Craft a Bird In a Nest Box

The Nesting Bird's Box by kathy grimm as seen from above.

       Although the assembly of this little box may be a bit challenging in at first, most of you will get the gist of it after a few seconds of trial and error. 

       Just imagine how different my box might look if I were to use paper or paint to decorate it? I loved the soft, tactile surface of this box. And the neutral brown shades gave it a bit of a modern twist in the finish, I think. It makes for an unusual Easter surprise!

Supply List:

• small empty, clean carton with a screw top spout
• paper or plastic bowl
• cardstock or cardboard
• masking tape
• white school glue
• plastic or styrofoam eggs
• yarn for nest, eggs and bird
• feathers
• scissors
• tissue paper 
• Sculpey clay (just a small amount)
• hot glue

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Clean with warm warm water and soap a screw top spouted cream carton. Then cut the top off including a generous piece of cardboard surrounding it. (see photo below)
2. Cover the bowl's surface with masking tape on all sides.
3. Take the paper or plastic bowl and turn it upside down on a piece of cardboard and draw around the edge to estimate the circumference of it's opening. Cut around this circle leaving about a half inch in excess from the drawn circle. 
4. Remove the plastic lid from the carton piece and trace around it on top of the cardstock where ever you plan to have the box open. If your making a nest similar to mine, put it roughly in the middle.
5. Punch a whole in the center of this smaller outline with the tip of your scissors and cut the small whole out. Make sure that the lid top fits neatly through the hole.
6. Cover the top with masking tape. Cut out the hole shape if you cover this with the tape.
7. Now push the lid opening and it's attached backing through one side of the container's lid. (see photograph below)
8. Tape this secure and flip it over to screw on the plastic lid top.
9. Notch around the half inch cut so that the edge may be turned under  or up slightly and then squeeze glue around this edge and nestle it on to the top of the bowl. Mask the top edge firmly to the bowl top. Let this form dry.
10. Use glue and making tape to position and secure the plastic egg shells around the inside of the nest.
11. Now unscrew the lid from the top of the box. Crush the tissue into the shape of a small baby bird and glue this to the lid's top. Be careful not to get tape, glue or paper on the inside of the lid so that it will continue to screw on and off of it's lip properly. 
12. Mask this tiny bird with the tape.
13. Sculpt a bit of clay into a open beak for the bird. Fit it onto the small bird's head to make sure that it looks the way you want before baking it into it's permanent shape.
14. After baking this according to directions, let cool and then hot glue it to your baby bird.
15. Now use the white school glue to cover your nest with yarns of your own choosing. This will need to be done in stages, the bottom first and so on...  Let the glued surfaces dry between stages over several days. (see detailed photos below)
16. Include a secret letter and perhaps a bit of money inside your bird's nest box to give as a special gift for Easter or a child's birthday.

Left, "Clean with warm warm water and soap a screw top spouted cream carton. Then cut the top off including
 a generous piece of cardboard surrounding it." Right, you can see that I have cut a whole measuring the
 same size of the lid into the top of the cardboard "nest."

Left and Center, "Now push the lid opening and it's attached backing through one side of the container's lid.
Right, the opening of my Nest Box is neat, clean, and ready for decorating.

Left, "Now unscrew the lid from the top of the box. Crush the tissue into the shape of a small baby bird and glue
 this to the lid's top. Be careful not to get tape, glue or paper on the inside of the lid so that it will continue to screw
 on and off of it's lip properly." Right, "Use glue and making tape to position and secure the plastic egg shells around
the inside of the nest."

       Above is the top of the screw top lid covered with furry brown yarn, a Sculpey beak and real feathers, made to look like a baby bird. I went for a simpler look and opted to leave the beak unpainted this time. In the photographs below you can see the yarn covered box from different points of view as well as a close up shot of the box with the led unscrewed.

