You have 10 minutes, $10 and a homemade gift to whip up? Perfect! That's exactly what you need to make this cute little egg and toast holder.
Here's a funny story.
Once, in a land far, far away, during a dark and stormy night, it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. A little woman named Karen, got herself 4 little red hens, because she always, always wanted to have her own chickens so she could gather her own eggs. She built them a house made out of sticks that would protect them from the big, bad wolf, and she fed them a trail of bread crumbs. In other words, she poured her whole fairy tale life into making sure she had happy hens and fresh eggs, struggling night and day, with God as her witness she would never go hungry again.
Even though she didn't really like eggs.
The moral of this fairy tale is that Karen is a whack job and she's fine with it. She also likes to mix metaphors and famous phrases.
I like eggs as an ingredient but I don't really like eggs on their own. Like the thought of eating a hard boiled egg makes my face screw up into something resembling an anus . I don't eat sunny side up, over easy, soft boiled or poached. Unless it's Eggs Benedict prepared by someone who really knows what they're doing (I am not that someone) I eat scrambled eggs and scrambled eggs alone.
So the truth is out that I have chickens not for their eggs but for secret voodoo reasons.
Having said that, I understand there are many of you who do enjoy a nice hard boiled or soft boiled egg every so often. And YOU may even know other people who enjoy such things.
Which makes today's DIY gift idea perfect. Some people make rules about only giving handmade gifts, or there are those of you who only like to give handcrafted presents because you're caring and thoughtful and don't buy into the whole commercialism of Christmas. I, personally, embrace the commercialism of Christmas. But I like to give or get a DIY gift as well.
It is for all of you, you egg loving fiends, that I have this DIY eggcup you can make in about 10 minutes for about 10 dollars. Actually you can make about 10 of them for about $10.
*10 minutes is a generalization based on someone who is comfortable with tools, cutting, drawing straight lines and is referring to how long it takes per eggcup.
DIY Eggcup & Toast Holder
Materials (for 5 egg and toast holders)
1" x 6" x 4' piece of pine
Wood glue
Tools
Circular saw
Drill with 1 ¾" hole saw
Ruler
Pencil
Steps
- Cut board into 5 lengths of 9".
- Mark each board at 5", 2.5", ¾" and ¾".
3. Using a 1 ¾" hole saw drill 2 holes into the 2.5" section of the board.
4. Cut along each line. Cut directly on top of the line, not to the left or to the right of the line. On top of the line. If you aren't accurate with your cutting you run the risk of ruining everything and living out your life in a van down by the river.
5. Squeeze a bunch of wood glue onto the back of the egg holding portion and the two smaller pieces.
6. Align the egg holder and the two thinner pieces on top of the largest piece of wood and clamp it down until the glue dries.
7. If you don't have clamps, don't worry about it. Books to the rescue. Just weigh the egg holder down with anything hefty. Like your hydro bill for instance.
10 minutes, $10, 10 gifts. The fairytale ending to your DIY gift giving dilemma.
You'd rather buy a present? Try my Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide.
Kelli
"If you aren’t accurate with your cutting you run the risk of ruining everything and living out your life in a van down by the river."
That line OWNS me! I use it all the time #snl
KC
Karen
I wavered on using it but succumbed. How could I not? Great line. #chrisfarley ~ karen!
Jan in Waterdown
I was going to comment on that line too but Kelli beat me to it! Just had an SNL flashback . . . remembering how Chris cracked up all the others during that hilarious bit, one of my all time faves.
