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 

   (_\_)
   (_<_{}
    (_/_)

 |\ |
     \\| /|
     \|//
     |/
    ,.,.,|.,.,.,  

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