Nest Handmade

Vintage Goodies for sale

nesthandmade — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:48:02 +0000

Hi all – I happened upon some wonderful vintage glassware this holiday season and, while I’d love to hang on to every piece I find, I just don’t have the space! What do I love about vintage glass? I love that these pieces have made it to 2013 with nary a nick or chip despite being handled repeatedly over the last 60-70 years. Many pieces I imagine have been set aside in Grandma’s china cabinet and when the time came, the heirs just donated everything. Lucky me!

Found a gorgeous almost complete set of Hazel Atlas green depression glass – 11 teacups and 12 saucers. Had to fight a dreadlocked guy for them – he was buying cereal bowls and thought he needed my saucers. WRONG! Don’t mess with a woman who loves depression glass Same trip, found a set of vintage luncheon plates – the kind that bring to mind 1950′s tea parties, complete with white gloves. Love these beautiful pieces of history but, have nowhere to display or store them. I know you love them too – won’t they look pretty in your home?

Visit my SHOP page to see photos and learn more!

Merry Christmas!

nesthandmade — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:11:49 +0000

Well, the season is upon us and, I have to say that Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. I love how sparkly and pretty the house is, I love the smells of cinnamon and apple cider, I love our relatively new family tradition of gathering all the women in our family (four generations are represented!) who are home during Christmas and planning a treat-making day and baking, I love the kids’ programs at school and church, I love that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and I love creating an environment that makes my kids smile.

My daughter singing in our church’s Christmas presentation

Click on the thumbnails to view as a gallery.

Happy Halloween!

nesthandmade — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 20:40:26 +0000

For the last four years, we’ve thrown a Halloween party. It’s not an all-out come-way-dressed up party but more of a kids can dress up and the parents chat, eat and drink. This year I was looking at my decor and serving pieces and realized how many were thrifted. We have a wonderful resource in St. Augustine called the Betty Griffin Thrift Shoppe and it’s only a few blocks from my neighborhood. The proceeds from the shop go to a women’s shelter so I always feel good about my purchases.

Here are some pictures of my party decor – I’ll point out thrift items in the captions.

The silver pitcher on the mantle was a hand-me-down from my grandma when she downsized this spring – it’s actually silver. Candlesticks on mantle were brass and I spray painted them black- $1 each. Halloween silhouette candle on the side table – $2. Small table in foreground – hidden by tablecloth because I haven’t refinished it yet – $25 at an estate sale.

Cookies are sitting on a dessert “tray” I made from a thrifted chandelier ($4) and thrifted plates (50 cents each). Will probably spray paint it later. Spider candleholders were $1 each. Actually, the kitchen table was thrifted too – a gorgeous Thomasville table with two leaves and six chairs. A light cleaning and new chair fabric were all that was needed – pretty good for $150.

Glass jar on rear counter – $5. Tiered cookie tray – $5. Cake dome – $1. Two milk glass pieces – $7. Nine tealight candle – $2.

Roll Tide Roll

nesthandmade — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 04:27:59 +0000

Then because I was feeling crafty and relishing the rare opportunity to spend some time doing something for pure pleasure, I made a “gameday” wreath for when the Crimson Tide is on TV punishing some poor boys who thought they should be on the same field with our team

Harvest Wreath – Part II

nesthandmade — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 04:23:18 +0000

My sweet Grandma and Grandpa just moved into senior living and they don’t have a lot of storage for holiday decorations. So I made them a smaller version of the Harvest Wreath for their new front door.

Happy Fourth of July!

nesthandmade — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 03:47:40 +0000

Teacher Gifts

nesthandmade — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 03:42:17 +0000

Had a little time to work on these but didn’t want to spend too much time!

yummy!

Tutorial: Making the Wreath

nesthandmade — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:27:56 +0000

With so many compliments on my holiday wreaths, I thought I’d share directions. Of course, I am always happy to create one for you for much less than the cost of buying a mass-produced wreath at your local store.