More Bird Crafts:

• Crayon Resist Parrots by Children
• How to draw a peacock, an ostrich and a blue jay, step-by-step
• Audubon's Legacy Lesson
• Free Jigsaw Transfer of A Parrot

Easter Animal Napkin Rings

Above are the finished versions of the simple fabric napkin rings for Easter dinner.

This simple sewing project may be ac-
complished in one or two afternoons prior
to a party by a child as young as 10
or 11 years old.

       It's important for parents involve their children in both the presentation of a family party and also in the execution of a party, especially if they are old enough to help out. Young people can easily decorate a table setting for a holiday event with things like: floral displays, name place tags and napkin rings.

        I've included here a sewing project that would be simple enough for a preteen to put together for their family Easter table. The felt bunnies and chicks came from a Hobby Lobby and the fabric from a local Joanne's store. Both items together did not cost me more than five dollars.
       The craft takes a little advanced planning. You will need to probably color coordinate your fabric selection with the dishes you plan to use. Let your child take a sample plate to the fabric store and hold it up next to the fabrics in order to choose something appropriate. Give him or her several days to complete this sewing project, if they have never attempted to sew before. Their stitching doesn't need to be perfect but you should give them time to practice if they are to attempt it to completion without parental help.
       Cut the fabric into strips measuring approximately 3 inches wide and 5 inches long. Allow for a seam of about half an inch. With the right sides together, sew around the perimeter of the strips after folding these in half and leave one end open in order to turn the finished tube inside out. Whip stitch the ends shut and then stitch both finished edges together with a blanket stitch. Iron or glue the felt animals onto the napkin rings. Insert pastel colored napkins (fabric or paper) and set the Easter table for company.
       If your youngsters enjoy this kind of project, why not assign the responsibility to them every year?

More Easter Crafts for the Family Dinner:

• Easter Flower Arrangements - by Patty Roller Designs
• Easter Bunny Vase - by Rittners Floral School
• Kids can design an Easter garden for the table
• How to make Easter bunny folded napkins
• A folded rose napkin tutorial 
• Folding swans from napkins 
• Easter Table Setting by Christy Rost Cooks 
• Fast and Fun Easter Centerpieces from the Supermarket

Eggs with Paschal Greetings and the Colors of Lent

      The Paschal greeting is an Easter custom among Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Christians, as well as among some Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians. Instead of "hello" or its equivalent, one is to greet another person with "Christ is Risen!", and the response is "Truly, He is Risen" (compare Matthew 27:64, Matthew 28:6–7, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6, Luke 24:34).

      In some cultures, such as in Russia and Serbia, it is also customary to exchange a triple kiss on the alternating cheeks after the greeting.

      Similar responses are also used in the liturgies of other Christian churches, but not so much as general greetings.

 

The "He is Risen!" Easter egg is simple to craft, all you need to
 make one is some festive trims and a prefabricated, fancy butterfly sticker!

      The Paschal greetings Easter egg is made from a Styrofoam half egg that was papier-mâchéd with bright, festive tissue paper and a decorative butterfly purchased from the local paper craft store. I added a little gold tinsel to the interior of the egg to emphasize the gold papers used on the butterfly and then the expression "He is Risen!" in which case a brother or sister in Christ would respond in kind with, "He is Risen Indeed!"

These Lenten textile eggs are made of Styrofoam wrapped with delicate silks and metallic threads.

        In the Christian church, the color purple has long since been used during the time of Lent to symbolize the royalty of Christ, who is King of Heaven and Earth. It is also the color of penance and repentance associated with the suffering of Christ for the transgressions of mankind. Because we no longer pay these penalties, a Holy God requires Jesus to pay them instead on our behalf. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them." Matthew 5:17

Very Vintage Easter Egg Designs

      This little violet dyed, Easter egg is perhaps the oldest egg I hang on my Easter tree. It was made sometime in the 1940s or 30s. My mother-in-law hung it on her childhood Easter tree. I think the lavender food dye has lasted far longer than anyone could ever had anticipated. The violets are made from molded velveteen.