savannah
I showed this to the guy that lives here (aka The Husband) and his first words were, "Well, looks nice, but how would you clean it?" This is the natural reaction from the man who eats his 2 soft boiled eggs in egg cups, after he's used his egg clippers for the tops, with buttered toast fingers (neatly cut in 4s) every single time! Go figure, right? ;)
Jennie Lee
I'm with the guy; unfinished wood intended to be used with food gives me instant "stains! germs! warped wood!" panic. I had already intended to comment on the idea of a nice polyurethane. With or without stain. Since I'm here at the bottom, anyway... I spent the last 40 years telling everyone I don't like eggs. It started because my Mom MADE me eat 2 eggs every morning, against my will. "For health's sake", as she would always say. I ate them hard-boiled, because a hard-boiled egg is gone in 3 bites, and over-with. When I left home, no more eggs! 40 years later, my neighbor has chickens, and my doctor has reduced my food options until eggs are one of the few choices left, and guess what? I am enjoying hard-boiled eggs! For one thing, they give me an excuse for using salt. I like your project, Karen. Very minimalist!
Karen
Hey Jennie Lee! Just use some mineral oil or board butter. And a funny story about wood (although perhaps just maple ... I can't remember). It self heals from cuts and is less likely to harbour bacteria than plastic. ~ karen!
Karen
Hi Savannah. It just needs to be finished however you want. :) I wouldn't use a poly on it. The ones you see in the photo have actually been slathered with my DIY board butter (beeswax and mineral oil concoction). I'll go add that to the end of the post. ~ karen!
Ray Busby
Hi Karen,
Down here in Oz we put mineral oil in car engines.
Would it be like Paraffin oil?
Like the egg and toast holder.
Cheers,
Ray
Sam Best-Lawson
you can get the clear mineral oil for boards at Ikea here in Oz
Elaine
Your hubby sounds as if he's from England! My Mum did the same for me as a kid.
Elaine
Oops, I should have said this response was for Savannah! Sorry!
Susan Claire
I am a half-egg eater: I can manage the whites, but keep those yolks away from me. If I see someone dipping toast in that runny yellow glop it makes my stomach turn! And I don't believe you have dental people in your family-I suspect you were trying to practice on your hens-oh, wait, that's not right, hens teeth are as scarce as- well, you know.
Ruth
The fact that the comments are more about the books (and oral surgery) than about the egg cups..... tells me I'm in the right place. LOL! :-D
Paula
Very witty, clever post. I even read your book titles in your stack to see if you used the books that corresponded with the quotes.
Again, the timing! I don't care for eggs that much either, and I despise runny eggs. I do, however; love eggs benny. Yesterday we went to a favourite spot that makes really good Eggs Benedict but they served my eggs to me runny! I scraped all of the egg off.
The gift idea is a good one for egg people :)
Marilyn
I love eggs! My mom used to make my dad eggs every morning, two ,soft boiled, in a glass with butter and salt and pepper.yummy! Every know and then I eat mine out of a glass too ..it's a happy memory .
Karen
In a glass! That's interesting! Restaurants all over town will be doing that now Marilyn! Cool. ~ karen!
Eileen
I think it's a German thing? We've always eaten "Eier im Glas" (eggs in a glass) which is soft-boiled eggs taken out of the shell and put into a glass (or glass bowls in my parents' house). You sort of chop them up with your spoon to eat - and also dunk in buttered toast fingers!
Yum! Comfort food.
Loli
My son and I eat them in a cup. With buttered toast torn into pieces and stirred in. He never asks for soft boiled-he asks for
"egg in a cup". My Mom fed me this as a child when I was sick.
Jenny W
Oh my! I forgot about this :)
My family called this a "Coddled Egg", and it was served in a mug when we were sick.
Along with salt and pepper, she added torn pieces of a very lightly toasted slice of buttered homemade bread.
Joslynne
OMG…I didn't even read the earlier comments about the books…so sorry for the repeats!!
Karen
No problem. And funny story, since I'm redoing my bookcases and I had stacks of books everywhere, I literally just grabbed a stack and plopped them down. Absolutely no thought to what ended up in the pile. No matter what it would have ended up a weird stack, lol. ~ karen!
Joslynne
I wonder how long it took you to choose the books for the photo (knowing that all your readers checked each book title carefully!!). You know us all so well!!!
Love the egg/toast holder too!!
Leah C
When people ask me how I like my eggs, I respond, "In cake."
