A Nest for Mama Bird

My sister was in our state yesterday. I haven't seen her for two years! Not since my mother's funeral.

I wanted to send a little something home with her for my niece and nephew and I have been itching to be 'creative' again.

I made a little nest last week and gave it to the CooleyBug's youngest daughter. It was so much fun! I've never felted anything on purpose or needle felted anything. I ran across a blog post called, "Edds for Mama robin bird!"

Sheepy gave me some felting needles a few years ago and I hadn't ever used them. I admit I was nervous, and not sure I could really felt with a needle. I have plenty of wool roving around, and some wool yarn that is perfect for felting. Instead of hand knitting the nest and square for the bunny, I did both of those parts on the knitting machine.

All I did was follow the directions.... this is what my second try looks like.  I decided I would get a photo of it before I gave it away, too!

The nest and eggs are just the right size for her 18" doll.

And are some photos of a little bunny I made for my nephew. I found the directions at Jo So and Sew. She has a wonderful tutorial. This is my first bunny and I don't think it turned out as cute as her tutorial, but I am sure I will try it again.

I needle felted his tail (my favorite part of the bunny!) as well as his eyes and nose. I felted the whole bunny, too, by putting him in the washer.

The next time I will do a better job making his little nose more of a triangle. This was my first time needle felting a tiny piece of roving onto a knitted piece of cloth.

The tail is the cutest part! I needle felted a ball, then I needle felted the ball onto the back of the bunny (no sewing!) Then I added some more roving and needle felted that on top of the tail to make it a little fluffier.

I had so much fun making these that I might make a few nests with eggs to hang on the little indoor tree that we have, or I might just make a few more to give away :) Sometimes the joy is found in the process of creating or trying something. Sometimes it is in the thing that I've created and in the giving of it.