Is the Easter Bunny a Thief?

A couple of years ago I planted what I thought was a variety of small gourds, intending to use them in craft projects. I didn’t get the variety I had hoped for but harvested hundreds of small egg shaped gourds. I shared some with my neighbor, gave some to an artist friend and put the rest on a drying screen over my potting bench.  Last year more plants sprouted from the previous year and I added maybe 50 more to the stash on the drying screen. I used some for ornaments at Christmas, but there were still about 100 left. Last week I took them down from the screen, placing them in a basket which I left on the potting bench. To my surprise when I went to retrieve them, the basket was empty! No gourds in sight. I did see some fragments around the garden. I can only surmise, a critter made off with my gourd stash!

I did have a few in the studio from which I could try a couple of Easter egg techniques.

Inspired by a Pinterest post, I decoupaged one little 
gourd with strips from an old French dictionary using gel medium. After it dried I added butterflies and foliage from the top layer of a napkin and sealed it with another layer of gel medium.

I tore strips of a lovely orange and gold wrinkled paper which I adhered it to this little gourd egg, using gel medium. After it dried, I added a coat of gel medium. Borrowing a technique from Miriam Joy, I softened a gold metallic crayon with a heat gun and rubbed it across the paper ridges.  To keep the crayon from rubbing off, I added a top coat of gel medium.

These are not gourd eggs, but cheap, plastic eggs from the Dollar Store. When I saw Tim Holtz demonstrate this technique on YouTube, I had to try it! Using alcohol ink with the ink applicator tool, I just dabbed the colors on the plastic egg. You should watch the video to see just how easy this is. 

I hope everyone has a bright and happy Easter. If my neighbors find my gourd eggs hidden in their yard, can we assume the critter was the Easter Bunny?