What Came First...? The Chicken or the Egg?

There’s something so Springy and happy about an Easter egg wreath isn’t there? I don’t know what it is, but I have to believe I’m not alone in my fondness for these simplistic little wreaths because I have been eyeing them in every store I peruse as of late. Though I must admit, some of them are a bit obnoxious for my taste, so I started digging around to see how difficult this would be to make. Seriously, I was just thinking a grapevine wreath and some eggs and ribbon would pretty much do the trick, and leave it to Martha to have exactly what I was looking for. So here you go, with plenty of time for your springtime decorating.

Let’s start by hollowing out the eggs. Make sure you’ve got plenty of Aleve on hand because lordy does that ever cause a bad headache or what? To hollow out the eggs, working over a bowl, pierce one end of a raw egg with a pin. Then pierce the other end. Now, Martha recommends using the pin to slightly enlarge the hole, which I agree with, but I also recommend having a long wooden skewer on hand to put in the hole and swirl around to break up the yolk inside really well. This will make hollowing process go much faster with much less of a headache (and I do mean that literally). Blow out the insides forcing contents of the egg out through the larger hole into a bowl. Important! Don’t let the liquid touch the shell because it will make the egg ugly (and we are not going to all this trouble for ugly eggs). Now that the eggs are all hollowed out and drying out, you’re ready to get started on putting your project together. Let’s get started, shall we?

You Will Need
-Scissors
-16-gauge black annealed steel wire
-Masking tape
-12 eggs, brown and Araucana, or dyed white eggs, hollow
-Crepe paper
-24-gauge fine wire
-Craft glue

1. Cut a 40-inch length of 16-gauge wire, and shape it into a hoop. Cut a 2-inch piece of masking tape, and make a tab with the tape 1 inch in from one end of the wire. Thread eggs onto the wire hoop, alternating colors.

2. Cut pieces of crepe paper measuring 3 by 4 inches. Fold the crepe paper in half lengthwise, going with the grain of the paper. Use the scissors to cut out half of a leaf shape. Cut a piece of 24-gauge wire measuring 3 inches. Dip it in craft glue, set half of it into the crease of the leaf to make a stem, fold the leaf in half over the wire, and glue another leaf onto the other end of the wire.

3. Take a pair of leaves, and twist them onto the wire hoop so they are snug against an egg. Attach a pair of leaves between every egg. Once they’re in place, you can “fluff” them by pulling the crepe paper and stretching the grain. Cut off the ends of the wire hoop so only an inch remains. Wrap the tape around both ends of the wire to close the wreath.

Now this is all fine and dandy, but you know me, so I need to step this up a notch. If you like this simplistic look, then stick with these instructions. And really, you will stick with these instructions even if you chose to modify this wreath.

For instance, instead of the wire form for the actual wreath part, you can hit your local craft store and pick up an inexpensive (but always pretty) grapevine wreath. And instead of wrapping floral tape around your steel wire form, what about a simple ribbon? Or gluing dried moss on the form? And you know you can always substitute the crepe paper leaves Martha has here with little pieces of ribbon tied on instead. Oh! And instead of alternating brown and white eggs, what about dying the white eggs an uber preppy pale blue, so your wreath has alternating brown and blue eggs (a very popular color combo as of late, but I don’t have to tell you that)? That would make quite a lovely addition to an Easter-ish baby shower too, don’t you think? Attach a wide gossamer ribbon to the wreath and hang it over the mantle in the main entertaining area you’re going to use at the baby shower, or lay the Easter egg wreath flat on the buffet table and use it to frame out your centerpiece. Heck, you can do a few smaller ones and have bowls and dishes inside the wreath on the table as well. Fresh, springy and creative. Now THIS is a good thing if I do say so myself!