Eggs, Over Easy

I don't particularly think of myself as the crafty type.  I gave up using a hot glue gun more than 20 years ago.  I needlepoint, but only on car trips or while at the beach.  Still, every now and then--usually around a holiday,  I find myself inspired to make something.  This spring while noodling around at my friend's, acquaintance's, er, design guru Eddie Ross's blog, I found the directions for making some simple, yet elegant, Easter eggs.

The eggs featured on Eddie's blog are lovely green-and-white graphic orbs, reminiscent of a Jonathan Adler print.  Of course, I didn't want to copy Eddie, so since  I collect Blue Willow, Canton, and blue Staffordshire, I decided to make my eggs blue and white.

This project is easy peasy, however, if you are a perfectionist, it can get a bit tedious.  After about the third egg, I decided I was not a perfectionist, and that made the whole project a lot more fun!

You will need some Mod Podge, which is almost as much fun as hot glue but without the pain and cursing, a small soft paintbrush, and some plastic eggs.  I found some white ones at Hobby Lobby, a dozen on sale for 35 cents!  If you can't find white eggs, then I think pale pastels would work fine.

You will also need some sharp scissors and some beautiful paper cocktail napkins.  As I am rather a fiend about cocktail napkins, I found what I needed in my napkin drawer.  (Please, it's not hurting anyone.)

Gather your supplies and cover your work space with some newspaper or other protective covering.

Begin by separating the napkins.  Then cut the printed napkin into small (about one by one inch) diamond shapes.  I found the easiest and quickest way to do this was to fold the napkin, cut a zig zag line, and then cut back again in the opposite direction. You will also want to cut a few triangles.  I was able to complete three eggs from a single napkin this way.

Once your napkin is cut into diamonds, thinly apply the Mod Podge to the egg in sections.

Then, attach the diamond of paper to the egg and lightly coat the top of the paper with Mod Podge, smoothing out any wrinkles.

Tap down the edges, and apply the next diamond.  I used the straight sides of triangles to edge the rims of the eggs.  It would be easier to close the egg and do it as a solid form, but for some reason, I thought I wanted to be able to open my eggs.  If you are using a toile or similar type design, I strongly recommend not trying to match up the design. Once the egg is covered in paper, lightly coat the entire egg (or the halves) in Mod Podge.  This will provide a smoother finish.  Set the egg aside to dry and begin the next egg or pour a glass of wine and watch Selling New York on HGTV.

Seriously, I finished a dozen eggs in about two hours.  I love that they are a bit of a riff on transferware dishes, and I plan on using them in my Easter table setting, which I'll post about next week.

Happy weekend, everyone!

I'm linking up to Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays! and to At the Picket Fence Sister Saturday Easter Edition!