One of the categories in the Mountain Regional State Fair is Natural Materials. This one is always a challenge to use items found on our property, created by nature, in a project. This summer, a Carolina Wren built a nest in a little bucket on the veranda and then abandoned it when DH was painting the boards. Good thing it did, as I really don’t want a nest of baby birds to work around, and I certainly didn’t want their eggs to be destroyed.
Carefully lifting it out of the little bucket, it was so delicate and fragile, but so artfully made. It had twigs and leaves with moss and lichen woven in.
I got out one of the remaining wood slices DH did for me when a tree fell last year to see if the bird nest would fit on it, and it was just the right size.
I cut a hydrangea bloom and hung it upside down in the craft workroom to dry for about a week. Before it lost all its color, I sprayed it with varnish to try to preserve some of that color.
Using hot glue, the bird nest was fixed to the wood slice base. I gave it a light coat of clear spray varnish to help stabilize the little bits.
The bloom was too large to use whole, so I cut sections from it to glue separately.
I glued them in a diagonal line from front to back, covering a bit of a bare spot in back.
With the flowers attached, I sprayed the entire piece with clear coat to hold it all together.
Now it needed an egg. Have you ever done the blow out trick with a real egg? I know my mother did this when I was a kid, poking little holes in the ends of the eggs, then blowing the yolks out with her own breath. It took forever, and was very difficult. I thought DH might burst a blood vessel when he tried it this way. He then thought he had a better way, and he was absolutely right. First, he used a drill with a 3/32 wood bit, and gently created the holes in the ends. The same bit was used to poke around inside and break up the yolk.
Then he put a rubber tube over the end of his air compressor that he uses to pump up the tires, and held it against the egg to create a seal. Then, he blew the yolk out in just a minute.
The inside was rinsed, and left to dry out for a couple of days. Then, I gave it a mottled look with yellow and lavendar spray paints.
Nestled into the nest, the art project is ready to enter at the fair.
Here’s the side view.
The back view.
Overall I am happy with it. It is still so delicate and fragile, I hope I can get it to the fair and entered without destroying it in transport. We’ll see!!
Have you made an art project with natural materials?
Get Wood Slices on Amazon for your art projects and tablescapes.
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From My Carolina Home 
You always amaze me love it!
Very clever entry into the category! Love the blossoms on the nest. Would you use this in a tablescape at some point? Good luck with your entries & congrats on having a hubby who is willing to assist with power tools~!!~
So pretty, Carole! Love your ideas.
That is very pretty, Carole. Love the hydrangea in there. Where will you display it after the fair, I wonder…
beautiful, i’m sure the bird would have been pleased!!!!!!!!!
Wow! so pretty Carole….I love state fairs and walking around the exhibits.
I do have to tell you of a bird’s nest project I attempted a few years ago. I brought the nest in the house and sat it on the table as I began to collect my “decor”…When I got back to the nest, I had all kinds of little critters crawling in and around the nest. UGH!!!! I believe they were mites and I was concerned that they would infiltrate my home so I took the nest back outside and decided to buy a faux nest.
You did an amazing job! I love birds but when they nest above your doorway, what a mess they can make! It was a job this spring to prevent phoebes from building their nest over our doorway. They make such a mess, i went thru it last spring and lost, this time i persevered and they moved on to our carport, where they built five nests and only used one?? Good Luck on your entry!
Very clever and good looking. Sure to win in its category.
Carole, this is so lovely, and I commend you on your ingenuity. I can hardly wait for your fair, to see how many ribbons you come home with. You are such a talented gal and hope you will be rewarded in all the categories you are entering.
I have a tiny finch nest found on the driveway in Oregon that I’ve kept for years. It sits on a broken teapot with a female color feather cardinal in it, with a red one next to her. Not exactly art, but it gives me pleasure! I’ve done the pinecone wreaths before, but they tend to be fragile and not last past one season… what I needed are the HUGE sugar pine cones from the Winema National Forest in Oregon/CA! like 12 inches long some of them. I prefer the tiny walnut size ones for crafts, so they don’t wire well! probably why they fall apart after one season
This is so pretty, hope it gets another ribbon for you!
Hello Carole; You have created a beautiful natural art décor using just a few items. It is amazing! Using the hydrangea was a brilliant choice of flower to use with the nest. I loved reading every detail on the egg blowing. How fabulous your husband was to come up with the easy solution! Tell him, I am applauding for his helping you and just for coming up with the great solution! I would like to know how long the hydrangea and bird nest last being sprayed because I have a bird nest that I found last year and just never came up with anything to do with it. Thank you for sharing and great success at the fair I know you are going to get a lot of ribbons this year with all of your creative ideas! Have a splendid day!
WOW….just wow……lovely and I’m betting you’ll get a ribbon!
Very clever Carole! I would never have suspected it was possible to use an air compressor to blow out an egg….impressive!
Very nice! Will you put a hanger on it to use as wall decor? Seems like a nice Spring piece when the birds are starting to nest. Good luck @ the Fair!
Yes, I have a dozen or so quail eggs from an abandoned best several years ago, and I use them each year in a nest with a ceramic bird looking in on her babies. The eggs were actually hollow when we found them, fragile and get carefully wrapped and stored each year. I love your nest! Beautiful.
What a beautiful project. Good luck at the Fair
Wow so creative!! I think this is a winner for sure
Very pretty, Carole. I hope it wins a prize .You always seem to find just what you need for your projects. Good luck.
It looks like a winner to me Carole! Very lovely!
Hi friend! I do live this little project!
That’s gorgeous, Carole. I hope you get it there, and back home again! It will be a lovely piece of outdoor artwork, I think, on the gorgeous porch I seem to remember you having. But not in a wind storm!
Good luck. It looks lovely.
This is so delicate and so pretty! I have “blown” many eggs over the years, and this looks like a much better (if not amusing) way to do it!
So pretty. Love your nest hope you win a prize
This is really beautiful and I hope you do well in the competition. I have an abandoned nest I must rescue before winter to do something with. I love them — somehow, they are more meaningful for being “real.”