FAUX FABERGE' EGGS

Materials:

Fillable plastic egg
Assortment of strung beads, gold cord, pearls, etc...
Small piece of sandpaper
craft glue
glitter, silk flowers, mushroom bird, bird nest, butterfly, etc.. to arrange a small theme in your egg.
Spanish moss or sheet moss
4 Lentil of paddle wheel beads
2 semi flattened bead caps
1 large bead, color to match other trims
tiny metal hinges such as used on miniature furniture

Preparing the stand:

Begin by making a stand for your egg. Place the four wheel beads one on top of the other joining them together with craft glue. Glue this stack of four beads on top of the semi flattened bead cap. Place the second flattened bead cap on the other end of your stack of wheels. One of the bead caps will be flattened enough to allow the eggs base to be glued to it.

Preparing the egg:

Lightly sand the entire exterior of the egg, the interior of the top of the egg and the upper edge of the bottom half of the egg. You need sand only enough to slightly roughen the surface. You may paint the egg or leave it the natural color of the plastic egg. Glue a string of beads, pearls, lace or decorative cord around the outside opening of both halves of the egg. Around the inside of each opening glue a second piece of trim to compliment the one on the outside. On the outside, continue adding rows of pearls, beads and trims of your choice to completely cover the outside of the egg.

Completely cover the inside of the top of the egg with craft glue and add irridescent glitter to cover (it is better to over fill, tip and roll the egg half so the glitter is well distributed). Repeat this with the inside upper half of the lower egg. Place craft glue into the bottom of the lower half, add Spanish or sheet moss. Arrange a bird nest, butterfly, etc.. as a small scene glued into the moss.

Glue the top of the egg to the bottom in the hinge area using the hinge hardware. The egg top should be at a 45 degree angle to the bottom. It may facilitate holding to glue the large bead in the angle between the bottom and the top half of the egg as a brace. Allow to dry thoroughly and glue the egg in place on the stand.

Optional: After placing a row of trim around the outside and inside of each opening the remainder of the egg can be decorated the same as the inside top in the above application.