N is for Nest

I have a post-it note beside my desk with the letters J, K, N, U, X, and Y on it. Those are the letters that are still missing from my list of Children's Crafts from A-Z. Trevor and I are determined to craft our way through the remaining letters as soon as possible. In the past few weeks, we've knocked Q (Quail) and V (Volcano) off the list. Once I finish this post, we'll scratch N off the list. N is for Nest!

Paper Plate Nest

Supplies: 

• small paper plate (cake size)
• brown paint 
• shredded basket filler
• cotton balls
• chalk
• googly eyes
• crayon 
• cardstock or construction paper 
• scissors
• glue

We started by cutting a paper plate in half. Each of us painted our half with various shades of brown to look like a nest. (Our plate started out blue.) Here's how my nest looked when the paint was dry.

To give the nest texture, we glued on some of the paper bits that came in a gift basket we received.

We kept going until our nests were well-covered.

The next step was adding cotton ball birds. We rubbed some chalk on cotton balls, then added googly eyes and little paper beaks. We tucked the birds behind the nest. Here's mine:

Trevor chose to make two pink chicks and one blue egg that hadn't hatched yet.

The final step was making a background. We started with light blue for the background. We cut brown cardstock to make a tree trunk and branch, then used a crayon to give it a more realistic tree texture. We cut out green leaves to attach to the branches. Trevor left his leaves flat, while I bent mine to give them texture. Finally, we glued the nest and birds in place.

Here's Trevor's artwork. Mine is at the top of the post.

Five letters to go!