• How to make vintage millinery flowers by Ilona Millinery in England
• Shaping tulle flowers with MiLena
• Anjurisa demonstrates how to use flower shaping tools 

Just Lilla shows how to make ribbon violets.

 

Enamel Easter egg containers are still as popular as they were 100 years ago!

       In the collection illustrated above at the far left on top is a vintage aluminum egg that opens to reveal a secret message and perhaps a chocolate too. It was made almost 100 years ago and belonged to my mother-in-law. The larger eggs are reproductions only manufactured within the past twenty years. I filled them with jelly beans and other sweets for our daughters to discover on Easter morning among other toys inside of their baskets.

A Decorative Bird Box

      I love these little bird boxes by Martha Stewart. I plan to stuff mine with a few Easter treats this year, but these little tweets would be just as sweet to decorate for any festive occasion. The bird boxes come three to a package so I will show you three different ways to decorate them. This first example is perhaps the easiest. 

      First, I painted a thin layer of acrylic varnish all over the surface of my bird box and let it dry over night. Then I used a fine line, permanent, black ink marker to draw swirls and curls emphasizing the raised portions of the bird's wings etc... Afterwards, I coated the box again with a second layer of acrylic varnish.

More Little Bird Boxes:

• A tiny bird box in hand from the Cheeky Magpie
• Little Hut Let's Go Boxes Templates
• Make A Little Bird House Favor Box
• Singing Bird Box by Charles Bruguier
• Bohemian Glitter Bird Ornament

Easter Eggs That Imitate Wedgwood Blue Earthenware

Typical wedgwood blue
plate with white decor

      I have always been in love with Wedgwood blue earthenware. It is very expensive, however, so it is not likely that I will ever acquire much of it. I did find some "Wedgewood" look-alikes  in a hobby shop many years ago and adhered these medallions to Styrofoam eggs. Then, I covered the back half of my eggs with blue paint, glitter and some vintage lace. I strung my blue, "Wedgwood"eggs on glass bead hangers. These eggs are my favorites and I hang them on one of my Easter egg trees every year.
      In 1765, Wedgwood created a new earthenware form which impressed the then British Queen consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who gave permission to call it "Queen's Ware"; this new form sold extremely well across Europe. The following year Wedgwood bought Etruria, a large Staffordshire estate, as both home and factory site. Wedgwood developed a number of further industrial innovations for his company, notably a way of measuring kiln temperatures accurately and new ware types Black Basalt and Jasper Ware. Wedgwood's most famous ware is jasperware. It was created to look like ancient cameo glass. It was inspired by the Portland Vase, a Roman vessel which is now a museum piece.. (The first jasperware colour was Portland Blue, an innovation that required experiments with more than 3,000 samples). In recognition of the importance of his pyrometric beads (pyrometer), Josiah Wedgwood was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1783. Today, the Wedgwood Prestige collection sells replicas of some of the original designs as well as modern neo-classical style jasperware. Read more . . .

Easter eggs featuring Wedgewood look-alike medallions. Push the medallions gently into the foam egg before gluing these in place with a tacky white glue.

My family has visited here during the summer months.

This makes for a relaxed, family friendly trip.

Include Tiny Vignettes Inside Easter Eggs

Here are a few more examples of decorated, flocked Easter eggs. These have been decorated by
cutting out an oval portion of the egg and gluing a tiny vignette inside the egg. Many hobby stores
 sell tiny vignettes; these are not difficult to locate. I covered the inside of my eggs first with glue
 and transparent glitter. I also added a bit of Easter grass to cushion my Easter miniatures.

After decorating the egg on the inside, I glued rick-rack, laces and bows to the outer shell and edges
 to cover flaws and to add interest to the surfaces of my Easter eggs. I used hot glue for this particular project.

