Rope Nest Tutorial

Hi all!  I have a little tutorial to share with you today! This is my first one ever so please bear with me. My tutorial is also featured at Catch The Bug Challenge Blog. I would like to show you how to make adorable rope birds nests to go on your projects. I didn't have a few of the supplies I needed but I made do.  And so can you!

Supplies needed:
beads (bird eggs are normally white or blue but any color will do) ( I love the shine from glass beads)
rope or hemp twine
glue gun or some form of strong glue
clothespin
craft tweezers
scissors

  Start with your rope or twine and put a knot in the end.  This is where you will wrap the twine around itself.  The knot makes it easier to work with.  You can leave the twine attached to the roll or cut it in advance.  I made the knot farther up with this piece of twine since you don't want to use the frayed end.

Once you have the knot you start rolling the twine around the knot to form a circle.  The size depends on what type of project you are making and how big you want the nest.  I have found my favorite size to be  one inch in diameter.  Once you have the nest to the size you want you use your clothespin to hold it together.  I know this isn't a clothespin but I couldn't find mine. Basically, any tool that can hold it together will do.

Add  glue to the back of the nest to hold it together. I have found that more glue is best.  This little nests love to unravel without enough glue.  You can leave the clothepin for a few minutes to let the glue dry.

Here is what your little nest will look like at this point!

Using tweezers and your glue gun, attached a few beads to the inside of the nest.

How cute do they look all nestled in there? You can leave your nests to look like this or you can cut another piece of the twine a few inches in length to wrap around the top and bottom of the nest for the beads to be a bit more secure.  Although if you use enough glue, I don't think this step is needed if you prefer the nests to look like this. Your nests are done at this point and can be attached to your projects with glue dots or your glue gun!

End result of your rope nest!

I certainly hope you enjoyed my tutorial ( that it was informative enough) and that you try out some nests on your spring cards.  This card featured Spring- bird from Bugaboo stamps.  Colored with my promarkers.  The easter paper is from my stash. I added some pearls in the upper corner. I first saw the nests at Katie Skiff's blog and adapted it to work for me.  You can make all different types and colors of nests!

This is my last post as a guest designer for Catch the big! I have certainly enjoyed my time with the team

Hugs,

Erin

Entering in the following projects:

scrappy mom - hippity hop
digi choosday - wings
patties creations - easter