Making Stuff

My heart broke for Girlfriend last night when she discovered that what she had in mind to sew (a stuffed bear with button eyes) didn't turn out the way she wanted it to. When she showed it to me I asked her what it was. She said a bear. I said, "you mean the type of bear you see on the flag of California?" and she said not that kind, but a teddy bear.

Ooops.

And we sort of stared into each others eyes for a moment and I saw hers start to tear up. "Does it make you sad that it doesn't look like you thought it could, or how it would?"

So, I sat down with her, took some more felt, and gave her a little help on another one. This time, it turned out a little better and she took it to school this morning to show her friends.

Problem is, this sort of thing happens to all of us, at all ages. It's kind of like discovering that those Sea Monkeys really don't wear those crowns and they're just icky brine shrimp, instead. As an adult it happens to me constantly, like when I buy some lovely fabric and a great pattern and it comes out looking like a potato sack. Or, spending all day dreaming of how fantastic a particular knit object will look when it finishes blocking . . . and it turns out to be a total flop.

I guess that's the way things go sometimes.

But there are other times when making things is so fun and comes so effortlessly that you never ever forget the joy. I guess that's why we continue to "create."

Easter Eggs without a Paas Box (the way I like them, and they turn out waaaay better)

What you'll need: coffee mugs or small bowls, assorted food coloring, white vinegar, vegetable oil (for marbling the eggs) and tap water

All you do is this: Put about 20 drops of food coloring in each vessel. You can combine colors to customize if you want to. Then, put in a tablespoon or a little more of vinegar into each. Add room temperature tap water and blend. Then, if you want to have marbled eggs, float a little vegetable oil on top.

And if you want to pre-dye your eggs before adding a marbled layer, dye them without the oil first, then add the oil later, then re-dip. You can experiment by dipping and then rubbing the color off with a rag. That one on the table in the front was done that way.

BTW: I have nothing against those Paas boxes, but somehow, the fancy pictures on the boxes never match the final product.

Comments

[Elise]

Growing up we never used Paas for dyeing eggs and I carried on that tradition with my children, all who are too old and some not coming home for Easter :( We used a recipe similar to the one you describe and the eggs always turned out amazing.

[kathleen]

We did it with the food coloring and the vinegar, too, and they always turned out swell, if you allow for the fact that in New England the brown egg ruled, so the colors were always a bit muted.

Reading your post makes me want to dye some Easter Eggs:)

[Natalie]

Oh, Sea Monkeys, what a disappointment indeed. Your eggs look great. I may get my munchkins working on something similar this weekend.

[Arlette]

Those egg photos are incredible. Wow!

[Stefani]

A bajillion years later and I still can't get over the disappointment of crownless Sea Monkeys.

[KarenVR]

I remember the disappointment in my daughter's eyes at various similar moments. Parenting can be so difficult. These are moments we'd like to "make things all better" but know the life lessons are so important too: we aren't all good at everything - they need to do their own work, etc. etc. etc. And it tugs at your heart as your little one struggles.

[Fi]

What on earth is a Paas box? I suspect a thing we don't have in the UK! (but even Google can't help me, tells me it is something to do with computing, which doesn't sound right in the context of Easter Eggs...).

[robinvk]

creativity, best.drug.ever!

[Jennifer]

I am so glad to hear that the eggs never look like the ones on the box for other people too. I always felt like I was the one doing it wrong.

[Kate]

Thanks for the egg decorating idea. My mom used to combine three colors in a large bowl then blow on the colors to get them to blend and swirl. We would dip the egg down and then swirl it through the colors. So maybe she put oil on top before she blew? I didn't get the chance to ask her how she did that.

[Cheri]

The sea monkeys were terrible :( My little girlfriend (who at 10 is no longer so little) is looking forward to dying some eggs, we've never marbled them so we're going to give it a go this year!

[Annette tice]

Funny you should post this! Last week I was trying a new sweater pattern that I thought I could do easily, but the lace pattern was just beyond my skill level. After getting 3/4 done, and ripping the lace part out three times; finally gave up and frogged the whole sweater! I felt deflated to say the least. When I think about how much I learn when failing at things; it's all good; even though I spent a whole week knitting in that darn thing! Thanks for this.... Perfect timing :)

[Linda]

Te teddy bear reminds me of my oldest son's bread dough sculpture from school - I said, "What a nice heart." (Half was painted orange and half was painted yellow) He said, "It's a dinosauer's footprint." The same son and his brother cured me of dying easter eggs - they put each egg in each color, insuring that the eggs were an ugly purply brown color. Thanks for the memories.

[Pancha]

I feel for Girlfriend. I am actually making Slinky Ribs from Custom Knits, and I swear I swatched! I did! But it was waaaay too small. Like I-was-making-it-for-my-mom-and-it-would've-fit-my-6-year-old small. So I had to start over completely. These things happen, and it's disappointing every time, without fail. No one wants to have to scrap all that hard work and start again.

But for me, it becomes almost like a dare. The universe is daring me to do it right, and I WILL, and it WILL fit, and my mom WILL love it, and I WILL show the universe who's boss. So there.

[Seanna Lea]

I haven't done easter eggs in years. It just wasn't something I can remember doing growing up either. Yours look lovely. Does your method allow you to eat the easter eggs afterwards? I never liked the idea of decorating eggs just to not be able to eat them.

[villalena]

we did ours this way and they looked great!! thanks for the suggestion. and, seanna, yep, we eat them.

[Wendy]

We definitely eat the eggs afterwards! We make deviled eggs.

[Margie]

Remember when the whole Pet Rock thing was going on? I have a painted rock in the basement that my brother made and I will be giving it to him along with other 'kid' items when he gets married in a few weeks. We, as kids, always decorated eggs. I have a few egg kits that I bought last year and I think I might make them NOW and not wait until next year...my old self! And, I love devilled eggs!

[Margie]

My brothers and sisters painted quite a few rocks and sold them around the neighborhood. Who knew?

[Becky]

I have to say the ONLY sweater that turned out looking exactly the way I envisioned it was Skinny Empire. Then my husband stained it. : (.