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Make Your Own Quail Egg Wreath in Fifteen Minutes

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Remember this wreath? The one that I loved so much that I tried to recreate and then lots of you recreated my recreation and emailed me your gorgeous projects and all was happy in the world?

Yeah, well, I’m still not over it. In fact, I think about it every time I see my the wreath on my own front door. I think about it every time the Urban Farmhouse blog is updated. I think about it every time I see a new Kimba post (because she is completely responsible for this entire obsession). I’ve mentioned before that I have just a wee touch of an obsessive personality, right?

I decided that I really needed to try again to make a wreath closer to the original beauty. In order to do so, I needed quail eggs. The original wreath is made with faux quail eggs which is why they are so large, but I wanted some real quail eggs for a nest I have in my home and decided to buy extras for the wreath.

The only place in town I could find quail eggs was at the big Asian market. They were $7.99 for 24 eggs so I bought them and went on my marry way. I was trying to be a big girl about the whole situation – particularly given my whole aversion to foods I randomly deem “weird” – but when I went to blow the eggs and bits of tiny feathers came out of the hole, I promptly threw all 24 eggs in the garbage can and double bagged the garbage.

And then I ordered some blown quail eggs off of Ebay. Yes, I’m totally that much of a weenie.

Once my eggs arrived in perfect condition (I highly recommend that seller if you are in the market and share my weenie-ness), I set out to make *the* wreath. It was super easy to make with $2 worth of supplies from the Dollar Tree, the eggs, and a few sticks I found in my front yard. And, it turned out beautifully.

Steps to Create Lindsay’s Second Version of the Most Wonderful Wreath Ever:

1. Gather your supplies. You’ll need a bag of Spanish Moss, a small grapevine wreath (mine is 10 inches), quail eggs (I used 15 on my wreath), twigs, spray adhesive, and your glue gun.

2. Spray the adhesive on a 3 inch section of the wreath, font and back. Wrap a generous amount of moss around that section of the wreath. You may find you want to spray it again and add more moss to that section or you can just move on to the next section. You’ll just have to see how it looks and if it’s as fluffy as you want.

3. Continue the adhesive/moss wrapping until you have your wreath fully wrapped. Go back and fill in any spaces where you can see the grapevine through the moss.

4. Heat up your glue gun and glue your eggs randomly onto the wreath. I always lay mine out and do a “dry fit” before I attach them.

5. If you’d like to add some small twigs, you can hot glue them into place just as you did the eggs.

6. That’s it! Seriously, it’s only five steps.

Can you believe how easy that was to put together? It honestly took me a total of 15 minutes to complete and it’s probably my favorite thing that I’ve created. In fact, I’m just going to go ahead and say that I like it even more than my inspiration wreath. GASP! That, my friends, is a crafting success!

I put the wreath on top of a wooden pedestal stand I found on clearance at Sears, and we now use it as the centerpiece on our Breakfast Room table.

I’d like to put something in the center of the wreath (a glass cloche perhaps?) to add some more height. Any suggestions? Let me know!

I encourage you to try to make one of these great wreaths, too! I think it’s going to fit perfectly in my home all year long. Wouldn’t it look great in yours, too? I’ll totally give you major props if you have the guts to blow your own quail eggs, too.

Clearly, I’m completely hooked on quail eggs. What are you Hooked On this week?

Ten Fantastic Fillers for Apothecary Jars

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I really love apothecary jars. There is something so innocent – so refreshing – about an empty vessel just begging for a beautiful display. When I find apothecary jars at thrift stores for $3 or $4 each, I snap them up like crazy. You’ve probably seen me grab one in Goodwill and give a Tiger Woods fist pump because I’m so excited with my new score.

Because I know you love them as much as I do, I want to give you a little encouragement and a little push towards filling them with unique displays. People, it’s time to start thinking beyond pasta and pears, cotton balls and cotton swabs when it comes to filling your apothecary jars. Using your jars to showcase unique finds will give your vignettes much more personality than filling them with the lemons you bought for 5/$1 at the grocery store.

I’ve put together a list of 10 fantastic apothecary jar fillers that will hopefully guide you in the right direction to update those displays.

1. Vintage Spectacles – Just imagine the scenes that have been viewed through these lenses. Antique glasses are available at thrift stores, antique malls, estate sales, and even yard sales. Add two or three pairs to a simple jar, and you’ll have a display that everyone will want to “see.”

2. Soap – For an apothecary display in a bathroom, nothing beats a collection of beautiful soaps. Choose natural-colored soaps in the same hue, instead of in a color that matches your room. Find wonderful guest soaps at discount home stores, or use drugstore bargains, such as Aveeno or Ivory. Better yet, purchase monogrammed soaps to add a personal element to the display.

3. Vintage Photos – One of my favorite apothecary jar fillers is vintage photos. I have always loved the boxes of photographs I see in antique stores, and I decided that I wanted to replicate those displays myself. For my jar, pictured below, I found a selection of vintage photos online, printed them on cardstock paper, cut them out, and then tore the edges and creased the image until it looked appropriately worn.

Don’t you think they actually look like real photos? Because I knew that you’d love this idea, too, I assembled the photos into a .pdf file for you to use in your own displays. Find that document HERE. Am I the nicest person ever or what?

4. Vintage Hairbrushes and Combs – Along the same lines as the antique photographs, I would love a display featuring vintage hairbrushes and combs. You can find some really beautiful dressing sets in antique stores or online. Keep in mind that a child’s size set would probably fit into your jar easier than an adult’s size (unless you had a very tall jar).

5. Sea Shells and Starfish – A universal favorite apothecary jar filler is sea shells and starfish. Keep your shells in the same color scheme and only fill the jar halfway so that you don’t end up with too much of a good thing. Break the mindset that shells and starfish only belong in the bathroom. What’s with that anyway? Do we think shells can only be displayed where there’s water? Does the ocean remind us of the toilet? Weird, huh?

6. Knobs – Some of the most interesting (and cheap!) items to add to an apothecary jar are vintage knobs and drawer pulls. Find them for $0.25 a piece at places like the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store or yard sales. Your collection will be eclectic but will have a fantastic quality because the pieces are all variations of the same theme.

7. Rocks – Using natural elements in the home is very important, and nothing could be more natural than my son’s rock collection. Adding his treasures to an apothecary jar meant that I had a natural (and FREE) filler, and it is extra special to him because he got to use them to “decorate with Mama.”

8. Silver Cups – A few sterling silver baby cups displayed in a large apothecary jar would make such a sweet display. Stack them randomly on top of each other to create a tower. I’ve seen several of these little cups at Goodwill lately, so start hitting your thrift store in search for a few. They don’t even need to be in great shape – the more dings and scratches, the more personality they have.

9. Blown Eggs and Found Nests – What’s not to love about real birds’ eggs and nests displayed in a beautiful apothecary jar? In one of my jars, I used Spanish Moss in the bottom as a “nest” and then added 5 or 6 blown quail eggs on the top.

Check out these gorgeous egg displays – quail eggs on reindeer moss and Robin’s eggs on a found nest. I love them!

10. Indoor plants– Apothecary jars take on a whole new life when used as terrariums for indoor plants. Add plants purchased at home improvement stores or a local nursery.

You could even grow your own grass. Did you see Kimba’s wonderful wheat grass project?

A Soft Place to Land

Are you ready to find something unique and interesting to put in your apothecary jars? Little makes a jar more interesting than filling it with something completely unexpected. Tell me what you are going to add to yours!

Enjoy your beautiful life! Head over to The I
nspired Room to see how others are making their lives beautiful, one simple way at a time.