellish it instead, so watch this space ……… 

Marc gave me the painted tin, chicken embellishments, which I absolutely adore, but they need using, rather than just be sat sitting in a drawer and simply lovingly gazed upon!

I started off by gluing a small, narrow craft stick along the bottom of a wooden fence embellishment and adding green Dovecraft 3D Enamel Effects (£1 The Range) along the edge to look like grass.

The chicken was slightly hollow so I layered and stuck a couple of flat wooden beads together into that hollow and then, when dry, glued the whole lot onto a fence post giving a little extra dimension. I used a good, strong wood glue for a secure bond.  I then added the basket and signpost.

The final touch was a small, flat jewellery bail stuck on the back for a thread to hang the decoration from on an Easter twig tree or vase of branches etc.

No great shakes really, the basket and egg hunt sign were foam stickers from long, long ago, their proportions perfect for this idea, but sadly very unlikely to be found again, which is why I am rethinking the idea.

Wooden Snowflake Wreath

I have wanted to make a delicate, snowflake  wreath for ages ........

....... it’s just the inspiration wasn’t there, however when I found a small, 7.5ins wooden embroidery hoop in a local charity shop for just 25p (giving me two frames to make two separate wreaths), I felt I no longer had an excuse not to at least play a little.

I started by taking the inner hoop and painting it white using a Wilko emulsion tester pot.

While the hoop was drying I sorted out all the white wooden snowflakes I had (I have no idea where any of them came from!). I found had three different sizes and shapes.

I only had twelve of the smallest snowflakes, so I decided to space them evenly round the hoop first and then add the largest snowflakes in between them, over the top, again spaced as evenly as I could (I hope that makes sense). It’s a little clearer on the reverse side.

When these were all securely in place, I added the snowflakes I had the most of in the middle of the largest ones ………

…… and then, emboldened by the way it was all shaping up, added another layer of them on the inside.

…….followed by another one on the outside, adding more dimension and width.

The wreath then needed some shine, as although pretty, it was a little flat, so I put a silver confetti snowflake in the middle of all the snowflakes …….

……. with a flat back pearl in the middle and a clear flat back gem in the centre of the original spacer snowflakes.

The final touch was a generous, but I hope, subtle application of Glitter Crystal Diamonds on all snowflake branches ……..

…….. which was a nightmare to capture in a photograph, with glitter it’s always a matter of lighting, in this spring daylight I wondered if I had actually put that much on, however I found it came into it’s own by candlelight, where it does look quite magical and exactly how I envisioned in my head.

Finally on the back I cobbled together a small loop to hang the wreath by, made by using thin, silver jewellery wire.

Now........ what to do with the other half of the embroidery hoop?

Christmas Cookie Cutter Tree Decorations.

When I first saw this idea for using metal cookie cutters to make Christmas tree decorations on Pinterest I absolutely loved it, but when I started to work out how I could make them myself I was sure they would involve far too much fiddle fart and have me heading for the gin bottle ……….

…… but when I saw The Works had reduced their festive cookie cutters from £3 to £1.50 after Christmas, the idea was still niggling at the back of  my mind, so by investing in two packs I guess I committed myself.

I decided using washi tape to go round the outside of the cutters would be the best way to go, no fiddly gluing. Fortunately I had a whole pack of at least 12 assorted polka dot rolls from The Works bought a while back.

This couldn’t have been more perfect, as it was just the right width to fit neatly under the bottom rim of the cutters, leaving a little of the metal exposed.

The bit I was dreading most was gluing the backing paper to the cutting edge of the cutters as it was sooooooooo narrow. I used papers from a Works Christmas 6” x 6” paper pad (£1) because the designs appeared to be pretty much in proportion to the size of the cutters, washi tape and the embellishments I planned to use.

I glued all round the cutting edge of the cutters and stuck them directly onto the paper, giving them plenty of time to dry thoroughly.

To make trimming the excess paper easier, I found fringing the paper all the way round, right to the sides of the cutter first and then cutting round with small fine scissors was so much less fiddly, although there were lots of little bits to sweep up after!

All was going well …… but I didn’t like the plain white back, so I repeated the exercise again, covering the blank side with another design!  This also helped make the back of the cutter a little more substantial.

*Now, when I make up the rest of the cutters, I am going to spray glue two sheets of paper back to back, making it double sided, which should then help cut out the fiddle fart.  I also think I should do this background stage of the cutter first, before I add the washi tape.

When all was dry I put a little faux stitching round the edges, using a black fine liner pen to neaten things off.

Then it was time for the fun to begin, adding all the embellishments. I have a little stash of vintage style, wooden figures left over from Marc’s Christmas wreath plus charity shop finds which I thought would be perfect to go in the cutters. There was a little trail and error to find which figure would fit best into which cutter, but I could see that everything was all about to come together.

I had go through my “fiddly bits” boxes to find other small embellishments that would fit in the background and/or round the sides. The proportions are a little out of kilter on this project but I think I can cut me some slack just this once! To stick them I used E8000 glue as a really secure fix was needed on such a narrow edge. 

The  final touch was a small, flat jewellery bail on the back of the decoration from which it could then be hung.

Needless to say I am thrilled with how these decorations have turned out ……. only another 16 to go!

World Book Day 2022