(I will also eat them scrambled. I'm so glad to know I'm not alone!)
Terri J.
Love all your posts...but having trouble reading this one. I am laughing so hard and just can't get past the "makes my face screw up into something resembling an anus" comment.
Erin
um. yeah. me too.
Karen
Yeah, I tried to come up with another word for that particular turn of phrase but as it turns out, anus, is really the best one. ~ karen!
Jenni R
Some day, try "basted" eggs - again, the white is set, the yolk is perfect for toast dipping!
p.s.: "cat butt" would have conveyed the meaning, too
Ruth hirsch
ok, not about this: I wanted to find that blog you sent on doing selfies (which I have never yet done.)
I poked around, all over your offerings and Could Not find.
help, please, please,
thank you for your cooperation.
ruth
Karen
Here you go Ruth ... https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/photo-in-blog-comments/ ~ karen!
Peter
there you go.... now you can see what I look like. maybe anonimity is better
Karen
Are you the one on the left or the right? ;) ~ karen!
Jan in Waterdown
I think he's the cute fuzzy one . . .
Lez
Karen, you could start a "Dating Site" on here! Especially for Jan in Waterdown!
Peter
and I thought I was the only person with eclectic reading tastes :)
Edith
Wow, what a cool idea. I bet you could sell a bunch of those. Practical, affordable and clever.
Jani
You sure do crack me up!!
Karen
That's an egg joke Jani! Well done. ~ k!
Sheryl
Karen, Your blog is like eggs. Your projects are mostly hard boiled, some of them are poached, and your humor is over easy.
p.s. If anyone makes these, they should be finished with salad bowl finish.
p.p.s. Still haven't taken the time to set up my photo, but I love the idea.
Nancy Blue Moon
Do you know you have a book about Oral Surgery?..a really thick book...OK, I won't ask why...Oh yeah, I want one of these egg and toast holder thingys...really bad...like right now....Did you get my email?
Lez
She knows! Knowing our Karen as we all do, she probably spent an entire week trying to decide on which books to put in that photo! She KNEW we would all stop scrolling at that one, & say out loud, "Oral Surgery"!! Seriously!! Karen has a book a book on Oral Surgery??!!"-
& all comment on it! LOL!
My guess is there was a late member of her family who was a Maxillofacial Surgeon, & she hangs on to it for sentimental reasons! (And because it is heavy!)
Also LOVE the egg & toast holders! :)
Karen
Very close Lez. :) In one of my older posts ( https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/things-i-like-books/) I actually explain this sort of thing a bit ... My grandfather was a dentist and that is where the book came from, but my cousin now that you mention it is a Maxillofacial surgeon. I come from a long list of people who meander in other people's saliva. ~ karen!
Mary W
And I thought it was for the pictures to use at Halloween.
Grammy
I see what you did there on "A Horse of Your Own". Very nice.
The egg and toast holders are also cool. Clever. Fun. Cheap. Easy.
I am, however, concerned about how many foods you don't like to eat. What's up with that?
Karen
Well, just the one food. The egg, lol. But I love it scrambled and I love it as an ingredient. I just can't eat a hard boiled egg and try as I might I'm not in love with soft boiled eggs either. I'm gonna suck it up and try an over easy egg tomorrow to see how I feel about that. I'll report back. ~ karen!
TucsonPatty
Well, there is the egg and then there is the B.S. word (brussels sprouts) ; )
Grammy
Brussels Sprouts. Don't try to wriggle out of that one!
Also, try an egg "over medium" instead of over easy. That means the yolk is soft and deliciously runny (good to sop up with toast) but all the white is thoroughly cooked.
CathyReeves
Or Deb Pearlman’s crispy egg. They’re nirvana in the morning.
Julie Napier
Now I want a soft boiled egg!
Mark
This is pretty clever, Karen.
You have that "Oral Surgery" book too???? jk
I did love the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was a kid though.
Bret
Is that your " Eddie Munster" fingernail polish?