How to Make a "Real" Nest

When I decided I wanted to make a "real" nest for my VT project this month, I started looking for some good tutorials to help me.  There were a few really good ones, but most of them included more work that I wanted to do.

So I decided to start with a small basket {I used 6-8" baskets...but by the time they were done, they were 10-12" wide} and just wrap nest-like stuff around it.

My basket had a handle, so I cut it off and got started.

I bought a 20' grapevine garland at Hobby Lobby {with a 40% off coupon it was $6, and it made 4 nests} and started wrapping.  I envisioned cutting 8-10" pieces and weaving them into the basket...I soon realized that was not the best method.  The coverage was bad, and it. took. forever.  So I grabbed my trusty gluegun and went to work.  I decided that instead of gluing a bunch of small pieces, I would just spread and wrap the grapevine around the basket, and then fill in any holes at the end.

Using the gluegun seemed to be working pretty well, but I had to hold it firmly till the glue dried, and sometimes, the glue seeped through the basket and burned my fingers...so I grabbed some large clamps to hold the sticks and glue in place for me.

I left the bottom of mine uncovered so they would sit flat on a table or shelf.  If you will be putting yours in a tree, I would suggest covering the bottom.

After making sure the grapevine was in place, I attached some spanish moss {I ended up needing 2 bags for 4 nests} from the dollar store to the rim of the basket and down into the basket.

Then I added some green floral moss {also from the dollar store--I only needed 1 of these for all 4 nests}, and I was done!

Note: I did use quite a bit of glue, so make sure you have plenty on hand.

You could fill your nest with any kind of egg--plastic, wood, painted, candy, whatever you want.

In the end, this project cost about $11 for 4 "real" nests...just under $3 a piece.

Happy Easter!

I'm linking up here: