paint palette eggs!

this one came to me one day while i was going through my bins of spring decor.

back in 2020 i made some simple Easter eggs with varied finishes on them,
and as i saw those in the bin, i realized that their shape was very much like
the paint palettes that artists use... and a new creative idea was born!

...continue reading for this easy project

(and to see what those 'paint palettes' are REALLY made of!)

Pyrex Pattern Easter Eggs

These happy Easter eggs were inspired by vintage Pyrex bowls
AND by two previous projects I've created inspired by the same bowls.

'Inspiration comes from everywhere' is a phrase many creatives use -
and it's certainly true for me, as well as 'inspiration comes from nature'.
Another source of inspiration for me is my own previous projects.
I love using similar concepts and elements from my stash
to create new 'home decor that's not from a store' in different seasons!

I hope you enjoy this Easter decor project!
Be a good egg! Continue reading for an easy paint tutorial...

faux painted 'kintsugi' easter eggs

last fall, when i created my faux painted 'kintsugi' pumpkins,

i knew they were just a 'practice project'...

because i always envisioned that paint treatment on eggs, for Easter.

honestly, i couldn't be happier with the results!

this is a simple paint treatment with elegant results,

one that can be applied to any type of egg - paper, ceramic, wood, glass, or real eggs.

continue reading for my easy tutorial...

painted easter eggs

while employing this mandatory time at home to accomplish some long-overdue tasks,

i've unearthed some goodies that i completely forgot that i still had!

(tell me i'm not alone. please. i can not be the only decor/craft-supply hoarder out here!)

.

seven ceramic eggs that i bought at a thrift shop years ago turned up in a box,

and as soon as i saw them, i decided to give them a makeover with paint -

and pictured them just as you see them in the image above.

because it's all about making do with what we have at home right now, yes? yes!

continue reading to see the before & after!

be a good (repurposed) egg

last spring, i created several decor elements inspired by paint chips. 

okay, okay... i basically spent most of 2020 finding creative ways to use paint chips! LOL

this year, i've pulled those out of storage and found fresh new ways to use them...

because the yellow just serendipitously fits my current color obsession perfectly

AND

because it's not necessary to have/buy/make ALL NEW things EVERY year.

(i felt a great disturbance in the force as retailers across the globe shuddered at that...)

it's fun finding new ways to use what you have!

continue reading to see the new ideas that i came up with...

Be a Good Egg!

so many fabulous egg-related decor ideas are floating around the internets right now:

literally hundreds of ideas for coloring Easter eggs and making patterned Easter eggs 

and ideas for making wreaths and topiaries from plastic Easter eggs. 

LOVE the creativity i see out there!

but.... what if you don't celebrate Easter? 

or what if you just want a more subdued palette?

you're in luck! 

(and good company, to be honest... pastel eggs are NOT my thing. 

the closest i got to them was when i brought home 

two dozen brightly-colored 'Cascarones' from a visit to Texas one spring.)

so today, i offer up some inspiration 

for creating spring decor with un-decorated eggs!

some are real, and some aren't.... use papier mache', clay, wood, or ceramic eggs.

first up, an ostrich egg (HUGE) embellished with a strip of vintage sheet music.

[the title 'Song of the Bird' was a perfect fit!]

i nestled the finished egg into a handmade birdsnest, 

then sat the nest on a 'pedestal' of an upside-down milk glass lamp shade (with the narrow end up).

here's a photo of the same egg standing UP in the nest, without the glass base:

another idea is to create a small vignette inside a glass jar...

and this works perfectly when you are using real (blown) eggs, because they are protected.

[note: do not - under any circumstances - 

forget to blow the eggs, and then seal them in a jar. 

BAAAAAAAD side effects :( ]

a little nest of grass is placed in the jar and an egg nestled into it.

a scrap of vintage sheet music or a poem with a Spring theme might be inserted as a 'backdrop',

and a strip with an appropriately 'Spring-y' title is glued onto the jar as a label.

i also covered the jar tops with a scrap of burlap, tied with twine.

[i use pickle or olive jars from thrift stores. 

they come in medium and large sizes, are wider than mason jars, and have no embossing on the sides to blur the contents]

this LARGE handmade nest sits atop an aged garden urn.

