Copyright of Content and Name of Todolwen Karen Bailey 2013

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Thursday, April 28, 2011

Bring Out Your Doilies - A New Birds Nest Tutorial

Hello my dear friends,

whilst working with my little coconut fibre pot on Tuesday and waiting for the tea stained eggs to dry I thought it would be nice to come up with a new little tutorial for you!

After my Easter basket which was made from a stiffened doily my thoughts went with a nest made the same way.
 
 
And this it what you will need:

- An old doily
- Wooden egg/eggs
- Fabric stiffener
- Teabags and hot water
- A bowl for tea staining/a bowl for stiffening the doily
- A small tin to mold your nest with
- Book pages
- Plastic wrap
- Scissors ( I used decorative scissors but you can use plain if you wish)
- Aluminium foil
- a piece of cake or pie ( not a necessity just yummy)
 

Boil your water and throw 3 tea bags into your bowl and add your eggs (wooden eggs that is my fellow bloggers - I don't want anyone accidentally cracking a couple of real eggs in there! No baking today) and doily. The doily won't take as long as the eggs. Once you have the right color for your doily, take it out and let it dry. Your eggs will take about 2 hours in the mixture. Yet again once you like the look, take the eggs out and let them dry over night. Note, the shade of color will dry lighter than when wet.
 
 
When your doily is dry the next step is to get your things to stiffen your doily.
 
 
Place a piece of foil down and cover your tart tin with plastic wrap. Both of these items will help your doily from getting stuck whilst drying.
 
 
Place your doily into the bowl and pore some fabric stiffener onto it. You are best not to use too much at first, you don't want it dripping with the stiffener and you can always add more if needed.
 
 
Work the stiffener into the doily. Once the doily is saturated, wring it out a bit so you don't have too much excess liquid otherwise it will dry as a plastic like texture which you don't really want.
 
 
Place your doily over the tart tin stretch it out.
 
 
You don't want it too neat, because you are trying it make it look a bit natural. This is yet again the time when the yummy stuff comes into thought.  (I have a thing for oatmeal muffins when I sit and wait.) Now you have to let your doily dry. I tend to leave mine over night to do so.

The following day ...
 
 
Your doily should be dry now. Peel it carefully
from the tart tin.
 
 
Now is the time you can decorate your nest. I decided to go with Scrabble pieces and use the word 'nest' which I glued to the rim of the nest. Use a good glue that has instant stick so the pieces stay put right away if you want to do the same. 
 
 
You can make the the 'stuffing' for the nest. Cut thin strips of book pages either with plain or decorative scissors, which ever you prefer. Use about 1 - 2 pages not more. If you don't like book pages why not try music sheets?
 
 
Scrunch the strips up and place into the nest and the last thing to do now is to place your eggs into the nest.
 
 
Finished!!
With this creation I think less is more but you can decorate as much or as little as you wish.
 
 
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial today.
 
Have a peaceful and creative day,
 
Karen B.

11 comments:

  1. Sooo cute!
    Let me know when your book comes out. ;D I'm poor, but I'll buy it!

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  2. Oh I love your creative beautiful doily nest. Thank you so much for sharing your technique. Fabulous piece. Happy weekend...

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  3. sweet sweet sweet!!
    Girl you are just going to town, and people are loving it!

    blessings
    barbara jean

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  4. Thanks for the tutorial. I am going to make one of those nests. love you blog. We think alike and we like the same things. Come say hi I am your newest follower.

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  5. This is gorgeous - it makes me want to jump up and try doing a nest like this LOL the tut is so easy to follow. Love it - and going to dig out my wooden eggs and try this out. Hugs.

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  6. Sooo sweet ! I have been making nests each year for Easter out of all sorts of items. This beautiful idea I will have to try. Thanks so much for sharing your creativity x

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  7. Fantastic idea ... I want to make a nest for my straw hat, instead of using a bow, and place a felted egg that I just purchased in it. I am attending a 'Spring Tea' and they are having a 'spring hat' contest. I am sure it will be eye catching. Already am following your Blog on mine.
    Thanks so much for sharing with much Peace and Blessings, Barb

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  8. Hi - found your bird's nest on Pinterest - I am your newest GFC follower - hope you will come on over and see me @ The Painted Pear,
    Peggy
    http://repeartreedesign.blogspot.com

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  9. This is the niftiest idea! :) I love the scraps inside the nest and the Scrabble letters. So creative, and so glad I found this on Pinterest! Repinned :D

    -Lucy
    Check out my crafty, food-y, DIY-y Pinterest!
    pinterest.com/acraftypinner

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