Pretty Face Seedling Starters

As a professional fashion artist and amateur portrait painter, my Grandma Annie loved to study human faces. She was fascinated by each one’s unique details, their asymmetry, and the way in which the features join together to form a whole. We lost her to a merciless bout of cancer earlier this year, but I still think about her everyday. She was a strong influence for me in igniting my love for arts and crafts, not only through her words of encouragement, but also through her own creative pursuits.

Inspired by Mrs. Annabelle and her love of facial features, I created these Pretty Face Seedling Cups as a way to start my herbs inside until it’s warm enough to move them onto our balcony. The egg cups are the perfect vessel for A.) a little face and B.) growing seedlings. Just make sure you use small rocks at the bottom of each cup for drainage.

Materials: egg cups, black oil-based paint pen, translucent satin acrylic paint in color Pink Hyacinth, 3/4″ paint dauber

1. Use a fine-tipped, oil-based paint pen to freehand two 1/2″ wide eyelid shapes, followed by the eyelashes. If desired, ornament the egg cup further with a “beaded necklace” and top rim band.

2. To create the cheeks, dab translucent pink paint under the eyelashes with dauber. Allow to dry.

3. Plant seedlings.

Note: I also spray painted a few egg cups with black spray paint, and ornamented them with a white paint pen. In order to get the translucent pink paint to show up on the black surface, mix a little white paint in with the pink.