Thursday, February 28, 2013

Panoramic Sugar Egg Tutorial


 My mom used to have a couple of these sugar eggs when I was little, and I always loved looking inside, and wondered how they were made. I decided this was the year to do it, and found multiple tutorials online. I combined a few, and came up with my own, and am so excited to share it with you today. These look intimidating, but they are not! The are so easy. You just need to plan at lest a day in advance.

 To start out, make sure you have a plastic egg that opens long way, like the one pictured. I got this at Michael's for $.99.

You will need:

5 cups sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 egg whites
food coloring of your choice



1) Whisk sugars in a bowl until combined. Whisk egg whites  in a separate bowl until frothy, and add food coloring.
2) Combine the eggs and sugar. It doesn't seem like a lot of liquid, but it will work.
3) It will be the consistency of wet sand.
4) Pack it into one side of the plastic egg (be sure to use each side.)
5) Scrape the top off with a knife until it's level.
6) Spoon the inside out. These pictures are of the first eggs I made, and as I made them, I learned that you can for sure take more of the middle out. If you have a problem, and take too much just repack it, and start over.

7) With a quick, firm, strong motion, turn the sugar filled egg over onto a hard surface where it can be left to dry for a few hours, to overnight. I turned them onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
8)  When the outsides feel quite dry, turn them over to dry and harden the rest of the way. This would be a good time to hollow out the rest of the center, and make it more even.
9)  Cut your peek hole now. Start with a sharp knife, and twist until you break through, then you can carve out the rest into the shape you want.
10)  You can also cut the front off.
11) The eggs are now ready to be filled. You can see, the yellow egg was one of the first I made, and is rather thick. When I do this in the future, I will remove more sugar when it is still soft.
12) You can see the pink egg is one of the last I made, and it looks more uniform, and the edges are thinner.

DECORATING!

You will need frosting that dries hard and dries fast! I made royal icing. There are many variations online. You can choose whatever you prefer working with, but for mine, I whipped up 4 egg whites, and added about 5 cups of powdered sugar. I left it in the mixer on high until it was shiny, about 5 minutes. You can add more or less sugar, depending on the consistency you want. You want it to be thick and hold it's shape. I divided mine into 2, dyed half green and left the other half white, and put it in decorating bags. You could also use a ziplock with the corner cut off.

Filling


 

Easter cards from the dollar store, cut up for the images. I am sure you could find some online as well.
 Easter candy, whatever you can find
Fluffy chicks... of course fluffy chicks!
 

I had to get a close up of them. They were a staple in my Easter basket growing up, and it is the same for my kids. They are extra adorable!

Coconut for grass is not necessary, but a nice touch. To dye it green, simply place coconut in a bowl, add a few drops of food coloring, and stir it up. I made mine the same day I formed the eggs, and left it out to dry, so it would be dry when we used it to decorate.

Now for the fun part...


After you have filled the eggs, simply pipe a ring of icing around the rim, and attach the top.



 Put the top on, and ice around the seams.


I would like to say I know how to make fancy designs with frosting, but I don't. I just made dots, and pushed the tips in with my finger for the photo above, and for the photo below, I just left the points. My daughter chose this fun  one with the different opening.


This is the Molly egg.


This is the one the baby and Mr. B. made.


My creative child, who likes to think outside the box, made this one and filled it with unattached candy. He knows what he's doing!


You can place them anywhere in your house among your Easter decor, and they will fit right in! They are so charming, and so easy to make. I think this will become a tradition for us.

If you are not up for the sugar part of this process, be sure and check back soon, because I will be sharing another way to dress up store bought eggs!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Valentines Table - Wizard of Oz themed!!!

 I dropped my daughter off at dance last night, and had an hour to burn, so I went into a local grocery store, and found the MOST ADORABLE Wizard of Oz valentines. I bought two boxes. I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but when I woke up this morning... it came to me. I decided we will have a Wizard of Oz themed family Valentines dinner. We are having it tonight, because tomorrow is super busy for everyone.
 I already had all the supplies from the Wizard of Oz Halloween Party I threw a few years back, so it was super easy (and free) to decorate. I just added the pink and hearts this time.
 I put an adorable valentines card at each place. I great hint is that if you are setting a table with the same colored plates, it works well to place the napkin between them so it will appear as if there is more depth and visual interest.
 I love the layered dishes and linens. It is my favorite thing to do when setting a fancy table. The small red cups will have a t-lite in them at dinner.
 I even pulled out the canvas I made for my Halloween party.
Do you like the napkins I hung on my light fixture? I love the glitter hearts. Reminds me of Dorothy's shoes.
 I LOVE the pink glasses my sweet and thoughtful sis gave me a few years ago.
 Do you like the hint of the tin man with the metal containers?
 These are the valentines, and I kind of want to blow this one up, and frame it for Valentines in the future.
 I will write a sweet little love note to each person in the family on the back of each one. I love how they are tucked into the napkin.
I plan to play, "pin the Heart on the Tin Man," and watch Wizard of Oz tonight. Please visit my Wizard of Oz pinterest board for more inspiration.

