For this simple craft project you will need to gather a few supplies: one skein of yarn ( I selected a skein of darker, earthy colors), felt carrots (These vary from year to year depending on what is available in hobby stores), white tacky glue, a ruler, scissors, and clean paper toilet roles (three napkin rings may be cut from one standard sized toilet tissue role).
Measure and cut each toilet paper role into to three equal parts, then glue yarn down slowly as you push it through the hole and over the top of the tube. Both the inside and outside of each tube should be covered with yarn as it is pictured in the photo above. This is a slow methodical process and your second, third and fourth napkin ring will improve as you become accustomed to the method. Make as many as you need. If you should give these as gifts, it is standard practice to include table decorations in sets of four, for four place settings you would include in a gift, four napkin rings, four fabric napkins and four place mats etc... For a wedding shower, it is considered appropriate to give two sets of any decorative tableware, in other words, eight. This is so that the couple may anticipate guests at a holiday celebration.
After the paper rings have been wrapped with yarn, let these dry over night and then hot glue the felt carrot decorations to the top side of the napkin rings. Choose the side of your ring that has the most attractive color combinations to attach the carrot to. These table decorations are particularly versatile because they may be used any time during the spring or summer to decorate a place setting for a garden tea party, a barbecue and at a Easter dinner party.
Decoupage (or découpage) is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf
and so on. Commonly an object like a small box or an item of furniture
is covered by cutouts from magazines or from purpose-manufactured
papers. Each layer is sealed with varnishes (often multiple coats) until the "stuck on" appearance disappears and the result looks like painting or inlay
work. The traditional technique used 30–40 layers of varnish which were
then sanded to a polished finish. This was known in 18th century England as the art of Japanning after its presumed origins.
The most likely origin of decoupage is thought to be East Siberian
tomb art. Nomadic tribes would use cut out felts to decorate the tombs
of their deceased. From Siberia, the practice came to China, and by the
12th century, cut out paper was being used to decorate lanterns,
windows, boxes and other objects. In the 17th century, Italy, especially
in Venice, was at the forefront of trade with the Far East and it is
generally thought that it is through these trade links that the cut out
paper decorations made their way into Europe.
Artisans in Florence, Italy
have produced decorative objects using decoupage techniques since the
18th century. They combined decoupage with other decorative techniques
already popular in Florence, such as gilt with gold leaf and carved wood designs. These older techniques were already used to produce articles such as furniture, frames for paintings, and even tooled leather book covers. Known as Florentine style crafts, these items are now highly collectible antiques.
Decoupage was added to the Florentine artisans' methods by adding it to
the space within a carved gilt frame, or by adding the decoupage to a
wooden plaque. Artisans used pasted reproductions of famous artworks,
nearly always religious depictions. Florentine triptychs using decoupage images of such Biblical scenes as the Crucifixion are a common motif. As society became more secular in the early 20th century, and non–Roman Catholic
tourists began buying more crafts from Florentine artisans, decoupage
images became less religious in orientation and more reflective of famous Italian artworks in general.
Common household materials can be used to create effects. Here is a short list of supplies:
Something to decoupage onto. Examples include: furniture, photograph albums, plates, ceramics, shelving, frames, mirrors.
Pictures to decoupage with. These can come from myriad sources: newspapers, magazines, catalogs, books, printed clip art, wrapping paper, greeting cards, fabric, tissue paper, lace, paper napkins
Cutting utensil. Scissors, craft knife (X-Acto) or razor blades can be used.
Glue. Standard white glue works best if it is diluted with a little water. Specialty glues can be found in most crafting stores.
Smoother. Popsicle sticks work well. A brayer is a specialized tool like a miniature rolling pin designed to help remove wrinkles, remove excess glue and smooth pictures.
Glue spreader. Many things around the house can be use for this: cotton swabs, paint brushes, sponges.
Rags, sponges, tissue paper to help wipe up glue and other clean up.
Sealer. Glue or other decoupage medium can be used as a sealer. Alternatively, polyurethane, spray acrylic, epoxy resin or other lacquers are usually used.
Mrs. Mary Delaney
achieved unexpected fame at the age of 71 in the court of George III
and Queen Charlotte of England thanks to the 18th century decoupage
craze. Moving in the circle of Jonathan Swift and Sir Joseph Banks, and
possibly taught art by William Hogarth, she was introduced to George III
and Queen Charlotte by Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland, and
became a court favorite.