[i used ivy and hops vines from the yard to make it]

moss from a corner of the yard fills the center of the nest,  providing a soft resting place for a few eggs.

a glass garden cloche finishes off the look perfectly.

[you could also tuck in some gardener's gloves, hand tools, and some bulbs 

for a perfect Spring gift!]

then again, you don't really have to have a nest...

a simple egg presentation:
a glass salt cellar or napkin ring can hold an egg,

and a clear stemless wineglass as a 'dome' will finish it off with style.

if you write each guests' name on the egg, these are perfect place cards!
_________________________________

those last two shots are a bit of a sneak-peek - 

they are part of a garden-theme project and photoshoot last winter in Seattle

that i'll be sharing here on the HOMEWARDfound blog later this week.

i am delighted that photos from that shoot are featured

in the Spring issue of Creating Vintage Charm magazine!

Easter egg mushrooms!

my last post for  March Mushroom Madness  
wraps up with this creation... just in time for Easter!

why not decorate for spring with mushrooms, along with the bunnies and eggs?
ah, but these are no ordinary mushrooms - these are made from eggs!
you can use REAL eggshells, as i did, or simple plastic eggs to get this whimsical result.

(i know, eggs are really pricy right now! i always save the shells to use in my garden,
but i'm always happy to turn 'trash' into 'treasure' via crafting!)

 continue reading to see how easy they are to create...

Easter Eggs on Parade!

Pinterest is awash these days with a plethora of ideas
for coloring and decorating Easter Eggs...
Well, I'm throwing my hat in the ring
with a few SIMPLE ideas for using 'everyday items' as bases to display your colorful eggs ON!

Sure, you can use an egg cup. 
My faves are white ceramic ones from Pier 1, which are a very affordable $1.50 each.
 I used them when I created this sweet ornament for someone's very special First Christmas:

They work for Sweet Sweater Snowbabies, and they work for eggs...
but I tend to like to be a bit more original with the way I display things, don't you?!
Using an egg cup to display an egg is just so.... normal.

continue reading to find more easy and unique ways to display Easter eggs:

the old rugged cross

in my last post, i shared my new faux Kintsugi painted eggs,
and in the background of a few shots you saw a small collection of wood crosses.
today, i'm focusing on those and how they are made from 'everyday' materials.

Easter arrives in just a few days, and it is one of the most important days of the year to me.
my faith is built on the miraculous events celebrated on this day centuries ago,
and my hope resides in the promises God made about what it all means for the future.

Easter is also the day that my sweet Dad went home to Heaven seven years ago,
just as the sun was rising and beaming through the windows onto his peaceful face...
a precious reminder about what is really important in this life.

having a cross (or collection of crosses) in my decor is important to me,
and i love being able to make them unique and personal.
i hope these ideas inspire you!

continue reading for details...

easy no-mess Easter basket grass

while i have always loved creating holiday decor,

i do have my limits... Easter grass is one of them.

(my theory is it was created by the same people who invented Legos.

to drive parents - specifically the parent who does the cleaning - batty.)

since i hate the mess  of plastic grass strands wrapped around the vacuum bar!!,

i've found other materials to use in Easter baskets that reduce the mess and fuss.

yes, paper shred works - but it's still a mess.

i've found a way to get the same effect as grass

without the resulting mess and cleanup...

and you might be really surprised at how cheap and easy this solution is!

continue reading for my sly little trick (that has an added benefit!)...

paint chip easter eggs - over easy!

if you've been around here any length of time, 

you know that i like my decorating projects 'fast, cheap, & easy'TM. my trademark phrase.

in this case, the project is 'over easy'! 

yeah, it's a pun, but it's also true - because this is a super-fast craft idea for spring & Easter.