What are you doing for Valentines Day?

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Valentines Arrow Art Tutorial

As you can tell from my most recent posts, I have been feeling a little bored with the usual Valentines Day decor. I do like it, but find it ultra girlie, which I do like, as I am a girl... Sometimes I just wonder how the boys feel about all the fruffy stuff on Valentines Day. The boys outnumber the girls in our house, by 3 to 2. So, I decided to try something a little more on trend this year, with a bit of an unexpected twist.

 Arrows have been super popular as of late, with movies like The Hunger Games, and Brave. I have been right on board with that trend. Another trend that is everywhere, is color blocking. You see it all over the place, from fashion, to home decor. I decided to give it a whirl this year. I wanted my Valentines decor to be a little more on trend, and even masculine. My son is a big fan. Score for me.

 

 My inspiration for this piece can be found HERE. I wanted to take it to another level, by making it 3D.

This is the collage wall in our family room. I love having a collage wall, because I can add holiday items with minimal effort, while achieving the same overall effect. 


 And, I have a whole Valentines Day pinterest board, bursting with arrow themed ideas if you want to take a peek.

Let's get started, shall we...

You will need:

1/4" x 2 x 4 Birch Hardwood Plywood $8.97 at Home Depot 
You can ask them to cut it to whatever size you choose, depending on how many arrows you add.. I started with 2x3, and actually ended up cutting it smaller at home, as the project evolved.
Valentine Craft Hearts - Hobby Lobby $99. You could also use paper.
Craft Paint in whatever colors you choose.
Hot Glue
Feathers
Paint Marker - I got mine at Bennion Craft. Galaxy brand.
Paint pen, again, Bennion Craft. Precision Pen.


Part 1 - THE ARROWS


Paint the first layer on your dowels. I left a natural part on each dowel for our names. Can you see how my collage wall normally looks in the background below?


 Paint stripes in whatever colors you choose on the dowels. I wanted mine to be bright and fun.


Decide which feather you want to go with which dowels. I had a bunch of feathers, but most of them were colored. I called my friend Lisa, and she just happened to have a pheasant in her freezer, and plucked more feathers for me. Who knew?!? I love you even more Lisa, after that experience. You are AWESOME!

 

 Cut your feather in half down the spine, and make them as long as you choose. Glue your feathers on. I used three pieced for each arrow, and glued them on with hot glue.

 

Hot glue the wooden hearts onto the tip of each dowel, opposite the feathered end.


Write names or greetings on your arrows. I chose to write our family names. I used a paint pen called precision pen, and it worked really well. I got it at Bennion Craft.

Part 2 - THE BOARD

Use your leftover piece of wood as a ruler. Place it on your large board, and with your galaxy marker, draw a line to show where you will paint later on.


Do this for the whole board.


 Once you have the outline, fill it in with paint. The goal here, is to make the black part look like a frame. while keeping the inside natural wood.


How to hang the arrows, you ask? You have two options. You can simply hot glue them on, which will work fine, or use the corner guard.


 Cut two pieces of corner guard for each arrow.


Hot glue them into place. The hot glue holds really well.


I did this first, then ended up just hot gluing the arrows to the board, because the feathers made them turn slightly, and the tips weren't straight. You can decide the look you want to have.


You can see, I shortened my board, before hanging it on my wall. The smaller size and shape just worked better for the space.


I hope you are feeling a little arrow inspired!

I will be sharing this and other ideas on Studio 5 Friday. You won't want to miss it!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Valentine Pillow Tutorial

 I have shown you part of my Valentines Day Porch. And, as promised... Here's the rest! I had to give my bench a little love as well. I kept the same red chevron pillows out that I made for Christmas, and they work great! This arrow pillow was SO easy, it took 5 minutes, and it was basically free, because I made the pillow sham out of an old paint drop cloth... Yes, there is dried paint on the inside. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, right? My tutorial for a super easy pillow sham can be found HERE.
 

You will need:

Pillow Sham
Galaxy  marker
Painter's or Masking tape
Ruler or Paint Stirrer


Let's get started!

Place two strips of tape across your sham, where you want your arrows to be. Mine strips were about 4 inches apart.


Use your paint stirrer as a ruler to draw and space your lines, and set it perpendicular to the tape. I used the side of the sham to get my first line straight.


Draw all the lines you need.


Then, pull the tape off!


Take your marker, and freehand the arrow tips and feathers. I alternated the tips and feathers for variety.


You are finished!


Put a pillow form in it, and place it where ever you want!


Now, wasn't that easy?

Be sure and come back for more of my arrow addiction. Maybe I need to join AAA (Arrow Addicts Anonymous).

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa


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