How to Create Felted Easter Eggs

Easter will be here before we know it and these easy to make felted Easter Eggs would be perfect to display for the coming holiday.

Have you ever tried felting?

It is surprisingly easy to do, requires very few supplies and the creations are only limitted by your imagination! A few years ago I created several felt pumpkins for my entryway and that post is still getting pinned. I just love how they turned out. I display them every year.

I have always wanted to start a collection of Easter Eggs to display every year and I have a few half-finished knit eggs in my WIP pile. This year though, I wanted to take a stab (pardon the pun!) at making a few felt Easter Eggs. Luckily they take less time to knit. The perfect project for a rainy day.

First you will need a few supplies:

• Plain roving wool
• colored roving wool
• felting needle (barbed)
• thick foam for shaping

I like to buy a large bag of plain white wool for making the base of my shapes. It usually costs less than buying all dyed or colored wool. I can add a layer of colored wool over the top. But, feel free to use the wool you can find, or have on hand.

I buy smaller balls of colored wool, depending on the project. I found these primary colored roving wool on Amazon. You can also find a variety of sellers on Etsy.

Then you need to get yourself a felting needle.

Felting needles can be a little intimidating! They are very long, tapered and sharp.

If you look closely at the tip you can see the little barbs. This helps to pull wool into the center as it is jabbed. I have gone through several different needles and simple is best for me. Unfortunately I have broken the tips off of more expensive needles.

Used properly, they are quite safe. Even my kids enjoy felting. Just make sure your needle never gets too close to your hand during shaping.

Begin with a big handful of roving wool. It will compact down a lot as you shape it. For one egg, I used a large handful of wool. The nice thing about felting is you can always add or take away wool until you achieve the size and shape you want.

I press the wool together with one hand and gently jab with the other. I will fold and roll the wool into the desired shape as I make controlled jabs until the object starts to shape up.

Once I had the basic egg shape, I could jab and turn the egg to get a more compact and smooth shape.

To decorate the white eggs, I took small amounts of colored wool and layed them over the egg. Then slowly and deliberately jabbed them in place.

Use the needle to pull any loose fibers into place, or stretch them with the needle tip to fill an area. If you don't like the placement, just pull the colored fibers off the egg. It is that easy.

For my multi-colored banded egg, I layered on multi-colored roving yarn and then layered it with a little more white, then another layer of colored wool till I achieved the desired pattern.

On another egg, I put created red flowers and green leaves.

In the future I would love to try stencils to achieve patterns around the eggs. Experiment and let me know what works for you. If you make your own felt Easter Eggs, leave a link below, I would love to come check them out.

For more craft ideas, visit a few of my favorite bloggers:

How to Make Your Own Night Cream for Beautiful Skin by The Socialite's Closet

St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun Trap by TigerStrypes Blog

Zoey's Treasure by Immutable Ramblings

Easter Spring Wall Decor by B is 4

Homemade Citrus Enzyme Cleaner by Girly Creation

Create Your Own Valentine's Day Seals

Now that Christmas and the New Year are behind us, my kids are already planning all the important details for the next big holiday - Valentine's Day! Around here, January is full of cutting out paper hearts, stocking up on cookie decorating supplies and designing our Valentine's Day cards.

Basically, once the heart-shaped candy debuts on store shelves, we start to discuss what we want to create and share for the big holiday.

I always encourage the kids to make something different and unique to gift. I am already excited about my daughter's choice, we will be making homemade heart-shaped lollipops in an assortment of flavors and hand stamping little bags for them to go in. My son is still thinking about it. I am guessing he will want something Star Wars related...

For my own project,  I decided to make special Valentine's notes to slip into my kids' lunches.  I wanted to make the notes extra special by designing a couple Valentine's Day Seals to stamp into red wax for the outside.

I love the novelty of sealing a letter with wax. A simple word, initials or a symbol would be a romantic way to seal up a special love note this Valentine's Day.  I think you will be surprised at how simple they are to create!

To make the seal, you will need:

• Sculpey Oven-Bake Clay - any color
• Letters or symbols for the impressions - I used alphabet beads
• wire cutters *optional
• red wax
• envelopes

Start by selecting your word, initials or symbol. I found these great letter beads that just needed to be trimmed in order to make a clear impression in my seal.

You may find a simpler alternative, but these beads just needed the loops snipped off.

Then I could create my words.

Take a small amount of Sculpey clay to form a stamp. I used roughly 1/4 of the package and created a flat side and comfortable finger grip in the other for stamping into the warm wax.

Press the letter firmly and evenly into the soft clay. XOXO was easy, but if you use a word, be sure to make the imprint reversed so the word will have the correct orientation when stamped.

Then carfully remove the letters from the clay.