In 1771, she began to create cut out paper artworks (decoupage) as
was the fashion for ladies of the court. Her works were exceptionally
detailed and botanically accurate depictions of plants. She used tissue
paper and hand colouration to produce these pieces. She created 1,700 of
these works, calling them her "Paper Mosaiks [sic]", from the age of 71
to 88 when her eyesight failed her. They can still be seen in the
Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum today.
Notable modern day "Master Decoupeurs" include Durwin Rice, Violet
Knoxville (Vanesa de la Puente) and Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Modern
day decoupage has evolved over the years beyond the simpler style of
gluing images to plates and vases. The use of high-tech printers,
resins, and enamel sprays contribute to the "modern" decoupage method.
Flocked figures of animals may sometimes still be found in hobby shops or flee markets.
These little flocked animals are easy to find in hobby and craft outlets. I hot glued this little fawn into a plastic half egg shell, added glitter, Easter grass, trim and ribbon to create a charming egg for our Easter tree this year. Watch Timbecon use flocking materials on wood in his video below. Flocking may be done on other surfaces as well, like the small deer above.
Below are small, flat cardboard Easter baskets I made for hanging on our egg tree this year. These are very light weight and crafted from easy to find materials that most folks have stashed away in their 'junk drawers.' Supplies include: old wire, ribbon, scrapbook papers, scissors, white glue and novelty trims left over from sewing and scrapbooking projects.
Decorative, cardboard baskets full of tiny paper eggs hang on our family Easter egg tree.
Genuine turquoise abalone shell pieces cover these eggs. I display them in a basket at Easter, they are too heavy to hang on the delicate branches of an egg tree.
Above are traditional mosaic eggs made from plastic manufactured eggs, grout, and tiny mosaic, Mother of Pearl pieces from Michael's. These crushed tiles have been sold at Michael's for over 10-12 years and come in many colors depending upon the year. When adhering the tiles to the egg shell rough up the surface of the egg with sandpaper and then glue on the tiles using a strong bonding glue. I believe that I used wood glue for these eggs. After the crushed shell has dryed, smear on a tile grout and then use a soft damp sponge to wash away excess grout. Let the grout harden overnight. Crafters may also use wooden eggs to replace the plastic ones if they wish.
How to craft Eggshell Mosaic Eggs
Remove the membrane from the inner lining of the egg shell so that the broken pieces will adhere with glue to the other surfaces of egg.
First you will need to collect egg shells for this craft and the number of those egg shells will depend upon your love of the craft. I collected only enough to demonstrate the process. In order to keep your kitchen clean and bacteria at a minimum, soak the left over shells in a vinegar solution. One cup of boiling water, plus two tablespoons of any type of vinegar will suffice for a gentle soak. This will also help loosen the membrane from the inner shell. The membrane should be removed for several reasons, the first being that it will help keep the egg shells from developing an unfortunate odor and the second being that the shells will adhere better when glued to another shell's surface. Above is a photo of the membrane being separated from the shell.
Dying the egg shells the old fashioned way with vinegar.
After the shells have been dryed, break them up and soak them in dying solutions. I chose to do this with food coloring. This is the traditional recipe which includes a few drops of food coloring combined together with the ratio of vinegar and water that I have mentioned above.
Brush on Mod Podge to give the egg surfaces a finished coat of protection from ordinary wear over time.
After draining and drying the shells on a paper towel, you may then glue these to either hard boiled eggs or eggs that have been hollowed out and cleaned in advance. I used white school glue for this process and then covered the surface of my sample eggs with Mod Podge. You could also paint a layer of clear nail polish over the eggs if you have no other alternatives on hand.
Easter by Marjorie Goldwasser, (8 yrs. old) The grass is turning oh, so green. Everywhere new buds are seen. The Easter bunny is on his way, To bring us eggs on Easter day.
Above is my teachers sample. We used magic markers to cover the mask with bright patterns and colors.
I crafted simple butterfly masks with my kids at the school last week. I traced my butterfly pattern onto inexpensive paper plates and cut these out ahead of time. The eye holes were located in the upper oval shapes of the top of my butterfly's wings.
This simple mask project is perfect for kindergarteners. They also loved to skip about the room and pretend to be flying in a garden with their masks on!
