March 16, 2011

How to Make Felted Easter Eggs

What?s better than a brightly colored Easter Egg? Why a soft and fuzzy one of course. Felted Easter eggs are fun and easy to make. And you don?t have to worry about a felted egg rotting or going to waste. They?re bright, beautiful and easy to make. Here?s how:

* Styrofoam eggs ? you can find these at your local craft store.
* Wool roving ? you can make your own wool roving or you can purchase prepared wool at your local fabric store. Choose the colors you desire for your eggs. Pastels are nice.
* Fine point marker for drawing your design
* Felting needles ? can be found at your local craft store.
Step One: Wrap a piece of felting around a foam egg. Gently hold the egg in one hand while you poke the felting with your needle. The goal is to get the felting to adhere to the foam egg. Gently poke the felting all around the egg. There is a small learning curve here. You?ll eventually learn how much pressure is required to adhere the wool to the egg. Once the piece of wool is attached move on and add another piece of felt. You can switch colors or color your entire egg the same and add colors to the top.
Step Two: Using a fine point marker, draw a design on your egg. You might want to plan it out on paper first. For example, you might decide to create a circle of smaller triangles around the middle of your egg. Draw those on so you place your felt pieces on your egg accordingly.
Step Three: Cut the wool pieces out of your roving. For example, if you?re adding triangles to your egg you?d cut out the triangles from a new piece of roving. Using your felting needle poke the new pieces of wool into the egg until they?re attached. Once you?re happy with your design you can start a new egg.
Displaying Your Felted Eggs
You have several options to display your felted eggs. You might choose to display them in a glass bowl or basket. You might attach an eye-screw to the top of the egg and hang them. You can add ribbons to the top too.
Making felted eggs is easy. It?s even a craft you can do with your children. Make sure to show them how to attach the wool to the foam egg carefully. You don?t want them to jab the needle through the foam. Consider making felted eggs a part of your Easter tradition. Each year you and your family can add a few eggs to your collection. You might also give them away as gifts.




Alexis Rodrigo