Bake the clay at 300 degrees for about 5 minutes, or until dry. As the clay cools it will harden.

Once the clay has cooled, they are ready to be used to leave your seal!

Melt wax onto your closed envelope, enough to cover your stamp. Then wait 20 - 30 seconds for the wax to cool slightly. This will allow it to hold the impression. If you try to stamp it too early, it will get stuck in the impression. Since the clay is now hard, just use a toothpick to remove the wax. Reheat the wax and try again!

It takes a little practice to get the seal impression just right, but I am going to have a lot of fun with these this holiday. I know my kids are going to love opening up these Valentine's letters.


For more craft ideas, visit a few of my favorite bloggers:

• Easy Natural Sinus Relief Salts by Confessions of an Overworked Mom
• DIY Party Photo Cutouts by B is for
• Winter Yarn Hat by Tiger Strypes
• Create Your Own Valentine's Day Seals by Adventures in All Things Food

Feather Rings

Of course, I am back with another jewelry craft. This one is fast, simple and fun! We created our own feather rings with ring blanks, guinea fowl feathers, and Dimensional Magic Mod Podge.

One thing I don't enjoy about fall is that our birds all start molting. We seem to have feathers everywhere in the yard. As much as I get tired off all those stray feathers being molted, I do get excited for the guinea foul to shed  few. These little polka dotted beauties are from my 3 guinea fowl. I promise they are not much to look at, but the feathers are beautiful.

I know, not everyone has their own supply of feathers walking around the yard, but these are also commonly found at craft stores. The feathers are relatively small and have a thin shaft. They are also popular for fly tying.

For this project you will need:

• 1 clean feather
• 1 ring blank
• Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
• toothpick
• scissors

Start by picking a good feather to fit your ring blank. I tried out several feathers to test their size and shape inside the ring. Don't worry if your feather is larger than your ring. Just make sure it fills up the inside completely.

Don't worry, we are going to trim the feather to fit. I decided against using the smaller feather because it didn't fill up the outsides of the ring. I used a larger feather and just trimmed off the top.

With your squeeze bottle of Mod Podge, start squeezing into a paper towel and then fill in the bottom of the ring blank. Do not fill the entire blank, just coat the bottom. Use your toothpick to remove any bubbles that may have formed.

Lay the feather on top of the partially filled ring blank. Using the toothpick, make sure the feather edges are inside the blank. Trim as necessary.

Then add a little Dimensional Magic Mod Podge to cover the top and completely seal the ring.

Let the ring dry flat for several hours. I like to prop mine up between two jars. Once it dries, the Mod Podge will dry clear and you are ready to enjoy your new feather ring.

For more crafts from The Brand Connection, visit a few of my favorite bloggers:

• Create It Chalkboard by Confessions of an Overworked Mom
• Thanksgiving Leaf Banner & Centerpiece by B is 4
• Create Some Pallet Art by TigerStrypes Blog
• Tea Set for Dollies by Girlie Creation
• Tree Motor Skill Craft by Say It, "Rah-shay"

"You are my Sunshine" Stamped Metal Bracelets

I have recently become smitten with metal stamping.  I have found so many fun items on Etsy and project ideas on Pinterest, I just had to try it for myself. It is a fun way to personalize items. I love how it can range from very simple, to extremely complex with patterns and texturing.

I made this easy stamped bracelet for my first project. I have been singing, "You are my sunshine" to my children since they were babies. I already have the first line hanging up in their playroom and thought it would be perfect for a bracelet for my daughter. The key was to find something short and meaningful. It is amazing how fast you run out of room while stamping!

 As with most new craft endeavors, it requires a little practice and a few supplies to get started.

I suggest getting a nice and stable steel stamping block, tape, metal stamps in the font of your choice and a good metal stamping hammer.

I also tried this project with a small regular hammer and found that the stamps slid more and it was not as clean an imprint  (more double impressions). The specialty hammer gave me better control, a larger strike surfuce and didn't require much energy to make the imprints. Either will work, of course, but the specialized stamping hammer does have some benefits.

Since I wanted to create a bracelet, I also used a bracelet kit which included a bending form and metal stamping blanks.

To get started I selected my phrase, "You are my sunshine", removed the protective film on the metal blank, and used the tape to mark out the spacing. Check and double check that the stamps are turned the correct way. This was the first time I used the Bridgette font and I had a few mistakes!

Hold the stamps securely against the blank and give them a firm tap straight down. Getting the technique down was the hardest part.

But, save those mistakes and use the blanks for practice next time!

After stamping out the phrase, just remove the tape and rub a sharpie into the indentations. Rub away any excess ink and the lettering will stand out just a little more.

Then I used the bracelet form to bend the blank into cuff form.

