Tag: holiday

Make, Create, & Share!

Resist Dyed Easter Eggs!

Intheartroom

Make fun Easter eggs with this technique which gives a similar look to batik! Simple and easy to create, use liquid masking fluid as a resist on your eggs surface, place in a dye bath, then remove the masking fluid to reveal your beautiful designs!

Liquid masking fluid, or liquid frisket, (a type of liquid latex) is typically used to block out small areas in watercolor painting – blocking the paint from the surface of the paper where it has been applied. Once dry, the masking fluid is then easily removed from the papers surface.

What you need:

  • Eggs – either blown or hard boiled, I used blown white eggs but you could use any color!
  • Masking Fluid – This is what I used!
  • Small paint brush – the masking fluid can clog up a brush, it’s best to use an inexpensive one!
  • Food coloring (or egg dye)
  • Bowls for mixing your dye
  • Spoon
  • Paper towels

Step one: Gather all of your supplies! If you’re using blown eggs you can plug the holes in the ends of your egg with poster putty so the dye doesn’t fill up your eggs!

Step two: Paint a design on your egg with the masking fluid – you can help protect your brush bristles from the masking fluid by coating the bristles with liquid dish soap first.

Step three: Use bottle caps, egg cartons, or make egg stands from strips of paper (like a napkin ring) to hold your egg while you paint with the masking fluid and/or to place your egg on while the masking fluid dries. Work on one side of an egg at a time, letting the masking fluid dry before turning over! If you make a mistake, let the masking fluid dry, then peel it off and start over!

Step four: Mix some food coloring and water together – the more drops you add to your water the more intense your color will be. Once your resist is dry carefully place your eggs in the dye. If using blown eggs you will need to rotate your eggs every once in a while as they’ll float and only one side will be sitting in the dye! If using hard boiled eggs make sure your dye is deep enough to completely cover your eggs!

Step five: Let your eggs sit in the dye until they’ve reached the desired color – the longer you leave them in the dye, the darker the color will be! Use a spoon to gently place your eggs on paper towels to dry off.

Step six: Once the dry is dry, remove the masking fluid by gently rubbing it off the surface of the egg with your finger.

Display your beautifully dyed eggs, give them as a special Easter gift or serve hard boiled versions! Check out how to make marbleized eggs here!

Art, Art activities, Craft, decorating, DIY, Holiday, Make, Create, & Share!

DIY Ornaments!

Intheartroom

Create some fun little ornaments with simple supplies! Find the instructions below each of the three pictured!

Snowman ornament!

What you’ll need:

  • Mason Jar Lid (not the jar band)  
  • Small piece of sandpaper 
  • Piece of 1/4″ wired ribbon – approx. 12″
  • Two small pom-poms  
  • Piece of ribbon/twine for hanging
  • Acrylic Craft Paint (White, red or pink, Orange)  
  • Mod Podge  
  • Scissors 
  • Paint brush 
  • Sharpie pen 
  • Hot glue or craft glue 

Step one: Scuff up the mason jar lid with your sandpaper to help the paint adhere better! 

Step two: Paint your mason jar lid with white acrylic craft paint – let dry and apply a second layer if needed. 

Step three: Once your white paint is dry, use the orange paint to make your snowman’s nose – I made a dot near the center of my lid and towards the edge, and then connected them to create the nose!

Step four: Use your pink paint or make pink by mixing a little red paint to white paint and give your snowman rosy cheeks!  

Step five: Once your orange and pink are dry, apply a layer of mod podge sealer over the entire surface, let dry completely! 

 Step six: Use a sharpie pen to give your snowman eyes & a mouth – check out the pictures below for face ideas! Also outline your nose. Tip: leave a white spot in your snowman’s eye to give him a spark!  Download some additional snowman face ideas and practice your own below!

Snowman Faces & PracticeDownload

Step seven: Hot glue a ribbon to the back of your lid for a hanger!

Step eight: Cut and glue a piece of your wired ribbon, from side to side of your lid, glue pom-poms on the ends to look like ear muffs! Use leftover ribbon to make a bow for your snowman if desired!  

Tree Scene Ornament!

