Clay Bird Eggs for Spring

Today is the FIRST DAY OF SPRING! Here is a quick project to celebrate.

I love the look of little bird eggs, but all the craft stores seem to have is the larger, chicken-sized eggs. I even looked online for wooden eggs. I was able to find some, but they were going to be very expensive with shipping costs. So, I decided to make my own.

Using an inexpensive sculpting clay from Walmart, I rolled it into small egg-like shapes. Of course, I'm no sculptor and most of my eggs are a little wonky. But I figure, with all the money I'm saving, close counts. I let them dry for a couple days and then painted them with acrylic in shades of pale gray-green, robins egg blue, softest yellow.

Then came the speckling. All good bird eggs are speckled. I mixed up a medium-dark gray and tried flicking it on with a brush. Then I tried painting on polka dots. Nothing looked right. Finally, I got an old toothbrush and ran my finger across it, making a huge mess, but it got the job done. They're far from perfect, but unless you get a real, up-close view, your eye will probably just skim over the imperfections.

I had a trio of birds nests from a thrift store. I stuffed these with some old moss used for making topiaries, but you could probably go outside and find a similar item from nature. Otherwise, the dollar store sells it. They also sell shredded basket filler that works well as a nest. My little ceramic birds were purchased online.

The end result is a sweet little touch of spring to display around the house and in my birdcage collection. Happy Spring!