Specimen Art By Suburble

Looking for a quick, inexpensive fun project to get you in the mood for Spring?  Why not make an Egg-in-Nest Specimen Art piece.

Impressive Right? Sadly, I cannot take credit for this adorable project.  

The incredibly witty and very talented Tara, from Suburble, has graciously come to visit While Wearing Heels to share her Egg-in-Nest Specimen Art (which is one of many great projects  she has over at her new blog).

I guarantee she'll make you giggle.  

 
And, now, here is Tara and her Egg-in-Nest Specimen Art.

I was aimlessly wandering around the interweb the other day, and I came across a post on Balancing Home showing her spring mantle decor - featuring eggs in nests as specimen art. I loved the look, but Megan wrote that she had found her little nests on clearance - last year - at Target for $3. So I admired, bookmarked, and then said, "Well, unless Doc Brown drives the DeLorean onto my driveway, I guess that craft won't be happening this year!"

Then, I was strolling through the Dollar Store - like I do - and I came across these little beauties in the seasonal aisle. They were $1.50 (this particular dollar store has some things that are not just a dollar. Sigh.), but I picked up two packages. I can work with these! I feel craft-spiration coming on!

Then I opened them.

Holy crap. Is this where Big Bird's harem goes to lay their eggs? What kind of muppet atrocity is this?

Thankfully, the nests were easily "plucked". Ahhh... much better.

The original piece featured groups of eggs that were different colors (pink, blue, green). I looked at my speckled eggs and thought, "I can fix this!"

Because I didn't want the color to be opaque, I opted not to use my acrylic paints. Instead, I dug into the kids' craft supplies and came up with Crayola! I know - Martha could learn something from me, couldn't she?

Probably not.... but anyways...

I didn't really have a technique, per say. I painted with one color, and then dabbed on another color with a sponge brush. 

It requires a bit of trial and error. What's awesome is that because Crayola is washable, you can easily fix mistakes if you're a bit too heavy on one color.

And unless you have a pink paint handy, I wouldn't recommend trying out a red paint. I ended up creating something out of a vegan person's nightmare. Those eggs were promptly washed off.

I ended up with two bluish-green nests, which I quite liked. The sponge added a mottled quality to make the eggs look more realistic.

I attached the eggs to a piece of cardstock and matted it. They're attached with double-sided tape, and so far, so good! They're housed in the same frame that my It's Raining Hearts Valentine's Artwork was in. I just removed the glass in order to give it a shadow-box quality.

I'm quite happy with how it turned out! $3 in Dollar Store nests, perhaps $.10 in cardstock, and the rest was already kicking around the house! This could be a great kids' project (especially the plucking of scary feathers from the nest), but I did this project solo.

Oh! And a P.S. to this post: I understand why it is called "Specimen Art", but ugh, isn't the most unromantic way of describing it? I wish I was called "Collection Art" or something else a bit less "I'm going to dissect this in Biology class and try not to dry heave".

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I want to say a big thank you to the fabulous Amy for letting me crash her pad. She is an awesome lady (as I’m sure you’re all very aware of) and I am so honoured to have the opportunity to share my eggy craft with you all.

I invite you to pop over to my own blog, Suburble, and check out what sorts of hijinx we’re up to. In honour of my very first guest post, I’m offering a giveaway this weekend! 

Click over for the chance to win the Labelling Package O’ Your Dreams: 14 adhesive chalkboard labels, 14 blue adhesive vinyl labels and two chalkboard pens: one white and one silver! These labels are cut (by moi!) from indoor vinyl and are perfect for the pantry, the playroom, the craft room, your linen closet… you name it! The chalkboard pens will write on both colours of vinyl, and the greatest thing is that a little water on a cloth wipes them clean – you can write on them over and over again!

The giveaway closes at midnight, Monday, March 25^th, and is open to American and Canadian residents. And because I’m a fledgling blog with a growing audience, your chances are quite possibly much greater to win!

I look forward to meeting you!  

Thank you so much Tara for visiting While Wearing Heels.  If you haven't already, go and visit her lovely blog, welcome her into the crazy world of blogging and leave her some comment love.