SPRING HAS SPRUNG! LET'S MAKE SIDEWALK CHALK!

Now that spring has finally arrived, I have found myself itching to CREATE with my *littles*.  I have seen several blogs on how to make your own sidewalk chalk!  I thought "we could do that!" (never mind the fact that we don't actually HAVE a sidewalk!)  I researched quite a few and compared *recipes*.  Most had the same materials but varied slightly in amounts.  Some used toilet paper tubes, others used molds, one used the plastic Easter eggs that snap together!  I thought about it and jumped right in with both feet.  I tried one color first to make sure that it was going to work!  It turned out pretty well I thought!

YIPPY!!!  it worked!  I only made a small *stick* just to be sure it was right!  So now time to mass produce these suckers!  I was going to get really technical!  My intention was to make eggs that were half and half different colors!  I WAS also going to make pretty *rainbow* stripped sticks with what was left from the eggs!  Yeah well - I am woman enough to admit when I goofed!  I am not exactly sure what happened - however I am pretty sure that I used WAY to much liquid tempura paint and the plaster could not set!

So - here is the *bad* picture so that you can learn from my mistake!

They are still useable with my *littles* however - they are just not that pretty to look at!  But if it makes a mark on the garage floor the kids will use it!  Now as for the dual colored eggs - yeah well let's just say that as I was squishing the 2 halves together I got *gooped* every time! 

I was able to get 3 egg chalks in solid colors though!  They turned out FABULOUS!!!

So that was day 1!!!  I slept on my mistakes and woke up with new ideas!  I wanted to make sticks that were not as *chunky* around for my *littles* hands!  Because admit it - a toilet paper roll is pretty big!  I went to my local department store in search of those homemade popcicle container things!  You know the kind that you pour juice in and then put the cap with the stick into it to freeze -

I slathered the inside of the container with vasaline then layered  the colors in like a rainbow!  I waited an hour or so for it to set - then attempted to *remove* them.  Oh boy - not an easy task!  I was able to get 1 out with out breaking! 

Now on to the *perfect* cakes!!!  I greased a muffin pan with vasaline slightly and filled each up with it's own color and  VIOLA!!!!

I think they are absolutely perfect!

Here's the amounts that I used -

1/2 c. COOL water

cool water makes the difference

1C plaster of paris

2-3 TBS tempura paint

Happy Crafting

Steph

Easter Egg Heads!!

As promised in an earlier post - Here are our Easter Egg Heads!  My *littles* are having so much fun checking them daily to see who's "hair" is growing fastest and tallest!  We are going to be entering them in an egg decorating contest at our local supermarket.  Maybe we will win for uniqueness!

*EGG*cellent Easter swag!!

We raise chickens so that we (and when I say *we* I mean my husband!!  I stear clear of the barn!) can have a fridge full of farm fresh eggs!  We have over 20 hens that produce anywhere between 9-16 eggs a day! We have one big, no, HUGE rooster! (he's the reason I stay clear of the barn!  I don't like the way he looks at me!) 

isn't he cute?  to bad he turns into this.......

YUP......told ya he's huge!!

So I had been thinking about what I could make using some of the eggs.  We use these eggs when it comes time to coloring them for Easter!  The brown ones turn out so much richer and country looking!  The yellow is more like a gold and the blue turns out a deep teal!  So here is one project that I came up with.....

AN *EGG*CELLENT Easter Swag!!!

The supplies you need to start out with are... A big bowl of beautifully colored eggs!



remember - brown eggs give a deeper, richer color!  Some of my eggs are white and some are brown!



Start out by blowing your eggs empty.  If you haven't done this before it is a very delicate process.  Use a large eyed needle and gently poke a generous hole in each end of the egg.  The flowers and beads will cover the holes.  Over a bowl blow the insides of the egg out until empty.  Then wash very well before coloring.  I used an egg coloring kit from the store the first time and they turned out gritty and my finger prints showed up on them.  So the next set I colored I used the good old fashioned  boiling water, vinegar, and food coloring (I used the paste coloring and stirred it well.)  Dunk your eggs completely so they fill up with water and sink!  This way they get full coverage at the same time!  Using the wire egg scoop remove the egg from the dye and rinse in cold water and drain any water from the inside.  Let dry on cooling rack.  Make sure they are completely dry inside and out before you mix them together -otherwise your colors will drip onto other eggs and make yucky colors!

Next you will need.....a strip of fabric, a pile of disassembled, brightly colored, silk flowers, a large eye needle, ribbon, pony beads.



I went to the dollar store to get my flowers!!  They pulled apart very easily!

First start out with a strip of fabric the length you want your swag plus about 10" - 5" for the loops on each end.  My strip was about 1" wide and I used the pinking shears so there was less fraying.

You will need a good pile of disassembled silk flowers.  Make them bright and springy!

I chose a bag of pearl pastel pony beads to separate the flowers.  You could use many things here I suppose. Maybe buttons - if you can find some that the fabrice will fit through!

Then 3 strips of pastel colored ribbon to tie the bows on each end and to tie the single hanging egg in the center.

Next tie a loop on one end of the strip and thread your needle with the other end.

I chose plane white fabric because the loops are the only thing that shows!

Now comes the fun part!  Start with a few flowers then a couple of the beads, gently pushing them to the knotted loop.  Next choose your egg and gently pull the needle through the 2 holes on each end - slide down to flowers.  REPEAT this step until you have reached your desired lenght!

After you have reached the desired length, knot the loop on that end as well.  Then tie a pretty bow on each end between the knot and flowers.





Finally cut a length of matching or coordinating ribbon and loop it over the middle egg.  Then thread BOTH ends of the ribbon through your needle.  Thread various flowers and beads then choose your very best egg and thread that on.  Finish with more flowers and a bead at the bottom.  Knot the ribbon, cut the ends and

VIOLA!!!



You might want to add a dab of glue to keep your ribbon from slipping!



You have yourself a bright, colorful, Easter/spring swag to proudly hang!  You could alter this and make it just hang straight, but then you probable wouldn't have a single egg dangling!

Well I hope that you enjoyed  my very first blog!  As well as enjoyed my Easter swag!  My next project is going to be with my day care *littles*.  We will be making EGG heads!!  Watch for that post coming soon!

Happy Crafting!

Steph