...spring blooms!

...finally!

sweet spring flowers!!

Hello dear ones!

   

I just can't seem to resist them ~

Can YOU??!

seems like every time I come home from the market,

a new flower bouquet has found it's way into my bag too!!

and who knew this cut glass candle hurricane,

 lovely white orchid

and some left over moss...

would look this pretty

all put together, on my end table??!

  

or...

these, nothing special, thrift store finds,

  

could become this:

I've been gathering organic violet plants

so I may use their lovely flowers for my Easter salad

and sugar a few for some Easter treats!

and thought,

well,

why not put a few in some vintage cups for the table too:)

  

I white washed the candle stand,

so some of the metal stand would still show through.

After I painted the wooden base of the glass cloche,

  

I simply added a few pretty vintage handkerchief's

and one of the hand painted cups

that just happen to have violets painted on it,

  

and "Viola"!!

(tee,hee!)

a pretty display:)

  

I hope you're having an inspiring week!

come see what other spring pretties are over at

Faded Charm's White Wednesday!

here's to spring blooms!

...beautiful eggs! ~ a Pottery Barn inspired speckled egg tutorial

...hello dear, creative ones!

thank you for visiting the land of odds today!!

where ~

a very special goose resides.

This is her favorite time of year,

as she will lay a few, very special eggs!!

can you guess which kind??

~

I also wished to share my front gate decoration with you :)

I was seeking something different this year for my Easter display.

~ I am always open to beautiful flowers that cross my path,

and one day thrifting,

I found three glorious,

white rose and lily floral decorations.

(the symbolism of these couldn't be more perfect!)

(white rose: purity, spirituality)

(lily: purity, majesty)

I wasn't sure how I was going to use them,

I just knew they were beautiful and they were going home with me!!

When I brought home,

 I laid them on the floor and started playing around with how I could shape them...  

  

 placing them every which way.

I had one of them in my hand

when I happened on their original pretty paper hang tags...

each of these were $25!!

I paid $2.99 for each of them!

I dropped the one in my hand to the floor in disbelief

and when I looked down...

this is the shape they were in!!

NO LIE!!!!!!

I LOVE how it turned out!

~ and now I had my color scheme for Easter too...

white and periwinkle!!

I chose periwinkle because purple represents royalty

and Christ is my King!

(in a few weeks, I will show you my lamb cookies in this color scheme)

curious???

aaahhhhh

love, Love, LOVE it!!

...

and now it's time for my P.B. inspired knock off

~ speckled egg tutorial  ~

((NO silly, not peanut butter ~ Pottery Barn!!)

Now I ask you, who among us doesn't love P.B.'s speckled eggs vase filler??

(if this is you, then this tutorial will be of no interest to you!)

but

I'm sorry,

a. I needed more than 8 eggs for my egg tree decorating and Easter gifts

and

b. theirs were the look I wanted, but not the color I needed

and

c. their price tag was not for me,

 as I'd rather buy a REALLY good chocolate bunny instead!

So

 I set off to duplicate this lovely speckled egg look for less!!

today, I am sharing my method and secret tips with all of you

cause I love ya'

and want to help you save a dollar bill or two for your chocolate bunny savings fund too!

soooooo.....

  

here is a list of supplies you will need for your very own speckled eggs:

* a bag or two of plastic hide-an-eggs

(you know, the ones that open so you can put candy inside?)

(I made 48 eggs)

(you can also buy different sized plastic eggs)

---> my tip: be sure and seek out the ones with a small hole in the top of the egg,

as it will make it soooo much easier to feed your string through! 

* a can o'spray paint

(your choice in color, mine was periwinkle)

* a ball of natural THIN hemp

---> my tip: this is a little stiffer than string and won't twist all around in the wind,

but feel free to use string, ribbon or white hemp)

* a long needle with an eye your hemp string will fit through

(much easier than trying to push it through yourself, trust me on this!!)

* a bottle of walnut stain gel

(I found mine at Ben Franklin's)

it is translucent and will tint your eggs

with a similar effect as tea dyeing

* a sea sponge 

* a "high tech paint spatter brush"

LOL!!

(I found mine in the cleaning supply aisle at Wal-mart)

and

* 2 color choices of acrylic paints for your egg spatters

one light, one dark

my choices were Folk Art's #450 parchment

and #476 asphaltum (beautiful brown!!)

okay sweets!!

Are you ready to begin??

* step 1: open all your plastic eggs and place on a large piece of cardboard (ripped open box) ~ OUTSIDE!

---> my tip: using cardboard allows you to drag the sheet back inside easier because they stick to the box but are easily removed off of the cardboard UNLIKE newspaper.

* step 2: shake your can o' paint and spray your eggs giving them light coats so as to not have any runs.

have you ever seen a run on an egg??

okay,

I may have seen a runny egg...

but still, eeehhhhhwwwww!!  

be patient,

allow each coat to dry,

spray nicely!!

  

after eggs are dry,

* step 3: bring your eggs inside and put down sheets of wax paper.

place your open eggs on wax paper.

---> my tip: using wax paper allows you to peel off your eggs easily, no newspaper tails!!

* step 4: pour a little gel stain into a glass bowl, dampen your sea sponge and pick up a little gel from bowl.

hold your fingers inside the open egg half and begin "sponging" your egg

this created another lovely layer and

it completely changes the tone of the egg!!

any base color you pick will be gorgeous, robin egg blue, shell pink, lemon yellow...

repeat this step for all eggs

~ let dry thoroughly ~

ooohhhhh puuuuurrrrrty sponged eggies!!

