Bird Nest Necklace: a MOPS craft tutorial

I am just in love with these necklaces <3 <3 <3

 I read over a few other tutorials but none of them were exactly what I needed to present to our 100+ MOPS mamas. We are printing out craft guides for each table so as to keep this craft as easy as possible. This means lots of pictures and instructions that aren't too wordy. My hope is that the pictures alone could be enough to make a bird nest pendant. 

To my fellow MOPS Creative Activities Mamas... Please feel free to use any of my pics for your own MOPS group <3

Here we go...

 

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First, loop your bead onto your 60 inch piece wire and begin wrapping your wire around it. Repeat until you have the desired amount of wire nest, making sure to leave at least six inches of wire at the end.

 

 

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Once you have the nest the size you want, begin threading the wire from the bottom of the nest up and around the side to secure the nest into a circle with a loop. After a couple loops around your nest, thread the jump ring onto the wire and make another loop, attaching the ring to your pendant. Make a couple more loops around the nest. 

 

 

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Finish your pendant by wrapping the wire around the back of your loop a few times. Cut off your excess wire and you are finished!

 

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First, loop your beads onto your 60 inch piece of wire and move them into a triangle shape. Begin wrapping your wire around your beads. Repeat until you have the desired amount, making sure to leave about a foot of wire at the end.

Top pic is the front view and bottom pic is the back view

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Once you have the nest the size you want, begin threading the wire from the bottom of the nest up and around the side to secure the nest into a circle. Make 3 or 4 sets of loops around the pendant, looping each place 3 times (or more or less if you desire… it is your beautiful nest after all). 

 

 

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When you are on your last wrap, you are going to add a jump loop. Make one loop like you have done with the others. Then lace your jump ring onto your next loop, and make one last loop around the side of your nest.  

 

 

 

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Finish your pendant by wrapping the wire around the back of the nest, underneath all the loops a few times. Cut off your excess wire and you are finished!

 

Back view of pendant

Back view

Back view

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And there you have it!

Our MOPS mamas have really enjoyed making these beautiful necklaces. 

I bought extra supplies to make more necklaces to give as gifts to our child care workers at Christmas. I just love these so much that I want every woman around me to have one, too :-)

Thank you checking out my blog and happy crafting  <3 <3 <3

A Beautiful Mess: Centerpiece Version 3.0

I know, I know... Another centerpiece version for our MOPS Beautiful Mess theme? Really?
Yes, really. I liked aspects of both of my previous concepts, but the first one was almost a little too messy and the second was not messy enough. Version 3.0 combined my favorite parts together and it turned out almost exactly like my original vision of what the centerpieces should look like. I love, love, love the look of the paint dripping down the striped jar... and having a small flower arrangement inside the jar keeps the centerpiece nice and short so that all our MOPS mamas can see each other around the table. I am very happy with how this, my final (I promise), beautiful mess centerpiece turned out <3
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At this point I feel like a pro at making wreath forms out of a pool noodle. I wanted to make sure my yarn nest fit nice and tight around the mason jar, so I cannibalized a couple of the previous wreaths and cut them down to a smaller size.

I was able to enlist the help of my mighty men to hold to two ends together, so I could get them properly taped. The bigger rings weren't too hard to do on my own, but these ones were definitely a two person job.

As this is my absolute, final, no more versions centerpiece concept, I made a few forms to really vamp up the creation process. Once you have your forms fully wrapped in duct tape and the yarn spooled into your dish, you are ready to "Wrap and Roll"... That statement was like at least a little funny when I said it out loud :-)

I had previously tried mixing 1 cup of starch with half a cup of flour and was not too happy with the results. Turns out, this really is the best method as long as you mix the starch and flour in a blender. The first time I just whisked the two together until there weren't any visible clumps. Hand whisking is not going to cut it. You absolutely have to use a mixer. The end results were 100% better this time around. I even like these nests better than the one I made using the über expensive fabric stiffener. 

The process is really quite simple. Just lay the string all over the form, the messier, the better. Be sure to remove as much excess liquid as possible or else these will take DAYS to dry. I left mine to dry over night and they were pretty much good to go. 

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The Jar...

I chose to paint the stripes on the inside of my jars. It would have been significantly easier to do them on the outside, but, trust me, they look a lot nicer on the inside. This way the glass jar still looks nice and shiny. It was not super hard, just more time consuming.

I fashioned a handy tool from a small rubber spatula. Use the rubber side to help get the painters tape in the correct place and then use the harder, taped side to make sure the edges of the tape are securely stuck in place. I used four wide strips of tape on the corners and then I cut two strips in half to make four thinner strips of tape in between the wider strips.

It is okay if there is an air bubble in the middle of the tape,  as long as the sides are stuck down securely. You do not want paint to leak into the the lines.

I practiced spray painting on a couple spaghetti jars first to figure out the best way for me to paint on the inside. Once you finish spray painting, make sure to remove the tape right away. If you let it set too long, you will end up peeling away the paint as well as the tape.

