Thing spring! It's finally starting to warm up here in Detroit and thoughts of summer activities (cough, Maker Faire, cough) are quickly approaching. Did I mention there are rumors of an 80-degree Friday (!!!) and a lovely holiday weekend. Adios, snow.
If you ask me, Easter is another good crafter holiday. Whether you make baskets for your kids, a handmade card for a neighbor or have your own techniques for coloring eggs, there are lots of ways to show your crafty pride. One such person to do that was my great-grandma Alma. In the '60s and '70s, she owned crafty egg decorating.
A lover of art and making things by hand, my great-grandma was known to spend hours perfecting a project, especially her Easter eggs. I learned how to remove egg yolks based on a technique based down from her (there's no good term for it!) and made several of my own growing up, but they were never the same as hers. (Note this terrible example from me circa the fourth grade.)
She saved trinkets she found at craft supply stores, toppers from gifts, and scrap trim. The tiniest bit of material could be put to use.
Alma used embroidery scissors to carefully cut out the front of the egg and long tweezers to create the scenery. This was not a fast craft - she spent days working on these so as not to ruin any of her hard work.
We've saved these eggs and bring them out every year for our egg tree. I have to wonder - who out there has made eggs like these? Do people still make them? I'd love to see photos! I've put more up over here on Flickr.
My Nana taught me to make eggs from sugar (one egg white stirred into a 5-pound bag of sugar)packed into a mold. I wish I had the molds! The molds would be turned out onto waxed paper to dry overnight. Then the small end of the egg halves would be removed--to make the viewing hole--and the still-moist sugar gently scooped from the inside, and the egg halves set out to dry completely. (The still-moist sugar would be kept air-tight for future use.) Then came the fun part, creating the little scene inside, using construction frosting to glue the parts of the egg together, and then using the same frosting to decorate the outside, covering the seam and the raw edge and putting a little flower on the top. The translucent sugar let a soft glow in on the Easter scene. I think I was 11 the first time. It took a lot of patience, but was certainly worth the effort.
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Hi I did this craft on CraftLab a few years ago.
I just forwarded the pictures to the Craft Flickr group, so you could see!
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