Yolk-Art an Eggtraordinary Finial Ornament - Eggagement Gift

Peeple I've got some very eggciting news to tell you all! Our little chick is getting married!!!!.

So in honor of this very special shellabration, I scrambled to make a special gift ... an Egg Finial Ornament.

Why would a Dad do that you ask?

Well the short answer is her fiancé raises chickens and some of these chickens lay special eggs. Wrinkly eggs that is. Yeah that's no yoke they are really wrinkly. So I thought why not take a crack at it and make some sort of Yolk-Art. The long answer is that when she was very little I said to her, she can date any boy she wants as long as he's Amish. I grew up in PA (iegg, Pennsylvania) and I thought the odds of finding an Amish guy in California was eggshell thin. So high school years were very clucky for us - not much drama. But she finally found one (like she's was on an Easter egg hunt ) ... well she said she found the closest to an Amish in CA. (BTW, I also said Marketing and PR as a career for her and that happened too.)

So I dedicate this ible to them as we count down the days for the big shellabration. BTW, there's going be a real steam engine train, big barn dance, redwoods, goat soap, oloids... Many future ibles. Anyway we're all so eggstatic.

BTW Omletting you'ins know (I told you I was from PA) that I'll go over-easy on the egg puns now.

P.S. Don't forget to provide your input in comments to be included in the secret message part of this Yolk-Art. I’ll read them at the wedding.

(For those interested you can learn more about wrinkly eggs here.)

Wrinkly eggs of course.

Wood (I used mahogany)

Lathe

Metal Rod (9-12", 3/32- you can get 6 36" brazing rods at Harbor Freight cheap)

Glue

Contour tool (optional)

Sliver Chain and Beads

Grab your favorite wrinkly egg and blow out it out and rinse in water. After all you're going to keep this forever, so you need to not have a smelly egg laying around the house. After your eggy is all dry, you need to get its skirt and hat measurements. You can use a cool contour tool like I did (cheap on Amz) or you can use a wire to get the shape. This step helps make the mating with the wood easier later.

Here you can do what every strikes your fancy. I did a google search and liked this one in the picture but there are tons of options. One thing to keep in mind in your design is the proportions of the egg to wood (EW Ratio) so it doesn't look all cock-eyed. You can use the golden ratio as a guide to help. Mine total length was 8".

This step takes the longest since you need to be very careful due to the tip being very fragile like an egg. Start by preping your wood. I used a 6"x 1"x1" mahogany blank for the finial stem. Find the middle and turn between centers on your lathe. Then you create a 1/4" tenon and mount that into your 4 jaw chuck to provide a strong hold as you turn the blank to round. I start at the right (tail stock side) and formed the small tear drop feature. It's a good idea to use your free hand to provide a little support while you do this so it doesn't crack off. Next, work your way to the left creating a thin stem as part of the large tear drop. I took my measurements off the drawing and worked the wood until I liked the shape. Finally, sand and add your favorite finish since once you part off (iegg, cut off from the lathe) you can't go back. We'll it's possible but hard. If you have too, here is tip: take a thin PVC pipe and cut a 1.5" long segment and wrap your finial in cloth and insert into the PVC. You can then insert that whole thing into your chuck with pen jaws and gentle squeeze to support.

Here I used a 2"x"2x3" cube of mahogany to create a skirt for the finial to attach to. This is were the egg template you made in step 1 comes into play so you can mate the egg and wood skirt nicely. It takes some finessing but not too hard with the template. Repeat the process for the top hat. Again you can be creative with these parts and add beads and coves to your heart's desire.

Now that you have your eggtraordinary Yolk-Art for your wrinkly egg, you got to have a great stand to go with it. I created a sandwich of mahogany (3.75"x 3.75x1.5") with walnut veneer (3.75"x3.75"x 1/8") and another mahogany piece (3.75"x 3.75x 0.75") on both sides of the center mahogany. Glued it all up and clamp over night. Then mount in the lathe and turn to a cone shape, sand, and finish. To give it an extra sometin-sometin, you can cut the base at a 20 degree angle so it sits off center.

Now you can put all the pieces together. I used a 1/8"x 3" dowel to connect the hat to the skirt and final hat so not to crush the shell. This also allows the egg to change out in case it breaks or you want to have seasonal themes (It better not break M&R). I then added a silver chain and some bling to fancy it up. Red for a July wedding and Green for our daughter's ring color.

We'll that's it. I hope ya'll liked it.

Now for your participation part.

Can you give me ideas for a secret message to lay in the egg?

Sort of like an egg time capsule. I'll read some of them at the wedding.

Can't wait for the big day!!.