More Scenes Inside of Easter Eggs:

• A fun Easter egg to display
• Ann Wheat Pace's Trunk Show
• Egg With a View

Trim Flocked Easter Eggs with Rickrack

      These old-fashioned  flocked Easter eggs are covered with rickrack and bright, bold laces. Use tacky white glue to adhere the bits of lace and trim.

Related Content:

• Molly trims a Easter Egg Basket with Rickrack
• An Easter egg card trimmed with rickrack
• Fabric covered Easter eggs with rickrack trims

Jewel Encrusted Easter Eggs

Left, plastic gems used for this easy craft. Right the finished result in 3D.

      I encrusted these jeweled Easter eggs with plastic gems that I purchased from a hobby store. Before adhering the "gems" to the plastic eggs with a tacky white glue, I roughed up the egg's surfaces with sandpaper. It is important to remember to match the color of plastic egg with the same color as the plastic gem. This will make the final crafted egg look like it is professionally made.

Fake or faux gems in the center of each puffy cross sticker really dress up this Easter craft!

       To make the ''Sparkly Cross'' cardboard eggs above you will need to cut out several cardboard egg shaped pieces. Use white school glue to apply the glittery fabric on first, then adhere the cross stickers with a tacky craft glue. The stickers will not stay in place without extra adhesive otherwise. I found this particular set at a Dollar Store.

Dunking Ducks

      These little ducks are soaking wet but they love the rain! You will need to design, draw, and cut a few ducks from sturdy white poster board. Students may then trace a selection of wet ducks with a permanent (ink) orange markers; this type of pen will insure that the inks do not smear or run while the students are gluing things onto the image later. Teachers may choose to do this part of the process in advance for very young students. But do not do this for children age 6 and up. It is good for little people to manipulate art materials as much as possible if they do not need assistance. This promotes self-confidence and small motor coordination. 

      Next you will need to mix water with white glue in order to cover the surface of the poster board with a thin coat of watery, tacky, messy mixture. 

      Students may now lay down a variety of torn yellow and orange tissue papers on top of the duck shapes along with yellow and orange feathers, construction paper etc... Brush glue mixture on top of the tissues and feathers as these are layered into the glue mixture. It's perfectly alright for the tissues to get lumpy, and messy, just keep adding the tissues to build up the interesting surfaces.

      After the project dries over night, the teacher may add some additional duck beaks, wispy lines of rain and duck eyes to the picture for added effect. I used a black permanent ink marker for this. You can also cut the wet ducks out and add these to a large pond scene on a bulletin board. Let each student take a their wet duck home after the bulletin board is dismantled.

The wet duck before and after.

More Little Duck Crafts:

• Color Days Duck from Mrs. Ricca
• Five Little Ducks Finger Puppets
• Little Duck Socks
• Adorable felted and fabric ducks

Paper Doily Baskets for Easter

      These little paper doily baskets are so adorable! They are very light weight so you can hang them on an Easter tree. They would also make cute party favors as well. I dressed mine up with stickers and ribbon. I also hand-colored the paper doilies before gluing them onto white typing paper; the possibilities here are endless. This is an easy basket craft for small children to craft as well.

Paper doily basket instructions.

      I purchased my doilies at a craft store but you could cut your own doilies. This would be a nice additional step for older children to do before constructing the basket. Remember crafts for older students need to be made a little more challenging in order to maintain their interest and teach them new methods.

 Video that shows how to cut paper doilies.

Craft Spring Carrot Napkin Rings

       For this simple craft project you will need to gather a few supplies: one skein of yarn ( I selected a skein of darker, earthy colors), felt carrots (These vary from year to year depending on what is available in hobby stores), white tacky glue, a ruler, scissors, and clean paper toilet roles (three napkin rings may be cut from one standard sized toilet tissue role).