What you’ll need:

  • 3” Embroidery Hoop 
  • 2 pieces of approx. 3”x3” decorative cardstock 
  • Small pieces of decorative cardstock 
  • Mini paper snowflakes 
  • Piece of 8” burlap like ribbon 
  • 9 Small foam mounting squares  
  • Sequins 
  • Glue gun 
  • Craft Glue  
  • Glue Stick 
  • Scissors 
  • Colored Pencils 
  • Additional items to decorate with, such as, stamps, glitter, ribbon, stickers, etc.  

Step one: Cut a piece of cardstock large enough to glue to the back of your hoop – this will become the background to your tree scene, use craft glue to adhere it to your embroidery hoop.  

Step two: Work on getting your trees ready while your hoop dries! Using smaller pieces of decorative papers, cut triangles for trees! Make different shapes and sizes for added interest! 

Step three: Use colored pencils to shade the side/edges of your trees, giving them a border!  

Step four: If your hoop glue is dry, cut the paper off around the edges, you can also use an x-acto knife.  

Step five: Add your trees to the hoop! Glue some trees directly to the background paper and use the small mounting squares to adhere some trees, making them “pop” off of the surface – stack mounting squares to add more depth.  

Step six: Add sequins as tree toppers and/or ornaments on your trees and add the paper snowflakes (I cut one of my snowflakes in half to use around the edge). Add any other desired decorations and glue the piece of burlap like ribbon to the back for hanging!  

Wreath Ornament!

What you’ll need:

  • Mason Jar Lid Band 
  • 6 Pieces of green pipe cleaner 
  • Piece of 12” ribbon/twine for hanging  
  • Glue gun or craft glue 
  • Items to decorate your wreath with – I used pieces of artificial greenery and berries. Some other ideas may include miniature ornaments, pom poms, ribbon, etc. 

Step one: Wrap all 6 pieces of green pipe cleaner around your mason jar band! 

Step two: Collect items to add to your wreath 

Step three: Glue your items to your wreath!  

Step four: Add a ribbon to hang your ornament!

Give as gifts, hang on your tree, or use as gift toppers! Have fun making your own!

Art, Craft, Easter Eggs, Holiday

Marbled Easter Eggs

Intheartroom

These marbleized eggs are a tradition in my family – I can’t remember a year where we haven’t used this method to dye some eggs! They don’t require very much to achieve the effect and have fun results. Everything used is edible so you can still eat your eggs too – we use our dyed eggs in an Easter bread, but they also make a nice decoration or Easter snack 😉

What you need:

  • Hard Boiled Eggs
  • Food Coloring
  • Cooking Oil
  • Distilled White Vinegar
  • Several Shallow bowls (one for each color you would like)
  • A Fork
  • Paper Towels
  • Clothes that can get messy and a protected work surface!

Step one: Fill your bowls with a couple inches of water and add one Tablespoon of white vinegar to each. Then add several drops of food coloring to each one – the more food coloring you add the brighter your colors will be. I used the primary colors (Red, Yellow, & Blue) to create all the other colors you see on my eggs!

Step two: Add one teaspoon of cooking oil to each bowl. Depending on your bowl size you may need to add more oil – a little bit goes a long way for this, you don’t want it to cover your entire water surface, use a fork to help break up and disperse the oil on the surface.

Step three: Take one of your hard boiled eggs and roll it around in your bowl of color and oil. Once the egg has been completely covered let it set on a paper towel while you roll all your remaining eggs! Tips: If you’re color is not showing up well you can clean your eggs with white vinegar first and/or add more drops of food coloring to your bowls. Roll eggs quickly (but gently!) to make sure you pick up some of the oil spots on your egg.

Step four: Take your colored eggs and gently wipe off any remaining oil with a paper towel. Now roll you egg in a different color – Keep in mind the first color you rolled your egg in and the second color will mix to create a new color! Tips: Don’t dip your egg into too many colors – it can just make your egg brown and loose some of the marbleized effect. Wipe off your egg before you dip into a new color! You may need to break up the oil on the surface again to help pick up the oil spots! Instead of rolling the whole egg you can just dip part of it for a two-toned egg!

We use our dyed eggs in an Easter bread every year but they’re pretty displayed in a bowl too! This is also a fun project to learn about color mixing and the science behind why oil and water don’t mix! Check out Mocomi kids for a quick lesson on the science and a density experiment you can do at home! Mocomi kids also has several egg experiments to do too 🙂 Have a Happy Easter!