Craftinated: Nesting Instincts

“When I learn something new - and it happens every day - I feel a little more at home in this universe, a little more comfortable in the nest.”
--Bill Moyers

You might say I have a little thing for birds. Okay, it's kind of a big thing. Lately, I can't resist them. And every bird needs a nest, right? So I've been making nests. I shared how I made the jute nests in this post. But I thought I'd share how I used them.

This little guy is perched in my living room. Ain't he purty? I found him at a thrift store. I made the eggs following this tutorial at V and Co. I couldn't for the life of me get the fabric as smooth as she did, but I still like them.

Then I stuck another nest into this wooden bowl a friend of mine gave to me years ago from the Philippines. I added a few more fabric covered eggs. Then when I was at the thrift store other day, I spotted this little wooden bird. Perfect, don't you think?

The jute nexts are nifty, but then I decided I wanted something a little more realistic looking. So I got out my trusty Mod Podge and my bag of Spanish moss from the dollar store. I just wanted some small nests, so I used the bottom half of a plastic Easter egg as the form. I covered it with plastic wrap and started dipping the moss in the Mod Podge and sticking it to the plastic-wrapped egg. What. A. Mess. It was really hard to get the moss to stick to the egg. So I took another sheet of plastic wrap and placed it over the top of it all, then I put a slightly large egg on top so it would hold the shape. (Sorry, no pictures. For one thing, I hadn't started this blog yet, and for another thing, I would have gotten Mod Podge and moss all over my camera. Did I mention it was messy?) After it had set up a little bit, I was able to remove the top egg so that everything could dry. I left it overnight and into the next day. When it was finally dry, I lifted it off the plastic egg on the bottom and had myself a little nest. It was perfect for the little blossoming tree I have on my piano. (More on that later.)