       Measure and cut each toilet paper role into to three equal parts, then glue yarn down slowly as you push it through the hole and over the top of the tube. Both the inside and outside of each tube should be covered with yarn as it is pictured in the photo above. This is a slow methodical process and your second, third and fourth napkin ring will improve as you become accustomed to the method. Make as many as you need. If you should give these as gifts, it is standard practice to include table decorations in sets of four, for four place settings you would include in a gift, four napkin rings, four fabric napkins and four place mats etc... For a wedding shower, it is considered appropriate to give two sets of any decorative tableware, in other words, eight. This is so that the couple may anticipate guests at a holiday celebration.

       After the paper rings have been wrapped with yarn, let these dry over night and then hot glue the felt carrot decorations to the top side of the napkin rings. Choose the side of your ring that has the most attractive color combinations to attach the carrot to. These table decorations are particularly versatile because they may be used any time during the spring or summer to decorate a place setting for a garden tea party, a barbecue and at a Easter dinner party.

Cradled in a hand-crafted basket...

Flocked figures of animals may sometimes still be found in 
hobby shops or flee markets.

       These little flocked animals are easy to find in hobby and craft outlets. I hot glued this little fawn into a plastic half egg shell, added glitter, Easter grass, trim and ribbon to create a charming egg for our Easter tree this year. Watch Timbecon use flocking materials on wood in his video below.  Flocking may be done on other surfaces as well, like the small deer above.

       Below are small, flat cardboard Easter baskets I made for hanging on our egg tree this year. These are very light weight and crafted from easy to find materials that most folks have stashed away in their 'junk drawers.' Supplies include: old wire, ribbon, scrapbook papers, scissors, white glue and novelty trims left over from sewing and scrapbooking projects.

Decorative, cardboard baskets full of tiny paper eggs hang on our family Easter egg tree.

An Easter Bonnet Collage Competition

Video of a annual school Easter bonnet competition.

      Your school can sponsor a Easter Bonnet Contest for Spring. I've included an ad below from the The Day Book. Chicago Ill. 1915. The pictures have been cleaned and resized here at our blog for teachers to promote an Easter bonnet drawing competition of their very own. 

      I have also included a collage example using the same template. My students snipped and glued all kinds of fuzzy, furry tactile elements to their Easter bonnets, instead of drawing on them.

Easter bonnet collage made with template below
and construction paper, pom poms, feathers, chenille
stems etc... Girls Win Your Easter Hat!

"Sketch your idea of an attractive spring bonnet above this face. Then fill out the blank and mail it to the Fashion Editor of The Day Book. A different face will be printed for four days, today, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Send in as many drawings as you wish as long as they are all drawn on pictures clipped from The Day Book. This contest closes March 29. The winner will be presented with an Easter bonnet, like her design, Free. The materials must not exceed $10.00 in cost."

Eggs Decorated With Antique Lace and Faux Pearls

Natalie cradles the lovely goose egg that won a $100.
 dollar gift certificate from Hearthsong when she was
only four years old.

Cardboard, covered lace eggs.

      When my oldest girl was very young, I crafted this lace covered goose egg to submit to a local drawing at a Hearthsong toy shop in our neighborhood. The grand prize for entering the Easter egg competition was a $100.00 dollar gift certificate. Each entry had to be submitted with a decorated egg for the store's egg tree that was displayed in their front window. I won the grand prize and my little girl received the most wonderful toys for her Easter basket and Christmas stocking that following year.

      The egg was very easy to make. I simply glued some antique lace to a very large goose egg and then added a strand of faux pearls to the top so that the egg could be hung. In time the store returned my submission and our family has displayed the egg at Easter every year since then.

       Younger egg makers may like to try crafting cardboard versions of the same layering techniques. Cardboard is easier to work with and young people can come up with some stunning results just as long as they take care when using a glue gun. The sample lacy egg shown here on cardboard was first covered with jute twine and hot glue in a spiral design. Afterwards the lace ribbon and beaded clippings from a formal, recycled gown where glued in layers on top. The results as you can see were satisfactory.

Eggs decorated with both real and fake candy

What to do with old decorator cake candies?

