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How to Create Chick Place Card Holders for your Spring Celebration Table!

How to Create Chick Place Card Holders for your Spring Celebration Table!

Spring is in the air! 

 It's not too late to create a few springtime chick place card holders for your Easter table setting.  Not only are they super cute, but also so fun and easy to make! No Easter Sunday dinner table would be complete without these "chickie" place card holders, right?


Let's check out the necessary supplies ....

  • FolkArt Acrylic Colors - Tickled Pink
  • FolkArt Acrylic Colors - Orange Poppy
  • FolkArt Acrylic Colors - Soft Apple
  • FolkArt Acrylic Colors - Grass Green
  • FolkArt Acrylic Colors - Lemon Custard
  • FolkArt Acrylic Colors - Wicker White
  • Mod Podge Sparkle
  • Wood Doll Pin Holder
  • 2 1/2" Paper Mache Egg
  • Miscellaneous Supplies:  No. 1 Liner brush, No. 8 and 12 Flat brush, Stylus, Brush Basin or container for water, Paper towels, Foam plate, 4" 19 Gauge wire, 6" - 7/8" Wide ribbon, 4 1/2" Orange chenille stems, Bright green chenille stem, 1414 Favorite Findings Felt Buttons and plastic buttons from Blumenthal Lansing, Yellow feather, White craft glue, scrapbook paper scraps, needle or straight pin, and a pencil

And now let's get crafting ... My paper mache egg was brown naturally and I wanted my yellow chick color to "pop" so I first basecoated the entire paper mache egg with Wicker White; allowed it to dry and then added Lemon Custard over the dry Wicker White base.  I also painted the wood doll pin stand Lemon Custard.

When the Lemon Custard was dry, I lightly penciled a small diamond shape for the beak, two dot eyes, two wings and a horizontal jagged edge of half of the eggshell (going around the middle of the prepared egg.)

The eggshell was painted Soft Apple, the chick was painted Lemon Custard and the beak was Orange Poppy as shown below.

To make the chick's wings stand out ... I painted a Wicker White highlight along the penciled lines. 

Next, I decorated the eggshell with an overall floral painted pattern.   I loaded the small flat brush with Tickled Pink and painted four short choppy strokes (similar to a "plus" sign).  TIP:  It is best to begin the petal stroke at the outside edge stroking toward the center.  I then added small Grass Green leaves to the floral pattern.

Using the same small flat brush loaded with Grass Green, you can see the small leaves add to the overall floral pattern!  I also added a highlight on the chick's beak with Lemon Custard.

And our painted four-petal flower would not be complete without a dot center!  Using the handle end of a paint brush, I added a Lemon Custard flower center.


Next, I added a few finishing touches to bring the painted chick to life.  Load the No. 1 liner brush with Grass Green and paint a "zig zag" line around the broken egg shell.  Add Wicker White polka dots as filler to the painted floral pattern on the eggshell.

Still using the No. 1 Liner brush, this time loaded with thinned Licorice, I outlined the wings and beak as well as painted the two small dot eyes and nostrils.  Paint two tiny Wicker White highlights on the Licorice dot eyes to add a twinkle!  Allow to dry.  TIP:  To thin Licorice, add water to a small puddle of paint and mix to the consistency of ink.  You want the paint to "flow" from the liner brush like ink flows from a pen.

I wanted to add a touch of sparkle to my project so when the painted egg was dry, I brushed a coat of Mod Podge Sparkle over the entire egg.  If desired, you can add additional sparkle by applying a second coat after the first is dry.

Now it was time to construct the place card holder.  I first started by creating orange chenille stem legs and feet.  Begin with a 4 1/2" length of chenille stem and fold one end slightly in -  then fold it out, in, and out, in again creating a "W" or "web foot".  Repeat for the second leg/foot.  Set aside.

Next I created the flower stem my chick was going to hold.  Thread both ends of the green chenille stem through the flower button and felt button holes.  In the photo of the finished project, you will see that I also fashioned a leaf on both stems.

To create the stand for your chick and egg, glue the bottom of the wood doll stand to a large button. I added while craft glue to the bottom of the doll stand  and then added the stand to the button.  Allow to dry.  TIP:  Be sure to find a button larger than the base of the wood doll stand.  I also added glue to the top of the painted doll stand then rested the base of the egg on the stand; allow to dry.

To create the place cards, I simply layered coordinating scrapbook papers as shown below; then used white craft glue to adhere the papers in place.  I then penciled a name in the center.  You can use a marker to retrace the name or in my case, I painted the name using my liner brush and thinned Licorice. When dry, you can erase any pencil lines that still exist.

Wrap one end of the 18 gauge wire around the pencil to create multiple loops.  Straighten the remaining wire as a straight stem.  I then attached the legs, button chenille flower, head feather and wire place card holder to the egg by first puncturing the desired spot with a needle or straight pin; then add a drop of white craft glue at the puncture mark.  Insert the tip into the puncture hole passing through the drop of white craft glue.  TIP:  The white craft glue when dry will strengthen the bond.

The very last thing was to tie the ribbon around the head feather and wire place card holder.  And here is one final look again at the paper mache Easter chick place card holder with name place tag inserted.  Easy to create and adorable for your table!  Don't you think a couple chick's would dress up your springtime table setting?

Posted: 3/31/2015 11:03:00 AM by LEAP | with 0 comments
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