---> my tip: the next step is unpredictable and if not careful can be messy!!

proceed with caution...and do in an area that is well protected with cardboard

or better yet ~ outside!!

(the day I did this, it was snowing outside, so, yah-no, that was not an option!!) 

* step 5: pour a little of your two acrylic colors into two seperate small glass bowls

thin out a little with a few drops of water,

take your "high tech spatter brush"

---> my tip: this plastic bristle brush gave better results with different sizes spatters

like on a real egg, than using a toothbrush did

begin running your fingers over the plastic bristles,

AIMING at your eggs!!

---> my tip: the faster you run your fingers, the smaller the speckle,

the slower, the larger the speckle

experiment with close to the egg spatters and stand up and spatter:)

* step 6: repeat process with your other color

---> my tip: dip your brush into both paint bowls and make a third color to speckle with!

just look at all those speckled eggs!!!

allow to dry overnight, as the next step you will "string" them.

* step 7:

 cut a piece of hemp about 6" long for each egg.

feed the two ENDS through the needle head

(trust me!!)

and push down through the hole in the top of your egg

(see why you need the hole??)

the two ends will come through to the inside of the egg,

 while the "loop" will remain on the outside of your egg,

 thus giving you a nicer appearance than two ends knotted together on the outside look.

---> my tip: loop the outside loop end over your pinkie when tying the inside knot, so the loop doesn't pull through

now knot the two ends inside your egg together and pull up on your outside loop,

snap your egg shut and repeat for all remaining eggs...

TA-DAH!!!!!

you could place a dozen of your lovely speckled eggs inside a saved paper egg carrier,

nestled in pretty paper doilies and tuck a few spiritual sentiments inside each egg,

 for an eggs-tra special Easter gift!

here are a few sentiments that I have placed in mine:

Christ is risen!

1 cross 2 die, 3 nails...4given!

Jesus loves you so much, He reached out on the cross

white rose, sacrificed, of the Father's heart

Amazing Grace!

Jesus is the Sonshine

Our sins took Christ to the cross. God's love kept Him there!

along with some really good chocolates or jelly bellies or both! and give to someone special:)

as well as hanging them on your favorite spring tree...

  

which mine just happens to be my new french pussy willow:)

so gracefully beautiful!!

so uniquely my own...

~  this now concludes the speckled egg tutorial!

so what do you think??

Will you try your hand at your very own speckled eggs??

as it is eggs-eptionally gratifying:)

tee, hee

 my bad??!!

next week, I'll be showing you another P.B. inspired knockoff

an eggs-tra special Easter basket!

I'll be sharing this tutorial with:

Common Ground's: Vintage Inspiration Friday

French Country Cottage's: Feather Your Nest Friday

Stuff and Nonsense's : Friday's Unfolded

the diy club's: 31-days-of-spray-paint

here's to pretty speckled eggs in ANY color we wish!

...my mossy, moss rock topiary tutorial

...hello my sweets!!

are you in a creative mood??

or

perhaps,

you were looking for something to do this weekend??

well!

look no further!

have I got an inspiring project for you:)

I was strolling through one of my favorite

 lovely little boutiques recently,

 when I spotted a fabulously mossed topiary tree...

yep

this mossy topiary caught my eye!

now ~

 maybe it had something to do with

 ALL the other FABULOUS things around that topiary display,

but it was to late,

I was a goner!!

until

I turned it over to check the price out...

$95

no, not $9.50!!!

now,

as this was certainly not a need...

I decided to put that fabulous mossy moss rock topiary right back where I found it!!

because

I knew I could very easily duplicate it

for around $20!

and now I'm going to show you how I did just that:)

uuhmmmmhhhhmmmmm

here is your supply list:

* 1 green color 13" styro cone (Michael's)

* 1 bag o' floral moss (Wal-mart)

NOT sphagnum moss!

floral moss is bits of pretty green sheet moss:)

* 5 - 11 piece natural accents moss rocks (Wal-mart)

* glue gun and glue sticks

* your choice of decorative urn or container

  

* first, dump all your moss rocks out and look at them.

you will put them on your cone like a puzzle.

* then start by gluing a few on the bottom of your cone

----> notice how I started up about 2"?

this will allow you to fit it into a container like a candle fits into a candle holder

   

* take your time

and fit bits of your moss pieces in between each of your moss rocks...

keep going, adding moss bits then moss rocks

building...building...building

  

ooohhhh!

puuuurrrrty!!

glue on the little sticks and lichen that fall out of your bag too

nature TEXTURE!!!

almost there:)

  

 

TA~DA!!!!

You did it!!!

now, on the bottom

where you left a couple of inches,

  

glue on some moss all the way around the base of your cone

like so.

  

now place in a lovely container of your choice and you are done!

I chose this vintage silver champagne bucket,

it fit perfectly!!

You may adorn it anyway you wish...

  

now, step back

and delight in your new mossy moss rock topiary!!

next week,

I'll show you how to make these:

Pottery Barn knockoff speckled eggs!!

~

until then

I'll be sharing this over at:

 Common Ground's Vintage Inspiration Friday

French Country Cottage's Feather Your Nest Friday

here's to springtime moss pretties ~ that WE can make!!!