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My Tennessee Easter Egg–Featured in Food Network Magazine

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Nashville Wife in Food Network MagazineHappy First Day of Spring! We had plenty of spring weather earlier this month, although, ironically, today feels more like winter. But never mind the wind and rain–I have an exciting announcement to share with all my wonderful readers.

A few months ago, I was contacted by a representative from Food Network Magazine and asked to play a role in the April edition. The issue has officially hit the newsstands, so I am finally able to share the details of my involvement.

In celebration of Easter, Food Network Magazine wrote a story that features a decorated Easter egg from all 50 states, and I was given the honor of decorating the Tennessee egg. Naturally, I decided to tap into my husband’s artistic talent to create this unique work of art. (For those who don’t know, Mr. Handsome is a painter.) The two of us had a blast working together on this project.

We chose a banjo to represent the Americana, country, and bluegrass music that Tennessee has helped mold and create. We chose a river to represent the great waterways that flow through Tennessee and set the state apart as a center for industry and trade. We superimposed these images over the Great Smoky Mountains, which represent the beauty of nature that all Tennesseans know and love.

We did several practice runs, some with hard boiled eggs and others with “empty” eggs, and tried a few different designs. (If you poke a hole in both ends of an egg, you can blow the yolk out and be left with just the shell.) We always started with a pencil sketch.

Tennessee Easter Egg tutorial

It took a bit of time to find the right medium. We first used artist-grade colored pencils (better quality than the colored pencils used by children) but decided they weren’t quite bold enough.

Tennessee Easter Egg tutorial

After spending some time wandering around our local Hobby Lobby, I ended up purchasing a small set of acrylic paints and some tiny, tiny brushes. The brushes have a max of about 10 thin bristles per brush–so small that they are nearly microscopic!

Tennessee Easter Egg tutorial
The Food Network sent me an Eggnot (a fake egg that looks and feels real) on which to do the final design. The other option was to use a real hard boiled egg for the finished product, but something about sending a hard boiled egg through the mail to New York City just seemed a little strange to me.

Of course, we made several mistakes along the way, like attempting to draw or paint on a hard boiled egg that was either too hot, which made the paint run, or too cold, which created condensation. We managed to get paint all over our fingers and dining table. Thankfully, that was before I refinished the table (tutorial coming soon) or else I might have had a small panic attack.

Tennessee Easter Egg tutorial
On a couple of the trial eggs, we added the cityscapes of the three major Tennessee cities (Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville) but decided that they made the egg look too cluttered.

Tennessee Easter Egg tutorial
After much trial and error, we came up with a design that we loved.
Tennessee Easter Egg tutorial

Be sure to pick up a copy of the April issue of Food Network Magazine to see all the creative Easter eggs reflecting our 50 states.

Food Network Magazine United States of Easter Eggs
Food Network Magazine United States of Easter Eggs

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. That is way too darling! You did a good job! I'd probably prefer your 1st pic tho since I liked the course of the river and mntns better than the second. The banjo just needed to be darker that's all. But both were good. Candi

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  6. It's wonderful to see how you, Ellie and Mr. Handsome work together and support each other. The Easter Egg is beautiful and I will definitely pick up the magazine. Thank you so much for sharing…Jane

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  11. A big congratulations Ellie! How wonderful you and Mr H got to be part of this. I really like your design and admire all the thought that went into it to create a representation of your home State. The two of you are a force to be reckoned with when you partner up on these different projects. I dont think I will see the magazine with that article for sale here in Canada. Sorry I will not be able to take a closer look. Eileen

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    • Anon, sometimes magazines publish a separate edition in Canada or other countries with stories from those countries rather than from US. I am not sure about this edition of Food Network, but your suggestion of a library is a good one. I will have to check that out as we have an excellent library here. Eileen

      Reply

    • I just completed an online search through our library's website and they do indeed have the Food Network magazine! I will have to check and see if they have gotten the Easter issue. Thanks for the tip April! I use the library a lot as I am an avid reader but completely forgot about the magazine section. Eileen

      Reply

  13. Beautiful! Just wondering… how many trial and error eggs did you approximately use and what did you do with them afterwards?

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  18. Congratulations, Ellie…that is really cool! I will definitely go look for that magazine. Love reading your blogs!

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  20. That's so exciting! Beautiful team effort. Looking forward to Easter; it's a first-time-in-a-lifetime for me; well for you too! Last time Easter Sunday was on this day was 1956

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