Easter's On Its Way

Also, Maple Syrup Festival and Int'l Tatting Day

All my decorated  eggs with tatting on them are now among my Easter decorations at home, after being on display at the Maple Syrup Festival this past weekend (see below). 

 

The satin eggs (near the bunny) are larger than hens' eggs, and accommodated larger motifs on them.  They also are Styrofoam underneath, so I could easily use pins for attaching, as well as decoration.  I also used glue stick glue to hold the tatting in place, and they have remained in place for more than 20 years.   (Of course, they don't get handled too often.)    

 

I posted about the 'satin eggs' five years ago in my blog at the link below.

http://kathysvictoriantattedlace.blogspot.com/2009/04/im-putting-all-my-eggs-in-one-basket.html  

 

 However, I haven't shown the  'flocked' eggs before, which have a 'faux velvet' feel.   

They are the seven eggs in the front of the above photo.  I first found them in 1993 in – of all places – the Dollar stores!   They came packaged just like a 'carton of eggs', in white cardboard containers.  They are purely decorative and are the size of normal 'hens' eggs.  I bought several dozen of them to share with our tatting group.  I was surprised that they were still in the stores for a couple of years before 'disappearing'.     I have no idea how other customers used the plain eggs (they don't come apart for inserting candy), but they were perfect for adding tatting and other embellishments, and I get a lot of compliments on them.

They were fun to decorate and once I learned split-ring tatting (around 1995), I was able to incorporate the rings as a 'frame' in the center design or the divider between the front and back.  I was more 'ambitious' back then and I decorated the front and back the same    I enjoyed adding other elements for the decorations, such as flowers, ribbons and beads.

 

And here is a 'newer' display idea for my coffee table, but the eggs are also from the past.  These are all beaded eggs, which were only available one year (of course).    They are covered in tiny 'micro' beads (over a plastic egg) and fortunately are also hollow inside, which made it possible to use pins for decoration. 

The egg on top of the candle is smaller and is white, whereas the three eggs at the base are larger and have pastel colors with shading, which is very effective. 

 I made use of scrapbook supplies (adhesive gems, flowers, beaded tape)  to embellish the eggs and added fancy bows (using a bow maker).  

 

 

 

The 'newest' item for my display is a pin/pendant, attached to  the ribbon on the white candle.  As you can see, I added tatting to the pin (two triangles in Lizbeth size 20 thread).   The oval metal filigree piece has a pin on the back and also a hidden loop to attach a chain.  I love finding items like this at antique or thrift stores.  

I can add any color ribbon to the candle and customize it for any holiday. 

This idea could also be used for a wedding or shower decoration and given to the bride as a keepsake.  I simply used gold peel-offs for the 'corners'. 

 

 

And here is another way for the Easter bunny to 'deliver' eggs!

No 'hopping' necessary!  

This is a brand new addition to my Easter display. I found this cute 'bunny on a tricycle' at Michaels.

I added a tatted 'collar' from my stash, and hope to add tatting to her ears, probably in pink thread.  

Having 'wheels' makes it easier to make those deliveries, although she'll need a cart for lots more eggs! 

 

International Tatting Day 2015 

 This year, International Tatting Day fell on Wednesday, in between' our tatting group's event at the Maple Syrup Festival (Mar. 28-29), and Easter (April 5).    You might say we accomplished our requirement of 'tatting in public' a little early, except we could do very little tatting on Saturday. as the temperature never got above 30 degrees!  (We fortunately were in a large 'protected' pavilion which we share with the quilters and bobbin lacers, plus a gal who does intricate paper cutting.)  We were dressed warmly, but couldn't tat because our hands were too cold! 

 

Fortunately, it warmed up to a balmy 40 degrees on Sunday, and the day passed more pleasantly as we chatted with all the visitors!  As usual, there was a lot of interest in our tatting. 

 It was my 25^th time at the Festival (can't quite grasp the passage of time), during which we have had all kinds of weather, from the 20s through the 80s!    We always enjoy the  pancakes as a 'perk' for demonstrating!    

 

I hope everyone has nice weather for Easter this year!