March 26, 2012

Vera Bradley Eggs!

Taking a break from my typical, surly blog to post a craft I did (crossing my fingers I get posted on some cool DIY sites).

Anyway, a while back I saw a post about making Vera Bradley pumpkins and candles by modpodging (yup, that's a word now) Vera Bradley napkins to faux pumpkins and candles (can you make candleholders or is mod podge flammable?). As much as I love Halloween, it's honestly the LAST holiday I would think of when I think of Vera Bradley (maybe I just need more bright colors, paisley, and flowers in my October decor). SO WHY WOULD I STOP AT HALLOWEEN?!

Cue me buying a surplus of Vera Bradley napkins and brainstorming all the things I could mod podge them to. Side note for all my friends reading this- you will more than likely get something covered in Vera Bradley for Christmas- just a heads up.

I also enjoy decorations that can be used for multiple holidays/events like blue glass pebbles which can work winter or beach- just drop them on/in a respective tray/vase. Instant easy classiness. But I digress, I thought that Vera Bradley eggs could work for Easter (no duh) and for anything else the napkin coordinates with.

Ironically could be used all parts of the year- except Halloween

So I worked out the bugs and can now share with you- be sure to read "The Lessons of the Boo-boo Eggs" at the bottom!

Start with the following:
  • plastic eggs (I grabbed a cheap-o bag of various sizes at Michaels. Don't grab one's that have been sitting in the sun- apparently, plastic melts/warps in the sun... yea... I got into grad. school somehow)
  • scissors
  • sandpaper (I used fine grade, probably don't want to use coarser because it will damage the egg too much)
  • white paint (I used acrylic but it left streaks since I was painting on plastic. I didn't care but you might and will want to use spray paint or something)
  • paint brush
  • mod podge (I used the matte finish but I haven't played around with any other versions to let you know if something would work better)
  • Vera Bradley napkins! or any thin pretty paper (being a cheap thrifty grad student, I got the luncheon napkins which were the cheapest and it worked fine)
Step 1: Prep your eggs. You'll want to cut the halves apart  and sand down the rough edges if you got the cheap-o ones like me. If you got the separated ones, cutting isn't necessary. Don't forget to sand down the little nubs at the ends of the eggs! Once you have the eggs nice and smooth, paint them white. If you're impatient like me, you can mod podge them together now or wait until the paint dries.
If you're going to do a half-arsed job (like me) or use acrylic which will leave streaks, I highly recommend coordinating the egg color with a color in the napkin because part of the napkin WILL become transparent (See Boo-boo Eggs).
Step 2: Measure your squares. I cut off the border of the napkins because the details were smaller and would have looked terrible cut-up. Plus, now I have a bunch of perfectly square box borders- I think I see Vera Bradley picture frames in my future! From one luncheon napkin I was able to cover 1 large, 2 medium, and 1 small egg. The measurements for that were: 11cm x 16.5 cm, 8.5 cm x 14 cm, and 6.5 cm x 11 cm, respectively. But Lauren, what if I used a different sized egg?! It's ok, calm down. You need your rectangle of napkin to be able to wrap around the chubbiest part of your egg and be tall enough to wrap from one end to the other (not all the way around). For your first egg, I would choose a piece that has an extra centimeter or more because you can always cut off but GOOD LUCK adding on! You'll also want to remove all the white backing to the napkins (see B-b E) but be careful- the napkins become delicate with no sturdy backing!
Sorry I didn't show an actual rectangle for you- I think you can use your imagination though.
Step 3: Prep your paper. This part takes some practice and negotiating. You're going to fray the top and bottom of the paper. The more cuts you make the more flat and smooth the finishing product will be BUT (the dreaded "but") the more distorted your picture will be as well. I chose distortion and smoothness over lumpy, less distortion- your call. When you make your choice, here's how you're going to fray- the side of the paper that will be at the bottom of your egg will be cut slightly wider and shallower than the top. Your top fray will be thin and you'll want to cut further into the paper. Make sure to leave a midsection! The fringes should not go to the center! Let's say you marked 1 thru 10 on your paper, the top should cut down to 4 while the bottom cuts up to 7. Make sense? I tried to show it below. PS- You'll want to go end to end on your fringing.
This was for a little egg, I believe, so the fringes were relatively narrow on both ends- you can go wider with larger eggs.
Step 3.5: Wait until your paint dries. ... if it hasn't already. If it has, and you haven't modpodged the eggs together yet, get on it! Because you'll want the mod podge to dry to before handling them (see Boo-boo eggs if you're tempted to not wait).

FOR PROCEEDING STEPS USE AS LITTLE MOD PODGE AS POSSIBLE

Step 4: Mod podge the middle. Only add a little mod podge at a time and keep it in the middle- if some part of the napkin clings where it isn't supposed to, it can tear while pulling it off and be a real pain. Carefully attach one side of the rectangle to your egg- be sure to check that your thinner/longer frays are at the top/tapered part of the egg and the fatter/shorter frays are at the bottom/rounded part of the egg. Also check that the ends of the paper can reach both the top and bottom of the egg. Try to level the paper so that it wraps around nicely and consistently. Avoid getting mod podge on the outside of the paper- it increase the chances that fringes or fingers will stick and tear the paper and, again, be a royal pain.
Keep frays out and slowly roll, smoothing down the paper as you go. Tip- The back of my nail served as a nice smoothing tool- even better when nail polish was on it, go figure!
Step 5: Mod podge the ends! Start with one end of the egg and fold down all the fringes (not all the way so that they get stuck to the middle but enough to see what you're doing). Work from the inner edge (assuming your edges overlapped after rolling) and gently mod podge down the fringes. Smooth them down with the brush as you go, again, use as little mod podge as possible (think the water test they do on toilet paper and paper towel ads- decorative napkins cannot hold up to a lot of water, they would be the "other brand" in the ads). I alternated the fringes as I went, rotating the egg twice. This allowed me to align the pattern somewhat and not have the pattern totally destroyed.
It doesn't look so hot, but go with me on this.
One end done! See the smoothness? That's why we go with the more narrow fringes.
Step 6: Coat and dry. Once both ends were completed, I did a thin over-all coat to give a consistent texture to the entire egg. Resist the urge to decorate with them before they dry!

The Lessons of the Boo-boo Eggs
I made Boo-boo eggs so you don't have to. It was totally on purpose *shifts eyes*
  • Paint your eggs white! See where the paper became transparent in white places but not consistently? That'll happen but if you're egg is white underneath, who cares- white flowers will look all white.
  • Wait for your eggs to dry! I didn't wait for the mod podge to seal the egg to the left together and it popped mid-podge, tearing the paper. Looks bad, doesn't it? Don't do it.
  • Remove the backing of the napkin! Again, the backing will just become transparent anyway and you're not helping yourself by having more paper in the mix. It will just get in your way.

And that's it! It's much more simple than my elaborate instructions makes it look. And once you get the hang of it, you'll have a bowl-full. Trust me on this...
Did I do the lazy "I'm not sure what to do with these so I'm going to dump them in a bowl like I totally meant to dump them in a bowl all along"? Why yes, yes I did.

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