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NOT EDIBLE, BUT DEFINITELY SWEET!

Here’s a little visually sugar coated sweet post just for you.

Temps in the teens and twenties have a way of keeping me indoors for lengthy bouts of time.  I’m known for keeping my hands busy with rakes, shovels and pruners; however, at this time of year, you’ll find me keeping them busy with scissors, glue and all sorts of other crafty paraphernalia.

As you can see, I’ve been spending a lot of time indoors, and, as of late, Cupid has been my muse.

linda nelson at the createaerie

“Sew”, what’s a gal to do with abundant lengths of fabric and trim?  Stitch them together, feed them onto wire and bend them into heart shapes!

linda nelson at the createaerie
linda nelson at the createaerie
linda nelson at the createaerie

And, when she’s at the end of her ribbon, she can make “naked” hearts.  Copper wire with an aged patina is definitely worthy of showing some skin.

linda nelson at the createaerie
linda nelson at the createaerie

Stay tuned……I have a few more visual sweets that I will be sharing with you very soon!

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SOME NEW HANDMADES

Hey there!  Here’s a little peak at a few more handmade creations I’ve been cranking out.

Last year and the year before that, I was on a colorful felted mushroom kick.  This year, it’s trees that mimic the shape and form of the cypress trees I observed in Italy.

linda nelson at the createaerie
linda nelson at the createaerie

And, this heart ornament….. it’s one of a few designs that I came up with using wire from cages landscape nurseries use to ball and burlap their heavy trees and shrubs.  The hook is made from turkey fencing wire.

linda nelson at the createaerie

The east end of Long Island, NY, received it’s first honest snowfall today.  It wasn’t much, just a few inches.  But, it’s cold enough to make cozying up tonight that much more inviting.

Good night.

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MY FAILED EGG HUNT

Do you ever have an item pictured in your mind, then set out to purchase it, only to find that it doesn’t seem to exist, or is simply not available?  My sister and I have occasionally mused about this subject, be it about a piece of furniture, clothing, the go-with-everything basic and non complicated handbag……  What ever it may be, it’s frustrating when you search the internet beyond exhaustion or comb every local store, and what you’re looking for just isn’t there.

Well, that’s how I felt about some decorative props I had in mind for a client.  I recall, and I know I didn’t dream it, that the big box-type stores sold jumbo plastic lawn eggs.  I’ve seen them before, I’m certain.  They’re the tackiest things going on at this time of year, and are in the same family as plastic flamingos and garden gnomes.  No, my client does not like such things; however I was planning on using them as forms for making giant concrete eggs.  My client would most certainly love that….. and so would I.

FYI, jumbo plastic lawn eggs are available online from
Miles Kimball; however, at this time, they’re on back order.

The other vision in my head happened to be colossal-sized dimensional wire eggs, perhaps topiary forms?  An internet search including the most logical key words provided no such luck.

Now what?

I’ve since drawn up another idea for my client.  However, for myself, I’ve taken matters into my own hands…. literally.

linda nelson at the createaerie

I picked up a 7″ plastic goodie egg and a package of traditional “egg hunting” eggs from the local dollar store and used them as molds for my concrete “recipe”.  I’m pleased with the way they turned out; however, the seams from the plastic eggs clearly showed up on the surface of the concrete.  I buffed the seam lines out as best as I could.

For the wire form egg, I grabbed a piece of chicken wire I had on hand, donned my heavy-duty leather gloves and got to work.

linda nelson at the createaerie

I like the way it turned out, do you? I used floral wire to reinforce and secure the egg’s shape.  Too bad I didn’t have any more chicken wire; I would have either made more of them, or would have just made this one much, much larger.  Well, I now will certainly be on the hunt for curbside, discarded rolls of chicken wire.  The painted egg is concrete.

These props are not eggs-actly what I was envisioning, but I’m not disappointed with my efforts.

I’m no stranger to creative ingenuity, but purchasing “right off the rack”, or in this case, “right out of the nest”, would have been nice.

Thanks for stopping by!

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RUSTIC COUTURE SPRING BONNET: TUTORIAL

You’d like to make a rustic couture spring bonnet, would you?

This is what you’ll need for making a 6″(approx.) diameter bonnet:
  • a piece of window screening cut into an 8″ circle (check your garage/basement for remnants or purchase some by the foot at a hardware store).  Do not use nylon screen; you can’t form/shape it.  I used a lunch plate as a template and a Sharpie pen to trace my circle.
  • floral wire (roughly 14″ long)
  • acrylic paint & a brush or sponge (I like to create a patina effect using “muddy” greens and blues)
  • ribbon, moss, twigs, notions….(whatever your heart desires for embellishing)
  • scissor type tool that cuts through metal mesh (I used an old pair of boning shears)
  • 2 1/8″ diameter herb container (to use as your”hat form”)
Trace your template onto the mesh, then carefully (the edges are sharp) cut it out.  Next, center your circle over the herb container and squeeze the mesh to fit snuggly around the lid.  Bend upward and crease what would be the brim part of the hat.

©linda nelson 2014

Remove your hat from the form, then use your floral wire (no needle necessary) to stitch, up and down fashion, around and along the crease line.  Twist the two ends together to secure.  This step reinforces your bonnet.  The remaining ends of the floral wire provide a means to fasten some embellishments onto it.  The wire tails can also be kinked and twisted, thus becoming part of the design.  Trim the brim to shape and to your liking of it’s width.  I crimp and fray the edge by giving it a little tug and pulling off a few loose strands; that’s what makes it rustic looking. 

©linda nelson 2014

Dab on some paint, if you’d like, though this step is completely optional.  I chose not to paint the one pictured below.  Sew or glue on your embellishments.  You can put your bonnet back on the hat form, if you’d like; it frees up both of your hands while working on it.
©linda nelson 2014

There you have it.  All done.  Now, get creative.

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