.

continue reading for the easy how-to and how i've used them...

a sunny bunny Easter table

 i dunno' what the weather is like where you live, but here, it's positively murky.
gray, rainy, COLD (relatively speaking - it's cold for us!), and dismal.
this whole isolation/quarantine/stay home order would be a LOT easier
if the sun would shine and the weather would warm up 

so we could spend time outside in our yard!

sometimes, we can't wait for the sunshine - or spring - to come to us. 

we have to go to it.
and since we can't go anywhere right now, we have to CREATE a sunny spring.

that's what i did for our Easter table - i created some sunshine!
i grabbed everything yellow i could find and put together a simple, easy, happy tablescape

that's made up of just 'everyday' stuff, coordinated by color.

my homebound friends, you can do this in just minutes with ANY color you have on hand!
don't let being stuck inside the house because of weather or quarantine stop your celebration.

continue reading to see more details that i hope will inspire you to 'get to spring'...

Even MORE Easter Eggs on Parade!

OK, this really is the last of it!
I just keep finding more and more great ideas to share with you...

 Surround a pillar candle in a glass vase or trifle dish with plastic eggs.

 Gather up your real or plastic eggs and display them by COLOR!

Use all one color containers - white or clear glass, for example - 

or use containers in colors that coordinate with the eggs, as shown above.

*** One of the BEST Easter Egg Hunt ideas I have seen recently is along these lines:

Assign each child one color - They can only collect eggs of that color.
This enables you to hide eggs by age/ accessibility, 

and make sure even the youngest children find eggs!
I think it's BRILLIANT! ***

 Coordinate your eggs with a vignette of special items...
this simple display focuses on warm colors that coordinate with a vintage container.

My Mom found this little manzanita branch mounted in a box at the craft store,

and she decorates it for every season using purchased mini-ornaments...

You can hang regular-size eggs from a branch gathered from your yard or roadside,

using thread or ribbon:

image from thedomesticcurator.com

One Last Idea for you:
When my daughters were young, they would clip plastic eggs into their long hair!
(no image, sorry - the girls would kill me!)

shared online:

Cupcakes & Crinoline | Project Inspire{d}

Common Ground | Be Inspired

SPRING: repurpose a lampshade frame as a cloche

My sweet aunt Diane gifted me a terra cotta bunny figure in March for my birthday, along with a lovely lunch at one of our local wineries. After the celebrating was over, I came home and created a sweet little springtime vignette starring that bunny... and I thought I'd share this idea with you, since it is SO simple to replicate!

Continue reading to see how it all came together, plus some additional ideas...

Neutral Easter Eggs on Parade

Perhaps the brightly-colored Easter eggs in my last post aren't really your style...

Here are versions of my photos and ideas in a more elegant neutral palette!

This just goes to show how everyday items can be used as details in your decor,
no matter WHAT your style is!

I also gathered up some of my props and created this soft, neutral display

as a centerpiece for a Spring tablescape:

This centerpiece started with a thrifted ceramic pedestal bowl, 

which I covered with a ceramic platter, then accented with a white lace doily.

A nest made from dried daffodil foliage has been lined with shredded vintage sheet music,

and my wooden eggs nestle in along with a spray of vintage white faux narcissus.

My wire birdcagelet covers it all, 

and a 'Spring' scrapbook charm adds a final detail.

If you can't locate wood eggs at your craft supply store,

the neutral style shown here can easily be replicated

by using natural brown eggs, which have been blown out and rinsed!

More ideas in my next post? EGGzactly! 

the art of nesting

'nesting' is kind of the mood of the moment, isn't it?
as part of our newly-required 'social distancing' practices, 
we're all spending more time at home right now.
the organizing & purging that we began with gusto in January 
has become a flurry of cleaning & disinfecting in March.

confession: i am not a person who loves cleaning. i DO it, of course, 
but my main motivation has always been that i clean the house so i can decorate the house.
 restyling. refreshing. we sometimes call this 'nesting'.
mama's about to have babies do this. newlyweds do this. 
and sometimes, angry/frustrated people do this. 
(deb raises her hand).
yeah, i'm one o' THOSE people. i clean like a banshee when i am mad or feel out of control. 
the physical activity - and the loud music i play as i engage in it - really can help re-set my mood.
plus it accomplishes something good (a clean house), so it isn't wasted energy.

i think this applies when we are a bit scared and uncertain, too...
cleaning, conquering clutter, completing a project, expressing some creativity
are positive things we can do with the pent-up energy that threatens to overwhelm us.
in times of stress (like we're all experiencing right now), it can be helpful
to set ourselves to the task of gaining some control over a part of our lives, like our homes.

