A Little Birdie Told Me...

Our church has an annual Widows' Reception, to honor and minister to the widows in our church. The deacons and their wives host the reception, and this is the first year we've been involved. I am helping with the decorations (along with 2 other lovely & talented ladies). Since we'll be on the verge of spring (it comes early in South Texas!), we decided to use a birdie theme. Here are some ideas I sketched up:

(click image to see it larger)

Next, I created a "palette":

Then I went shopping. I decided to start at Goodwill, as I was looking for inexpensive pottery/ceramic containers. Our plan is to purchase nursery 6-packs of English Ivy or other ivy-like plant, break up the 6 packs into individual "pots", wrap the pots in kraft paper or burlap, tie off with twine and a tag, and place the little pots into a larger pot. Some of the pots will also go on our cake stand towers. At the end of the reception, each lady will receive a long-stemmed rose from a deacon. She will also receive one of these little ivies, and a take-home box of leftover goodies. So I was looking for roomy pots at Goodwill. I spent $9 on all of the pots/planters. After the shopping trip (see what I found, below), I enlisted Brian to help me. We took a walk along the roadsides that surround our neighborhood. I, with a large basket, and Brian with a pair of pruning shears. I'm sure the neighbors wondered what we were up to! There is a greenbelt just outside our neighborhood, and we went and trimmed out creeping vines that are growing in / killing the trees. We also picked up moss balls and twigs. We went home and I started building "nests". It was a messy process, but I think they're pretty cute. I had to make some of them smaller because I was running out of materials, but I think it's good to have variation. So here's what I bought and made:


The little green planter I purchased on a previous trip to Goodwill. The eggs are resin, and hen-sized. They came from our family's store. Here's a closeup of the little white planter in front:

And here's a closeup of the largest nest:


It's going to be a dessert reception, so I'm thinking I may try to get these adorable cupcakes made. So cute!

I'll take pictures at the actual event and share them later. Then I may have a few nests for sale in my soon-to-come etsy shop...stay tuned!