Thursday, April 7, 2011

Make It! Egg Carton Wreath

Next to the coffee filter, egg cartons are my favorite recyclable craft item. Rather than compost them, we save them in a stack in our pantry until we have time to craft with them. A few weeks ago I saw a gorgeous egg carton wreath linked on The Crafty Crow. I showed the project to The Boy and he thought it was beautiful.


Last night, after a full day of Etsy crafting, he was itching for mama to do something crafty with him. We set about gathering our egg cartons and deconstructing them. We didn't waste much in this process. The portion that holds the eggs was turned into various flower shapes. Some with rounded petals, others fringed. We cut out some of the pointed in-between pieces for flower centers. We used the flat top and sides of the egg carton to make leaves.


After everything was cut into shapes, I had The Boy sit down with some tempera paint and get busy. I LOVE those beautiful Waldorfy wooden paint boards, but I'm a stickler for frugality and repurposing old objects. We use old cookie sheets as painting boards. The side benefit of the cookie sheets is that they hold water spills beautifully.

Our tempera paint was limited to 5 colors. Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, and White. Using small, resealable paint jars, I helped The Boy mix different variations of those colors to create oranges, purples, and lighter cream colors. Per his instructions we worked out a system. He would paint the inside of a flower, and then hand it off to me to paint the outside so his hands wouldn't "get so messy." That didn't work so well - the not getting messy. But tempera paint is great because it cleans up so well with soap and water.

After our flowers dried a bit, I went in with a finer brush and added just a bit of detailing. While I was doing that, Super Hubby was cutting out a large cardboard circle from an old box. The circle was painted a basic dark green and allowed to dry.

Then came the fun part. We carefully chose where to place each egg carton flower along the cardboard frame. The flowers, when dry from the paint were a bit stiff so in some cases we manhandled them a bit. Other times we simply moved them around until we found the proper configuration. I attached them to the frame with my trusty hot glue gun.

The finished wreath is so stinkin' cute! We hung it on the wall near our front door. Because it's made of cardboard and watercolor paint, I don't recommend hanging it outside in the elements. Best to keep it inside where everyone can enjoy it.
We'll be enjoying this all spring!

Simple Mama

31 comments:

  1. it's gorgeous! love the color explosion! old cookie sheets are a dandy idea for art projects. love it.

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  2. p.s. our package came today!! i seriously feel so spoiled. your work is beautiful and your generosity is so appreciated. xo

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  3. This is so beautiful! I love that your husband helped out!!

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  4. hey! we're working on this same project RIGHT NOW!! we have about 20 flowers done, and now we need to eat more eggs. :)
    yours looks amazing. our colors are less vibrant... hmm.
    great job, and i'm also a huge fan of the coffee filter. :)
    -shawnacy

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  5. This is sooo great! I was wondering what to do with the four cartons of eggs I have found hiding around in my kitchen... This is perfect!
    The boys will love it too! Thanks so much!

    greetings from holland!

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  6. Its absolutely beautiful!! I want to do this craft. Wonder if I have any tempera paint anywhere?

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  7. i cant believe its egg cartons! I love it

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  8. incredibly simple and beautiful, love it, gosh you make some gorgeous things!

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  9. Wow. This is so pretty! Wonderfully creative!

    I love that you did it together!

    I'll have to feature you!

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  10. Gorgeous! Pinned to try next Easter :)

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  11. Oh, how beautiful!

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  12. I love the colors. Thanks for sharing. We also tried your acorn cap jewels this fall and loved it. :)

    vanessa

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  13. This idea is awesome! Me and my daughter are going to try it today!

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  14. so pretty. I love projects that can be done with preschoolers!!!

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  15. Love projects that can be done with preschoolers! Yours turned out so pretty! :)

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  16. OMG this is inspired and so so beautiful. I have featured in my easter craft round up on http://www.mollymoo.ie

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  17. that is absolutely amazing! I can't wait to try making one myself! SO SO COOL!

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  18. Nossa que coisa linda!! Amei!!!Tô seguindo pra acompanhar as lindas novidades. Beijos
    Cantinho da galega.blogspot.com

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  19. Beautiful! ---- how many egg cartons for this project??

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  20. I absolutely love this idea. Looks like I need to start eating more eggs, I only have one carton of 6 eggs right now

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  21. LOVE this! I am wondering did you use regular egg cartons or the flat cartons for eggs? Not sure it would make a difference. I really want to try this!!!

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  22. I'd love to hst a wreath making event for my MOMS Club ... Do you have any idea about how many egg cartons you needed for one wreath?

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  23. @Cherylanne - I believe we used about 4 egg cartons for the wreath.

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  24. great idea! I'm always looking for ways to "upcycle" stuff. Thanks!

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  25. muy bueno gracias por compartir

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  26. so darn cute. Im frustratingly existing with limited supplies while overseas right now..Ive been getting reeeeaaally creative with my household recycles,etc. this is awesome!

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