Spring Bird Nests

Hannah and I had a fun time making this cute paper plate bird nest.  It was very easy to get everything ready and Hannah could assist in every step.  We started with a plain paper plate and painted it brown.  I let Hannah use a sponge which she dipped into the paint and onto the paper plate like a stamp.   I had previously cut up a bunch of strips of brown paper from my scraps, about 1/2 inch by 3 or 4 inches.  You definitely don't need to be precise here.  Hannah liked putting the glue on the strips, but didn't like picking up the sticky paper to set on the plate, so I helped here.  She occasionally patted some down.

 Next we assembled the birds.  We used each half of a blue plastic egg for the body.  Each birdie got 2 googly eyes, a beak (free cut from orange scraps) and a blue feather.  We used glue dots here which seemed to work very well.  I helped Hannah place each piece.  I then used some hot glue to glue the birds onto the next.  Hannah was very proud of her "birdies".  I think they (H. included) are adorable!

For the "adult" version, I found some brown scraps of fabric, cut a long strip about an inch wide, and rolled it to create the nest. I twisted the fabric a bit here and there and applied glue as I went until I got the look I wanted.  I was using Fabri-Tac glue. I had picked up some blue beads for the eggs earlier in the week and ended up securing them with thread, though I think a strong glue would be fine.

 The last step was attaching a pin to the back to wear it.  I think it turned out pretty cute, but I would choose a material that didn't fray so easily next time.  Maybe a bulkier cotton would work better than this coppery satin.  It's nice to try something new once in a while.  Happy Craftin'!