Springtime (or anytime) Crafts

I love spring! i love all the bloggers out there that have spring inspired crafts. A person can spend hours on Pinterest simply by looking up "spring eggs".  In general i love bird's nests and eggs; regardless of the season. While these seem to be "spring"  they will be on display year round.

i have had a package of peat pots for some time. I bought them knowing one day i would get inspiration. And i finally did!  I found a six pack of chalk eggs at the 99 cent store, so of course i had to have them. After several coats of Gesso, some paint, some splattering and they were done. I just needed to find a vessel for them....enter the peat pots.

i dry brushed white paint on each pot, added some Spanish Moss, some dried flowers (used earlier on my birdhouse), a few do dads and embellishments and i was done.  So of course i had to make another one:

this book may not look like much more than an altered book cover, but with a lot of projects i do, i really take the long road.  this book began as a hardback book cover only. I removed the pages, added a few coats of Gesso and it sat and sat for months.

i decoupaged the inside of the cover with the handmade script paper, used Tim Holtz paper for the outside,  added some fibers and sisal twine and then i had to work on the pages.

the pages inside consist of scrapbook paper scraps, newsprint paper and a variety of other papers that were cut, glued, molded and then glued again to the spin.  I used Gorilla Glue for the final gluing and just a head up on Gorilla Glue, LESS IS MORE.  I used too much and it bubbled up and spooged everywhere.  It was an easy fix, but now i know for next time.  This book is NOT complete, i have the cover and the innards, not i just have to fill it.

this was a quick and easy spring project.  I love the limited addition blue and green Ball Jars and as much as i would love to buy a whole case, it just isn't in my budget, BUT buying ONE jar at Walmart for $1.88, that i can do.  I just added some (3) spring foliage picks (on sale for $1.19),  some river rocks, then added a wooden bird pick, which i covered with ephemera paper, then added some sisal ribbon and to top if off, i added the little wooden clock and the word 'spring' i acquired from a magazine. when you don't have a sticker and don't feel like rubber stamping, finding a word or two from a magazine comes in handy :)

i bought two of these back in December, they were clearance fall items and i think they were 79 cents.  Not bad since the pot is actually terra cotta. While these little pots of blooms are cute, i felt i needed to change them. 

i removed all the flowers and rubber stamped them with music sheet and script stamps. I then painted the stigma (the center) white and then used something i don't use often, i covered them in white and black glitter. 

i decoupaged the pot, added a little clock tag and i was done.  the only thing i had to by was the little potted flower :)

And yet another birdhouse. You can never have too many.  this was a mini wood birdhouse i got at Walmart for $1.00 several months ago.  I decoupaged the body with a script napkin and the top was decoupaged with ephemera scrapbook paper and then added some baubles and bling.

And my final and most recent project. I would love to say i thought of this all on my own, but that would be a lie. My inspiration was found on Pinterest and it led me to an Etsy store: Rebecca Ersfeld's Rebeccavintageliving.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/166760190/shell-nature-study-collage?ref=listing-shop-header

This is actually a hardback book cover, decoupaged and on all three i attached items i have collected on my hikes/walks.

Seashell Collection

Birds

Nature's Treasures

these three displays only cost my time, which when i am doing something i love, doesn't seem like payment at all.

Spring Happenings

Since we've had a dry winter here in San Diego, the spring blooms are not as abundant as usual, but i still have hope, we've received a little rain this past month or so and you know the old saying, 'April showers bring May flowers'.

Flowers or not, the geese at Lindo Lake pay no mind, it is after all that time of year and the geese have paired up and two pairs have actually laid eggs.

Below are the 'confirmed' pairs at Lindo Lake this year (more than any year before)  BUT i will say, just because these little beauties are paired off, doesn't mean they will be nesting.  Some mates are too young to start nesting, but that doesn't stop them from the territorial behaviour.

it's odd to use this photo of Fritz and Fiore while all the others have the males honking and being territorial.  Fritz is the most aggressive of the geese and i have personally witnessed him attack over a dozen people.  the thing is, when he is acting like that it is a wise decision on my part to NOT try to photograph him because if i take my eyes off him for one second, i just might get nipped :)

in this photo Nancy is trying to break the little branch in front of her so she could build up her nest. realizing this would take her a long time (time away from her nest) i chose to take the branch and break it up for her. she politely took the sticks from me and placed them in her nest.

Ruby has chosen a great spot to nest, plenty of coverage and privacy, only problem is, as of yesterday, she still had no eggs.  BUT Fiore was doing the same thing for about 5 days and now the little mama has her own clutch:

It seems each day i arrive at Lindo Lake when Nancy sees me, she honks to Sunshine, stands up, covers her eggs with down and runs over to me for seed.  that just never gets old.

There is however a downside of leaving the nest....down covered feet.

This little Mallard has positioned her nest right near Fritz and Fiore.  I doubt she realized at the time, but that is the safest place to be.  If anyone or anything comes near the area, Fritz chases them off.  She's pretty well hidden, getting a photo of her and her eggs (below) proved to be challenging.

I had to include a photo of these two, whatever Fritz does not eat, they will help themselves to the leftovers.

this photo is not so great, but i had to share it.  this Great Egret was diligently building her nest, all the while displaying her courtship plumage.

These are the first babies of the year.  I think they were born either March 29th or 30th.  I had heard they were around, but i wasn't able to see them until April 2nd.  There is just nothing cuter than a sweet little brood of babies.