"Let's have a merry journey, and shout about how light is good and dark is not. What we should do is not future ourselves so much. We should now ourselves. "NOW thyself" is more important than "Know thyself." Reason is what tells us to ignore the present and live in the future. So all we do is make plans. We think that somewhere there are going to be green pastures. It's crazy. Heaven is nothing but a grand, monumental instance of future. Listen, now is good. Now is wonderful." ~ Mel Brooks

Friday, April 6, 2012

Felted Eggs


This has been one of those weeks where everything happens at once! I am a firm believer that energy is strongest during the full moon and today is the culmination of all that energy! Sometimes, I look very much forward to a waning moon.......I sure do love that the Full Pink Moon fell on Good Friday and Passover. So much energy into rebirth and new beginnings which are being lived out right in our home by way of cleaning out and preparing for our newest little. Having all our baby stuff tucked away and the bedrooms so full and disorganized we'll be spending our Spring break making anew! By this time next week I imagine life will be much more relaxed........*insert deep breath here*
All the while, Easter is upon us! We are usually away spending Easter with family but this year we're staying home. This will be the first Easter in 4 years that I'll need to consider how to incorporate a simple Easter celebration at home. It's exciting for me.......no quick trip to the grocery to find something on the road (you'd think I'd prepare a head of time). I've been planning little gifts, special treats, hardly any candy (but jelly beans for sure). We have baskets we use every year so that part is no problem. One of the special treats we got for the littles is sitting in our Easter egg in the first photo. Mama West Wind creates such amazing little peg folk. They have so much character and the moment you hold one in your hand you know it's been created in loving hands. They are precious. After seeing a pair on her Etsy shop I couldn't resist purchasing them! I knew we'd need a special place for them, this is why I created the felted eggs. It was a simply process albeit a bit time consuming but the end result is truly adorable. I can't wait for the littles to see them in their baskets!

Felted Egg Tutorial

You will need::
wool roving
a plastic egg or something equivalent
hot, soapy water (dish soap)
patience
Make sure you have plenty of roving, it takes quite a bit to cover an egg shape well!

Wrap your egg in your roving. Be mindful of bare spots and where the wool overlaps as they
will be your weak spots and might need more roving as the felting process begins.

Fill your sink with hot (as hot as your hands can handle) soapy (unscented dish soap) water.
Dip your egg in the water and gently roll, pat, squeeze, pet, twist and repeat (not in any particular order!)
The wool will be loose around the egg until it begins to felt. You can add more soap to help keep it smooth
and allow the felting to take place. The hotter the water the better.
This is the part that takes the longest. For the felting to become strong and not fall apart it took about 20-30 minutes. Patience is essential because the moment you begin to rush and use a firmer hand with your egg is the moment where it will begin to fall apart!


This is one of our finished eggs. From the last picture you can see that I wrapped another bit of roving around the egg. I did this because, and this is from the picture before this one, once the initial wool felted together it needed a bit more to bond it all together. So, I wrapped a bit more roving around and continued to felt the egg. This helps out alot! And the layers of color are so beautiful!


This is the end result! My first egg had a weak spot where the egg beneath actually showed so I used that as my place to cut into and create the opening to allow the egg to be released and ultimately create the little cradle for our peg bunny! I blanket stitched along the edging to provide more stability to the opening, which I'm sure you'll notice if you do a search on felted eggs that it is the most common edging to use. It is might pretty, though, don't you think?

I'm wishing you all a peaceful and wonderful rebirth to your lives. May Eastertide flow and spring up gently the most glorious blooms of hope and renewal. xoxo

2 comments:

  1. The felted eggs are a darling little home for them! Love it! I was so surprised to see my little doll in there when I clicked on your post. I've been hoping at some point to wet felt eggs and actually sell them with the peg dolls....but... tried to make some today for our Easter baskets and yikes! My first egg was quite a failure! LOL, I'll have to post about it. I made a few more and (cross your fingers) I'm hoping they came out. They are drying now. They seem a little thin. Ah well, practice & patience like you say. Thanks so much for linking to me.

    Becca

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They really are, aren't they?! I love them so much especially with your dolls in them! The felted eggs aren't easy at first......it really takes so much patience, and they certainly don't felt as fast as other projects. I did find that using really raw roving or wool that still has lots of lanolin left to it worked quite well, compared to cleaner carded and brushed roving. I'm sure your eggs will have turned out beautifully! Can't wait to see xoxo

      Delete

I very much enjoy connecting with you in this space. If you feel inspired to leave a comment, please do!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...