Spring Nest Pin

I was looking for a cute, simple, inexpensive spring craft-preferably something that would be a good gift for a mom or grandmother. I was seeing a lot of darling bird's nests on other blogs. Then while I was at the dollar store the other day I went by a box of men's brown shoelaces. Bingo! I bought the box and whipped this little nest up that evening in less than 10 minutes (not counting clay baking time.)

Here are the two ingredients you will need, along with leftover cardboard, a pin back or regular pin and glue. I like Aleene's Tacky Glue. She has a new clear Tacky Glue that is wonderful!

The process is very simple. First I tied a loose overhand knot close to one end. Holding the knot in two fingers, I coiled the rest of the shoelace in a loose nest shape. When there were about 8-10 inches left uncoiled, I wrapped the loose end around the coil three or four times to "tie" the coil together. Tuck the finished ends into the nest so they don't show. I cut out a small piece (about the size of a nickle) of cardboard from an old cereal box and squeezed a generous amount of glue to cover it. I pressed the "nest" onto the cardboard circle then filled the center with glue and let it drip down in. When it dries it holds everything in place.

I got out the blue "Sculpey" clay and made some tiny eggs and baked them about 15 minutes. Try them out in your nest for size, before you bake them. (Follow manufacturer's handling and baking directions.)

To finish, I tied a little blue ribbon on the top and ran a safety pin through the lace behind it. Or, you could attach a craft pinback to the cardboard with glue, or a glue on a magnet if you wanted to use it on the fridge. Cute, cheap, simple! Yay!

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