Mini Nest Tutorial

Mini Nest Tutorial

This is for nests approximately 1"-4" around.

I was trying to think of something new to make my nests out of, and this came to mind. This does so look like nest material to me. Want to know what it is?
It is Alyssum that died off over the winter. Alyssun is a sweet little whitish flower that blooms here all summer long, and as you can see at the top of the photo, is already starting to bloom again!

Since we had not cleaned up our yard from last year, there were still bits of the dried up 'stuff' around. I just broke it off at the ground and brought it in to play with it. (on a big piece of plastic. it is very messy)
It made GREAT little nests!
First i rolled it into a little ball in my hand. (I chose parts for this step that were a little finer, and left the longer, courser stuff for later.)
Now, this step is a two handed job, but since one hand was on the camera, I will just explain it to you.
Hold the ball in both hands at your finger tips, and kind of start 'shaping' the ball. Push down in the center a bit, and pull out on the sides a bit. Shaping it to keep it round and kind of squishing it a bit to keep it together. (such technical talk) =0)

Then take a few of the longer, courser pieces and wrap around the outside, again kind of squishing as you go to keep it in tight. I usually go around only once, but you can go around twice to make the nest a tad bit bigger.


When i am done with the small grass nests, I spray them with matte sealer
so they will not be dropping little piece of 'nest' when moved around.

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I wrote this tutorial in March,
and now i have found other material that works for little nests too.

Tall or short grass that has been cut down.
To do small nests it needs to be 3-4" long and very fine. Like tall lawn.

For larger nests, maybe 4 or 5" use fine tall grass. Must be about 10 or 12" tall.
If the grass feels too dry, just spritz with the hose or a squirt bottle. Shape your nest, and let it dry to hold it's shape.

With these grass nests all you need to do is lay out a bit of grass, and sort of roll it into the shape you want.


You can see that middle nest is only about 1 1/2" across and it is done.
I used the 3" grass for it.

The other two are about 3" nests.
I used the 8-10" grass for them.
This is how they look before you have 'squished' them tighter.
They will be tad bit smaller after.




Here is an idea of what you might do with one when you are done.
There are others you can see for ideas, or to purchase on my gift shop blog.

Hope this is helpful and fun.

Let me know if you make any nests.
I would love to show everyone!!

Blessings,
Barbara Jean