Overall this was a quick and fun project. Once you invest in the initial supplies (stamps, hammer, etc.), the blanks themselves are pretty inexpensive. So, what would you put on a bracelet?

For more blog posts from The Brand Connection crafters:

• Fall Button and Twine Bracelet by Confessions of an Overworked Mom
• DIY Fall Banner Wreath by B is 4
• You are my Sunshine Stamped Metal Bracelet by Adventures in All Things Food

Resin Bracelets with Dried Flowers

My daughter turned 6 this week, so I thought it was time to do a little more crafting for her. This project for Resin Bracelets with Dried Flowers is not appropriate for young children on their own, but she is in love with the finished product and has already asked me to make more for her and her friends.

Resin is not a medium I have used before, but it was pretty simple to work with. Of course, you will need some safety gear first. I suggest a good pair of eye protection (doesn't every crafter need pink safety glasses?), and gloves for working with the resin.

I also like to cover my work space with wax paper to catch any drips or spills.

Resin Bracelets with Dried Flowers

You Will Need:

• Resin Jewelry Plastic Resusable Mold
• Castin’ Craft mold release
• An assortment of dried flowers and leaves
• Envirotex Clear Resin Epoxy
• popsicle sticks
• 2 mixing containers
• toothpicks
• fine sandpaper

Start by prepping the plastic reusable mold. Give the inside a quick spray with mold release. Allow this to dry for 20 minutes, or as directed on the package.

To fill the bracelet, I got a whole variety of dried flowers and some small leaves to work with. Make sure your flowers are completely dry, any moisture in the resin will prevent it from setting properly.

For this project, I had everything ready before mixing my resin. Different brands call for different proportions, but this clear EnviroTex was a 1:1 ratio of resin and hardener. It needs to be mixed really well to set properly.

I mixed for 2 minutes, scraping the sides as I went.

Then I poured the mixture into my 2nd container and mixed again. Most of the problems people mentioned online were due to under mixing the epoxy. Don't worry, there was still plenty of time to make my bracelet.

Be careful when mixing. Mix too vigorously and you can add air bubbles to the resin. Mix gently, but well. A toothpick works well to pop air bubbles or bring them up to the surface. Then gently blow on the surface to pop the bubbles.

I poured a small amount of resin into my prepared mold. Then I started adding the dried flowers and leaves. I used my stirring stick and toothpick to push pieces into place. I wanted my leaves and buds to be evenly distributed around the mold.

After I was happy with my design, I left the resin in a dry place to dry. Mine started to become tacky after a few hours. I let it cure for a full 24 hours though before trying to unmold it.

My mold was slightly pliable, but it still took a little work to remove the finished bracelet from the mold.

My daughter was thrilled with the result. She already has some new ideas for things to put into her bracelets. We may even fill some with the paper beads she has been making!

I hope you enjoyed our little Resin Bracelet craft. Be sure to come back next month for the next #TBCCrafters craft post. They will be posted on the first Friday of each month.

Have you ever worked with resin? What do you suggest I try next?

For more fun craft projects, visit a few of my favorite bloggers:

• Easy Homemade Simmering Potpourri Recipe by Confessions of an Overworked Mom
• Make Up Set for Dolly by Girly Creation
• Paper Plate Gift Box by Tiger Strypes
• Countin Chickens with #TBCCrafters by Say It, "Rah-Shay"
• DIY Fall Recycled Bottle Decor by B is 4
• Stenciled Halloween blocks by Craft Yourself

Creating Wire Word Necklaces

I love creative jewelry and when I found this idea for creating word art out of simple wire, I knew I wanted to try it.

I got a kit from Artistic Wire which includes a little peg board (this reminded me a little of light brights), thin wire, a wire writer tool and 98 assorted pegs for creating different designs or letters.

I started playing around with this last week. Oh, boy it is fun!

It is one of those things that once you start playing, it is pretty addictive. The back of the package lists some ideas for letters but it wasn't too long before I started experimenting.

The wire writing tool is just a pen shaped dispenser. The spool is held at the bottom and the wire is threaded out the top. Start out a design by securing the end of the wire (wind it around a peg once or twice to hold it) then looping it around the removable pegs.

The trick I found was to hold the wire tension tight. If there was too much slack the wire would bend where I didn't want it to.

In addition to the kit, I used wire cutters, as well as jump rings and silver chain from my jewelry supplies.

This wire is pretty thin and flexible so trimming the edges was pretty easy. I created an extra loop on the end of each "M" in "Mom" to use for attaching the rings and chain to create a simple necklace.

Next I want to create my signature "A" for a simple wire monogram necklace for my daughter.

Okay, have you had any fun crafty finds lately? What did you create?

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