Tutorial - Making bird's nests

Some of my best days creating are the ones I didn't plan. No project idea in my head that I'm painstakingly trying to recreate on the project table with what I have on hand. No expectations or deadlines.  It is all about being spontaneous. Something just inspires me, and I sit down and start creating.  Last week, Kara (my daughter) and Sydney (her BFF) were making birds out of clay at the dining room table. I sat down to check things out. I decided the birds needed a nest, so I began to play too....

I had some wooden spools on hand. They seemed the perfect size and proportion for the birds being made. They would make great little stands for my nests and bring in the wooden element of a tree.  Next, I grabbed some 30 gauge floral wire. I wanted to be able to bend and mold the nest as I was constructing it. Anything similar will work. I actually wrapped it around two of my fingers. I started with a tight wrap and released the tension each time I wrapped around to get the bowl shape you see here. I added a heavy dollop of EX6000 (EDIT: This is a craft glue found at Michael's. Holds heavy embellishments and great for metal) to the top of my spool and placed the nest on top, holding it a minute or so until it set. Time to pull out your floral moss and grass.

I started by adding EX6000 again to the center of the nest on the spool. I then placed a clump of green grass to the top center and held it until set. I then added glue directly to the spool again but this time around the top edges. I added small bits of green grass here to the outside edges to help cover the wire. Now, don't worry about all the excess.  You will trim that later. Be sure not to trim it perfectly.  For a realistic nest, leave long pieces here and there. Create texture with different lengths.

Adding some moss will really make your nest realistic! I added EX6000 all around the outside edges of the nest (wire) this time and added clumps of green moss.  I also added moss in the center of the nest.  I used my fingers to mold the shape. Again, I trimmed the edges at different lengths to create texture.

Now we just need to finish our birds and welcome them home!  I plan to dress up the spools a bit too. This is a work in progress. I wanted to share the nest tutorial though. It was so easy to do and can be recreated on a much larger scale.  How about you? What is on your project table this week? Have you taken any time to play lately? Tell us about it.  Until next time...xoxo