Quick Thursday Project #13~Teenie Weenie Porcelain Bird Nests

Ok......was it the "teenie weenie" that got you here OR the porcelain bird nest?

Regardless of which it was, I'm just glad you came by to see what this project is all about.

It was another one of those things that came to me in the middle of the night when I woke up because of too much on my mind and a big dog hoggin' my side of the bed...

AND, I couldn't wait to get to the shoppe the next morning to try this one out.

We all know how popular birds and birds nests are now.....everybody's got them, everybody's makin' em, but I haven't seen this one out there yet.

I've got mine all in a row here to give you an idea of their size, which is about diameter of a fifty cent piece or quarter, in a couple of cases.
And, of course, a "bird's eye view"

But this is how it all began.......which is simply porcelain air dry clay pressed through a garlic press for tiny little strands of nesting material. It isn't the easiest thing to do, and does take some strength to press it through. I found that filling the compartment full of clay that had been dipped in water pressed the best.....also, one full compartment will give you enough clay for one nest, so you don't have to refill......which gets messy in the middle of the project.



Once the clay has been pressed, immediately drop the press into a container of water or the holes will plug with dried clay and you won't be able to use it again.....trust me on this one!


I use a single edged razor blade to cut the strands from the end of the press and that will do the least amount of crushing of the clay, and you want to keep the strands as separated as you can for airiness in your nest. Form a circle, leaving only a small amount on the very bottom for the inside of the nest. Wet your fingers if the clay starts sticking to you, then press your forefinger down into the center creating the "well". From that point, use a toothpick and separate any strands that have compressed until you have a light airy look.


Follow the package directions for drying, which is usually 24 hours. Choose a brown and grey acrylic paint and using a wet brush paint the entire surface using the brown. Don't press too hard as you will break the porcelain "twigs". If you can't get between the areas, simply dip your brush into water and spread over the wet paint allowing it to spread on it's own.


Let the brown dry and dry brush the grey onto the top of the twigs giving some dimension.


At this point, you could also make your own little eggs out of porcelain, but I chose to use pearls from a broken necklace. One, because I like the way it looked.....and two, because I used all my clay on my nests and didn't want to buy more just for eggs.


Clear coat with Krylon Matte Spray and add your little flowers.





AND there you have it......teenie weenie porcelain bird nests.


Don't know what I'm going to do with them, but aren't they cute!





Thank you for stopping by today for Quick Project Thursday. If you ever want to share something you have made with others, just grab my button, let me know, and join the fun.







Now, get out there and make something!