The Supplies:

- a grapevine wreath (your choice of size) – be sure to check the shape. Because these are made from woody vines, they may not be round. Try to find the most round wreath you can.

- garland – I’ve made this wreath with faux evergreen garland and with tinsel-type garland. Both work beautifully.

- Approx. 50 Christmas ball ornaments – Preferably unbreakable but glass ornaments also work. You can use varying sizes if you want to. It’s also nice to use differing textures or finishes – shiny, matte, frosted, glittery. Remove the gold clasp into which ornament hooks slip. It’s best to take them off so you aren’t attaching the ornaments to your wreath by something that can come off.

- high temp glue gun and LOTS of glue meltsticks

- pliers with a wire cutting edge

- YOU CHOOSE: 3″ ribbon for hanging OR floral wire. It’s possible to make this wreath so it hangs by a floral wire hook rather than a ribbon.

How to Make the Wreath:

Lay out your supplies because once the glue starts flowing, you want to keep moving. Heat up your glue gun and be very careful! Keep extra glue sticks handy. Lay out newspapers or something to protect your work surface.

Place your grapevine wreath on the work surface. Remove any loose leaves or random twigs that poke out. Determine which side looks best and which orientation makes the wreath the most round. If you are going to hang the wreath with a floral wire hook and want a complete circle wreath on the front, now is the time to flip the wreath over and loop 5-6 inches of wire through a few layers of vines. I would make double loops – maybe even triple loops. Be sure to twist the ends tightly to ensure your wreath doesn’t slide right off your door!

Begin adding ornaments to the wreath. Heavily glue the end of the ornament where the gold clasp used to be. It often will tuck in nicely between the grapevines. Hold it steady until the glue begins to harden.

Try to stagger the ornaments by color and texture. Plan at least two deep from inside the circle to the outside and vary it with three deep every few “rows.” The point is to not have a strict formation but make it look more random. Don’t worry about gaps between ornaments – that’s what the garland is for!

Leave a three inch section free of ornaments at the top of your wreath. This is where your ribbon will go. Be sure to measure the space with the ribbon you chose. If you’re hanging your wreath with wire, ignore this section and keep on gluing!

When you have placed balls all the way around the wreath, have someone hold it and step back about five feet. Look for lopsidedness and empty spaces. Then fill them in!

When you’re satisfied with the ornaments, get out your garland. If you’re using greenery, begin snipping 4″ sections using the wire cutters. I twisted the ends of two or three of these together to create a little bunch of greenery. If you’re using tinsel garland, snip 4″ sections. Play around with it – double it up, etc,. – to see how thick it becomes. If you’re using it to fill in spaces, it needs to be bulky enough to do some hiding.

Be really careful with the glue gun here – it’s easy to accidentally stick your fingers in the glue as you’re pressing it into place. I’m pretty sure I can commit the perfect crime and get away with it because I have burned off my fingerprints!

If you’ve chosen to hang your wreath with a ribbon, loop it through the wreath and bring both ends to the top. Tie a knot before adding a pretty bow. You don’t want the wreath to fall off the door!

Congrats!

Sparkly Christmas Wreath

nesthandmade — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:40:42 +0000

I’ve decided I want to make ornament wreath for all upcoming holidays! So easy and affordable to make.

*October 10, 2012 – Thank you for the wonderful compliments about my wreaths. Unfortunately, I am not making them to sell at this time. I’ve got a tutorial posted here and they are pretty easy to make. Good luck!

Harvest Wreath

nesthandmade — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:18:12 +0000

We’re having our big Halloween bash in a few weeks but I was feeling a little more Thanksgiving-y this weekend. I’d been flipping through my cache of old Southern Livings and Pottery Barn catalogs and came up with a plan for a fall wreath. I am loving how it turned out! Even better, because the ornaments are unbreakable, it will be a cinch to store!