      I decorated this large Easter Egg with the candy sprinkles people normally use on holiday cookies. I worked on a styrofoam egg with white school glue. Because the colors in the candy sprinkles are made with food dyes, a slow drying glue or a cold room temperature may react with the delicate sprinkles to create a mushy mess. It is very important to use fast drying glue and to set the egg out to dry in front of a warm vent.

      I then sealed the surface of this Easter egg with Mod Podge in order to prevent the surface from crumbling. This egg will probably only last a few years at best, but I had fun working with different materials.

       The design reminds me of Van Gogh's "Starry Night." If I were to craft an egg similar to this one again, I would use seed beads instead and save the candy for an Easter desert.

Perfect looking chocolate eggs that will never melt.

Faux Chocolate Eggs

Perfect for The Egg Tree

 

       These flat cardboard eggs decorated with chocolate treats are in fact quite artificial! The chocolates look just like the real thing because these are made with real chocolate candy molds, however, the faux candy is molded with Sculpey oven-bake clay instead of butter, cream and cocoa.
       After unmolding the clay, bake it as directed on the package. Let it cool and then paint a thick coating of chocolate brown acrylic paint on the top half only. Glue the flat side of the faux candy to paper covered cardboard eggs and wait for everything to dry before doing the next steps.
       Then layer Mod Podge on top of the brown paint before painting on the pastel detailing. After applying several coats of the paint to the raised areas, brush on one last coating of Mod Podge. The chocolate will look so real that a little child may try to eat it! So keep these decorations up high on the egg tree limbs where they cannot be plucked from the branches by unsuspecting toddlers!

• See my vintage candy tins used to gift jelly beans inside of  Easter baskets over several years.
• Young children may assemble a "Noah's Ark" picture and include animal crackers (cookies) to complete their pictures
• These edible bean and seed eggs may be tossed outside to feed the birds after Easter. Just make sure to use peanut butter for glue and a plastic container for the egg underneath...
  

Add A Few Porcelain Geese to Your Easter Eggs!

China geese laying enormous eggs!

Crazy quilt Easter eggs.

      I made these eggs many years ago when my girls were quite small. It seems as though I frequently have too many "knick-knacks" cluttering up my drawers and toy boxes! Consequently, I am always looking for a way to recycle this stuff. These little china geese dressed in their Easter splendor seemed an obvious choice for decorating eggs. On many occasions I have hollowed out the eggs to create small vignettes with similar china pieces. However, this time I thought they would look endearing as new parents. Their eggs most have been switched out by some deviant hen because these eggs are far too much for the geese to keep warm! 

      You will need too hollow out two ordinary chicken eggs for this Easter egg craft and also purchase a couple of tiny nests to hot glue to the bottom of each egg. I added a little dry moss beneath the rumps of the geese  and also between the nests and the smooth surface of the eggs in order for the hot glue to adhere to both surfaces firmly.

      This type of egg craft could be treated quite playfully depending upon the characters you happen to have on hand. 

       If you are a former quilter like me, you may also have too many scraps of lace, ribbon and embroidery floss tossed inside of an old drawer or in a basket full of all kinds of trim. These crazy quilt versions of eggs were cut from an old quilt no longer in use and stuffed with batting until they resembled Easter eggs. Additional lace and ribbon was then sewn onto the rough seams and a embroidery blanket stitch sewn around the new outside seams to decorate the quilted eggs even more. Well, they don't call crazy quilts crazy for no reason! Add a ribbon for hanging and you've found a new reason to recycle more sewing clutter!

• How to host a Mother Goose Party - adorable designs and ideas from the 1950s, very vintage!
• Visit the Nursery Rhymes & Lullabies Coloring Index at The Crayon Palace for Kids!
• Little ones can watch the Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck by Beatrix Potter
• Coloring page of Hosea 1:7

Easter by Ruth Metcalf
The birds give you greeting.
The butterflies too,
Put on winged beauty,
Sweet child for you.