and yes, that includes crafting and creating and decorating -
all facets of 'the art of nesting'.
these pursuits can re-set our mindset and give us a respite in the midst of chaos.
it can help us engage our brains in a positive thought pattern -
and if you have littles at home, you can teach them how to focus on what is possible
rather than on limitations.

in light of that, i've been puttering around the house as i clean,
and decided to update & refresh a few projects from the past.

since my whole 'thing' here at homewardFOUND is 'use what you already have'
i looked around at my stash and found a way to freshen up an original project
that i created over a decade ago. it needed a facelift. and so did i!
the creative process made me smile (the best kind of facelift) as i was working on this,
and now the finished product makes our home smile with its presence...
a good reminder that old can be made new, new approaches can be taken,
new things can be accomplished. at any time.

i think NOW is a good time to put those principles into practice, don't you?

 continue reading for a colorful re-furb and a link to my nest-making tutorial...

easter eggs on parade

it's April first - and rather than share a joke or a prank, 
i hope you'll enjoy this slideshow of Easter egg decorating ideas

pulled from my past homewardFOUND blog posts!

for more inspiration, 

see all past Easter egg posts here

Create a White Spring Tablescape

Easter and springtime are filled with symbolism of growth and life and celebration...

and there are so many ways to express the beauty of the season in a tablescape.

this simple farmhouse-style table decor focuses on white - 
in the linens, the dishware, the flowers, and the surrounding details
in a garden greenhouse setting.

continue reading for my one-step trick for making those mini glass domes!

yes, you can make a bird nest!

bird nests seem to me to be a sign of springtime...

over the years, i've been lucky enough to have found a few real ones, 
incorporating them into my home decor in spring. and fall. and on my Christmas trees!

i've also made quite a few - 
from elaborate to simple, from small seasonal versions sold via an enchanting online boutique
to an enormous one made for a client to hold a precious gold-embellished ostrich egg,
making them always connects me to nature.

this year i've made one with the slightest hits of gray and yellow elements
unearthed in my bins and boxes of saved materials,
and i thought i'd share the easy process of making them with you.

if you're sitting there thinking 'whaaaaa? MAKE a bird nest?!', continue reading!

Mossy Mossy Mossy

So, after the Easter eggs and bunnies are packed away, 

what does Spring look like for you?

Me? I'm partial to MOSS.

...and yes, just as my silly title above indicates, I can't say 'Mossy' without thinking

"Fosse, Fosse, Fosse" 

[ which is a funny line from the movie 'The Birdcage'... look it up ;) ]

 I don't go for that 'sanitized' & bagged moss from the nurseries & garden centers, however...

nope. I like my moss straight from the shadiest corner of the yard, thankyouverymuch.
Twigs and weeds and all. Just scoop it up (using a pie server or spatula, of course) 

and pop it into containers like terra cotta pots and brandy snifters!

I shared a tutorial on making FREE moss terrariums HERE last Spring!

I loved this 'moss handbag' planter when I saw it at Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach, CA.

It inspired the moss-filled wire basket that I just made for Mom's front door.
[ The moss is real, the roses are faux - salvaged from an old wreath ]

These hanging moss balls used as planters are at the entrance to Roger's Gardens this spring,

and they spin a bit in the wind. 

Very sweet - and EASY to replicate!
* Grab a grapevine orb from the craft or dollar store 

* Wrap it up with sheet moss 

* Fill the inside of the ball with potting soil

* Plant a little fern or begonia into it
* Attach a string or wire, and hang from your patio cover....
OR, simply place the moss ball into a martini glass to display it indoors or on a table!

 One of my favorite haunts up in Washington state was Christianson's Nursery in the Skagit Valley.
There is a little shop in the center of the nursery called 'Primrose',

and every season, they create charming displays with natural elements and vintage goods.
I was always inspired when I visited,

and looking at these images of a spring tablescape, you can see why!
They really know how to use the ABUNDANT moss in the Pacific Northwest!

I would even put up with sanitized moss to create a table like that ;)