Hail & Welcome Springtime

It's been a long cold winter. As much as I just love snow gently falling from the sky, bare tree branches and snowdrifts as far as I can see, I am longing for green things growing and warm blue skies. Spring is the harbinger of possibilities. It is a riddle with a punch line that puts a smile on your face. How many tulips will come up this year? When will the trees bud with pink blossoms? Will the grass begin to green sooner or later? No matter the answer, the smile is always on my face.
Unfortunately, it's still snowing on March 14th. So, I'm forcing my own bulbs inside and looking for a way to make a little spring blooms in a house full of spring fever. So, I made an "Easter Tree"!

Our tree is made with a "french bucket" that we filled with small stones from our yard. We centered 3 stems of artificial silk branches with tiny white blossoms in the middle and put the rocks around them. Then, we filled the bucket with exactly 3 pounds of plaster of paris, and let it harden up for 48 hours. Since the plaster was around the stems and the stones, it took much less time to harden!
Since the plaster/rock mixture was a solid 6" down from the top of the french bucket, I filled the space with styrofoam peanuts, and then added "reindeer moss" and artificial eggs to the base, with a few decorative feathers. Isn't it pretty?

The eggs are all hand-painted real eggs, hung with grosgrain ribbons. I found a few at Nordstrom several years ago, but got the majority of them in Chicago. The eggs are painted & made in Austria. Each one is a masterpiece, and they are as light as air. Sadly, they do break, so I try to be extra careful.
The silk flower branches gently bend and sway with the slight weight of the eggs. But, it is just the perfect weight. Nothing made of glass or plastic would work as they are much too heavy!

Here's a webpage about the Easter Eggs: http://www.molon.de/galleries/Austria/Innsbruck/img.php?pic=9

Our Tree has 22 eggs - no two the same! At the base, I added a nest made out of twigs and hydrangea, and filled at with more eggs and another feather. The crystal egg and candy box tie it all together.

Even if it is still snowing outside (and it is) my house is bathed in springtime! Hail and Welcome! Enjoy spring wherever you can find it!