KT's Refinishing School Spring Break: Temporary Nest

Thank goodness it's Friday and my busiest two weeks of work all year are almost ALMOST over!  To finish off a great two weeks with ten amazing bloggers, the creative and talented Gina of Temporary Nest is here to share a beautiful spring time craft that is perfect for the weeks before Easter.

Actually, Gina's blog was one of the first I started reading when I began the whole process of reading and creating a blog over a year and a half ago.  Granted I didn't write on a consistent basis until after J's and my wedding last June, but all the while I was reading and loving Gina's blog!  Gina has recently taken up upholstery in the form of weekly classes and just finished her first piece Satine.  I have enjoyed living vicariously through following Gina through this process.  If you are not already a Nester like me, what are you waiting for?!?

Hi Everyone!  I'm Gina from Temporary Nest.  Nice to meet you guys!  KT was sweet enough to ask me to wrap up her Spring Break guest post line up.  What a sweetie pie, right?  I write about temporary upgrades for my sweet little rental to make someone elses' property and to make it feel like my home.

Today I thought I'd share with you guys something somewhat unusual for me...  I like to decorate my house for the Christmas holidays, and maybe a smidge for Halloween or Fall. But the rest of the year my house is just plain, my house.  No added shamrocks or hearts.  I guess I'm just so busy getting it to the pretty for the everyday, that I forget about decorating for all the other holidays!  But this time 'round I'm going to try to be a little better about it.  With Winter behind us now, I decided to join the Spring Wreath bandwagon and make my very own.

The supplies I used {which you could use anything you want} were:

• burlap {left over from another project}  $0
• foam wreath $4.99
• assorted sprigs of "berries" $1.99/ea {and I bought WAYYY too many.  More for the next project!}
• nest $1.99
• deer moss {left over from another project} $0
• bird eggs {left over from another project} $0
• hot glue gun and glue sticks $2.99 + $1.99 {Can you believe I have never owned one!?}
• fabric flower that I made from scrap fabric and an old button $0
• brown satin ribbon $2.99
• D-ring {left over from another project} $0

Total for this project: about $25  

 

First I made this fabric flower from folding circles of fabric in half then into thirds and hot gluing them onto a small circle of felt. To finish off the inside, I used a small circle of the same yellow fabric, and glued a pearlized button in the center.  Next up, the nest that I bought {Kind of a cop-out, I know. I totally should have made one myself but *shrug* I bought it anyway.}  was attached to a branch which was just too stinkin' big for the wreath.  Luckily, the nest was only held on to the branch by some small wires that I just clipped right off!

It only took a smidge of deer moss glued into the bottom of the nest and the addition of the little eggs to make it really come to life! What is it about nests that are so precious? They make my heart flutter!

I glued the burlap on in varying width strips to give it a bit of a fairly simple, modern yet raw, cottage-y feel. Then I just stuck single branches of the assorted colored berries straight through the burlap and into the foam.  Any of them that seem a little unstable I put a drop of glue under it just to make sure it wasn't goin' anywhere.  Then of course you can see, I glued the flower into the middle of the sprigs.  At the last minute I found a little swatch of leather left over from another project. I cut the shape of a little leaf and popped that on too!

But we're not done yet! What about the nest? I had originally wanted to put the nest and the flower asymmetrically on the wreath.  But it was way too much.  So, I decided to "float" the nest in the center of the wreath.

I hot glued the nest to the ribbon and pinned the ribbon to the wreath, cutting pieces to wrap around the frame of the wreath as well. Then I also pinned a loop of ribbon from which to hang the wreath. Inside the loop, I put a D-ring.  Odd choice, right? Well, seeing as though I wanted this to be kind of a more modern wreath, instead of going with a bow at the top, I rocked the metal D-ring. Why not? Gang way, folks! I'm breaking all the wreath-making rules!  

Originally, I was going to keep 'er all for myself, hanging it on the inside of my apartment door.  In thinking about the fun colors in the hallway, I went for adding some Springy-character to my door for all the world building to see!

Pardon the heinous flash photography, but it was entirely necessary considering the equally heinous lighting in the hall way. But aren't the colors perfect? The yellow flower unintentionally matches my door perfectly!  And there you have it! A pretty, yet simple, Spring wreath!

Thank you for bearing with me on this hap-hazard tutorial, guys! And I hope to see you guys all over at Temporary Nest some time! Thank you so much to KT for having me here and let's all welcome her back on Monday!  Have a nice weekend, guys!


Amazing, right?!  I especially love the mustard yellow ribbon Gina chose and the way it matches the door perfectly--oh my!  This project is a perfect example of why wreathes aren't just for Christmas.   I can't wait to make one of my own!

And now a special word to my guest bloggers:  You all have been absolutely wonderful and I am so grateful for the time and effort you put into these posts.  I have had such a great time working with you all and you have definitely made this extremely hectic time a little less so!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing yourselves and your blogs with me.  I feel privileged to know you and am honored that you agreed to be a part of this series!  Basically, you rock.

Happy weekend everyone!  I can't wait to be back in full force on Monday--I have missed you all and have a lot of catching up and commenting to do on my Google Reader next week (only 467 posts or so).