Dinosaur Eggs

I put a new listing in my shop, of a set of dinosaur nesting eggs. While I was painting them, I was reminded of a gift I made for one of my children's teachers one year, eons ago, and thought it might be nice to share this idea for others...maybe you could use it as a father's day gift (make with your kids) or really for anyone, anytime.

1. Find a nice egg shaped, oval or round rock. The smoother the better. Can be whatever size you like (think paperweight, doorstopper, or ornaments as possible uses.) Make sure it is clean and dry.
2. Draw a hole, use lots of angles and draw some crack lines
3. Draw your dinosaur, just the head, neck and maybe an arm or tail sticking out of the hole. Keep in mind who you are giving this to...somebody with a big head? big nose? Try and make it fun. You don't need to do any special type, make up your own
4. I use acrylic craft paint, use whatever colours that you think your giftee might like. Make sure the "hole" that is showing is painted in a dark colour. Paint the cracks with a thin brush, in black. You don't need to paint the whole rock, just keep it natural.
5. Put a coat of varnish on. I use a wasterbase varnish from the craft store and it dries quickly. Paint one side, let it dry and then coat the other. You may need a couple of coats.
   

Now for some fun. You have to come up with a fact sheet for your dinosaur. Maybe you could print it out as a card. The things you might want to put on the fact sheet are: (my example)

• Type of dinosaur : Remediosaurus (named after the teacher Mr Remedious)

• Era: The old days (could be disco era or anything you like, based on the age or the time you give the gift)

• Size: Started small and got bigger (really you can be as nice or cheeky as you want)

• Physical Characteristics: Large feet, balding, long nose, tiny head (don't be tooooo rude)

• Attributes: More intelligent than he seems, very kind, likes to giggle, burps at inappropriate times (here is your chance to really make the gift special by listing the funny things and things you love about your giftee.

You may have some ideas of your own, so just have some fun. This can be something special because it shows you took some time and put thought into your gift.