It was a segment on show #570 about decorating for a Mother's Day luncheon that inspired Sandy Hastings of Norcross, Ga., to make the perfect gift for her next door neighbor! At least, that's what Sandy wrote to us. It was on that show that we baked foam coffee cups to make them shrink into what look like miniature hats. After coloring and decorating the hats we put them on a lilac branch to make a hat tree. Sandy's neighbor collects hats so it seemed like a natural. She baked the cups, decorated like mad (said she was surprised and delighted to see that each hat turned out a bit different from the others) and then constructed a tree of dowel rods, mini chair rails and wooden beads. She glued silk flowers at the base and had such fun doing it all she didn't want to give it away. However, her neighbor was so delighted with her gift Sandy was pleased that she had made it and now hopes to make another for herself. (Details for the project we did are here on the HGTV web site. See CDS-570.)
I don't know if there is a special name for the technique Velda Brown of North Aurora, Ill., used when she made her satin ribbon-covered foam eggs, but they were certainly a beautiful decoration most appropriate for springtime. Velda did say that she cut the 1/4" wide ribbon into1-1/4" lengths and then folded each one in half, overlapping the ends at an angle so the other end forms a point. These were applied to the egg with sequin pins, working from the bottom up and overlapping the ends so only the points were visible. Time consuming, to be sure, but worth the time. Note: This is the same technique that many of you have used to make ornaments at Christmastime using plastic foam balls.
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