I love getting samples of Valspar paint from Lowes. You get 7.5 ounces of customized color for less than $3. You cannot buy craft paint for less than that. So, I poured my fabulous paint around the rim of my jar (again after practicing on some spaghetti jars) and let them drip. If you like the look of long drips going all the way to the bottom of the jar, then great. Stop here. If not....

Simply flip your jar upside down onto a sheet of wax paper once your drips are as long as you like them. It is such a simple idea that I cannot believe how it took me so long to figure this out. I went through half a dozen spaghetti jars before I finally thought of flipping them :-)

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The Flowers...

Flowers really have a way of pretty-ing up a mess. I messed around with a few ideas for how to arrange them in the jars so they looked more beautiful and less like I just shoved a handful of petals into a jar. I decided to make a miniature vase that would fit inside my jars. 

I am a big fan of the Dollar Tree and by far my best buy for this crafting season has been the mighty pool noodle. These babies are a thrifty crafter's best friend. The circumference of the noodle was a little too big to easily fit in the jar, so I trimmed them down a little. I want to give another shout out to my favorite crafting  Forever Sharp knife. These are really my absolute favorite knives for crafting and cooking.

I like the multidimensional shape of my little noodle vase. I think it looks really cool inside the jar.

I used the paint I caught on a plate while pouring it over the jar and a paper towel to make my little vase a perfect match for the centerpiece. 

That is pretty much it. Next is just the waiting game for the paint to dry. Patience is not one of my virtues. I busted out a hair dryer to help speed up the process. But I was just so excited to see the finished product. I am very happy with how everything turned out. 

Three centerpieces down and only seven more to go before the start of MOPS in September. 

SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!   

    

 

   

 

 

    

A Beautiful Mess: Centerpiece Version 2.0

 

I am in love with the yarn nest part of the beautiful mess centerpieces, so it of  course reappeared in my MOPS centerpiece Version 2.0   :-)

Our MOPS leader found these beautiful candle sconces on clearance at Michaels. I love how the tall one has little nests as the candle holders and the stout one has the butterflies and swirls. So, so, so pretty...

Alright, let's get down to the business of crafting...

First things first. We need to make a wreath/nest form that's the right size to fit fairly snugly around the sconces. If you look at A Beautiful Mess: Centerpiece Version 1.0, you will know that I went through a lot of trouble with toothpicks and pieces of cut up pool noodle. All that nonsense is not necessary. The pool noodles are very easy to cut to size and simply secure the ends together in a ring, using duct tape.

I was not completely happy with the nest form for the butterfly sconce. I wanted it to be a little high so that the nest would meet the bottom on the sconce.

I started by cutting a section of pool noodle in half, so as not to make it too high. Then I secured it with some more duct tape while wrapping it around the original form. It was still a little too high, but that was easily fixed by cutting off about a half inch from the bottom. 

A little off topic, but... I LOVE my Forever Sharp brand knife for crafting projects. It's one of my best ever impulse buys. If you ever see a seemingly crazy person selling knives in a Walmart infomercial style, check it out because this knife was so worth it.

 And there we have our two custom made nest/wreath forms. It's important that you cover them in tape to keep the yarn from sticking to the form. The duct tape worked better than the blue painter tape.

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Creating your Messy Nest

I tried two different ways to make the nests. First I spooled the yarn into the dishes first and then added the stiffening agent on top.  For the orange nest I used fabric stiffener, which I 100% was sure would work. It is just pricier than the other methods. The blue wreath was made (or rather attempted to be made) using just starch, no added flour. I saw a tutorial for string eggs that used just plain starch. I am not sure why those seemed to work, but the blue wreath was a fail for this mama.

There is really no rhyme or reason to how you lay the yarn. I just kind of slopped it all together. The messier, the better. I used almost the whole skein of yarn for each.  

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Flower Power 

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I love how the useful versatility of dollar tree pool noodles. Here I am using one a small cutting from my left over noodle in place of floral foam. It is the perfect size for the sconce. I then cut the buds off a dollar tree flower bunch and arranged them in my noodle ring. I placed the flower arrangement and the left over yarn in the sconce and Voilà!  

The same basic process was used for the blue centerpiece, just with smaller flowers and settings. I really like how this turns out. I think this is my favorite of the two sconce type centerpieces. It is a shame that the nest did not turn out as well as the floral arranging.

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The Verdict

    I think these centerpieces turned out beautifully, except for the unfortunate blue nest. 

 Our church has three different MOPS groups, so that means three different groups of ladies setting up and breaking down seven tables and centerpieces. Sometimes there is more breaking than needed in the breaking down process. The thought of one of the centerpieces breaking was a concern for me, because we have exactly seven sconces and no way of buying a replacement if one breaks. Thankfully I think they are still pretty even without the glass sconce. I hope they can make it through the year intact, but if an accident does happen, we will still be good <3