Spring Tree (1 of 4)

Such fun!  Too much time on my hands, maybe.  But I was in need of a Spring Break vacation, and who in their right mind would leave Texas this time of year?!  Working with my hands in some (creative) way takes me to a Happy Place.



 Got the Spring tote down from its storage spot and found some old friends:  sparkly blown eggs from, oh, I don't know, maybe the early '90's;  tie dyed blown eggs from my friend Rita; hand-painted ceramic eggs from my Mom and the BlueBird Circle in Houston (circa 1970 +); and an old dear wooden duck ornament from the 50's.

I arranged them in their normal bowls and baskets (yawn), but when I brought home the bare-branched white 'tree' that I had decorated with Valentines and left in the Dining Hall at my 92 year-old Dad's skilled nursing facility where he's receiving therapy for a broken femur, the idea started to sprout.

Stripped of its February decorations, this was just begging to be a Spring/Easter tree.








Off to Pier One to buy some birthday gifts because (a) I love the store, and (b) I have a sizeable store credit.  Of course, the store was busting with Spring and Easter decor.  Cute little ($$$) feather trees and adorable ($$!) ornaments just challenged me to create my own Spring Tree with things I already had at home.

While Hunting and Gathering in Pier One, I found this sweet note card that became my inspiration for the Spring Tree.  Its pink and white vellum overlay and bright printed paper flower with button center called my name.  Store credit meant I didn't actually spend any money, right?  Of course, I deconstructed it (thanks to Alton Brown/Iron Chef America for the term!) to get all the mileage I could from its parts.  Even the envelope was a floral print.  The flower's button center inspired me to get out Mama's button box.  The vellum sent me Googling for butterfly garland how-to's.  See Spring Tree blog (2 of 4) for garland pix and tips.

I was onboard the Happy Train and leaving the station!

Ever made blown eggs?  It's been years; again I Googled.  Salmonella!! was not even on the horizon of thought back in the day when I poked 2 holes in each raw egg, set my mouth on the shell to blow out the goop.

Google the directions for this part of the project.  Just wanted you to see the cool Dremel tool that I used to drill the holes in the shells.  The tapered bit (in the drill) worked really well, but easy does it!  It doesn't hurt to practice; see my big slip on the trial shell?

Also, probably a good idea to go outside for eggshell cutting/drilling.

There's dust involved and, oh,

it smells like when the dentist drills on your tooth!

Then I used the Dremel (power tools rock!) with the cutting wheel to cut them in half.  Again, go easy and slow.  Some were cut like devilled eggs and some just the normal way you crack an egg.  I marked the shell by putting a rubber band around and tracing a pencil line there.

Using nitrile gloves and a pearlescent color kit (which I won't use again--the colors wind up on the fingers even weeks later), I colored the blown shells.  The colors are pretty vibrant and pearly; guess I could have sealed them.

Torn gift tissue and thinned school glue were used to line the shells with papier mache.  Planning to put little candies in them when they hang on the tree.

The handles on these boat-shaped eggshell baskets are nothing more than old deconstructed 'silk flower' leaves.

Don't they make cute little egg boats?!

It's easiest to attach one side of the handle and let the hot glue set up before attaching the other side.

You can see the pearly marbelized green, blue and purple here.  Plus the papier mache lining.

Probably time for lunch or a cup of tea by now. 

The Happy Train has definitely left the station!