Loving is Listening ReCraft-Along: Part 3

Today marks THE END of the "Loving is Listening ReCraft-Along"! I'm so glad I did this. You know what? I quite enjoyed the easy-going pace of this little event. No hurries, no worries... And, in time, something pretty gets made. Joys! I will definitely be exploring the craft-along idea again in some form... Oh yeah baby.

As of last time, I believe we had made the birdie family which we set aside for the moment. And we had attached the lettering, like so...

So let us end our spring recraft-along on a high note. Let us build a nest for our chicks, get our mama bird settled in, and grow blossoms on our tree! You with me? Walk this way...

Loving is Listening ReCraft-Along: Part 3

Nest-Building

Step 1: Start with my secret little move, which is to remove that shiny layer of paper from a section of cracker or cereal box. Just stick your fingernail (or you could use a craft knife too) under the layer of shiny paper in one of the corners of your piece of cardboard and peel away that paper. You'll want to prepare a few differently-shaded pieces of cardboard in this way.
Step 2: Now cut your pieces into tiny strips. Mine are quite narrow, about 1/16"( 1.5mm) wide. Cut some of these tiny strips from the differently-shaded pieces of cardboard.

Step 3: Now, between the two major shoots of that bottom branch, start glueing on the strips every which way without going too far beyond that top branch. What I do is I round each strip between my fingers, apply glue to the center of the strip only and glue it on randomly. The ends of each strip should curl up.
Step 4: Continue adding strips until you've added about 20 of them, rounding each between your fingers and attaching them to the box to form a very rustic nest shape. Don't worry about ends that stick too far out. We will be trimming them once we've glued everything in place.
Step 5: Once you've added roughly 20 strips, it's time for the chicks to move in. You made those last time remember? Apply glue only to their bodies, allowing their heads to stick out freely beyond the upper branch. Continue glueing on the tiny strips behind, beside, below, and even directly onto the chicks themselves (to hide the bottom half of their bodies).

Note: This nest-construction process is so organic and so much fun to do. I want you to trust your building instincts and enjoy it!

Step 6: Now, I prepared a few curly strips to add extra dimension to the nest. Curl the strips by wrapping them firmly and carefully around a large yarn needle (or you could use a wooden skewer). Keep them on the needle or skewer for a few moments so they retain their curly shape.
Step 7: Apply glue to a couple spots on these curly strips and attach them to the nest in a few different places. After the nest has dried, trim it as desired. Pay particular attention to the word "Listening". I found that I had several strips obscuring it and needed to trim them up quite a bit.

Mama Moves In

Step 8: Now it's mama bird's turn! Glue her onto her branch as shown below. And as per the Loving is Listening Birds and Details Template, copy and cut out a worm and glue both wormy pieces under mama's beak. Yummy.

Bring On The Blossoms

Step 9:  Using the carbon paper and the lightest colour of cracker/cereal box cardboard, copy and then cut out several flowers. I made nine flowers all together.
Step 10:  Using a regular hole punch, punch out 9 pieces of confetti from a darker colour of cracker/cereal box cardboard. Glue a confetti circle to the center of each flower. To give each flower dimension, place each flower center on the eraser-end of a pencil and firmly bend down the petals.

Step 11:  Glue the simple flowers onto the branches. Finally, into your beautiful box place two or three jars, and fill those jars with flowers or twigs or sedges or whatever your little heart desires!

And now I think we're completely done... Aaah yes... It's a very pretty thing, isn't it? With Mother's Day just around the corner, I think this will do nicely, don't you?

Now, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for action in the Loving is Listening Flickr Group to see what magic pops up over there. The intent, of course, is to feature your versions of this craft right here on the blog. I'm very much looking forward to that, so don't forget to post your photos!

♥M

Previous posts in the Loving is Listening series: Introduction, Part 1, Part 2