{Guest Post: Liz from Love Grows Wild}: Perfect Nest Framed Art

Hello New Friends! My name is Liz, and I write a blog called Love Grows Wild. I am so excited to be guest posting at I Should Be Mopping the Floor today! Kristi is one creative and fun lady!

I am a wife and mother of two rough and tough little boys. I have a passion for creating beautiful things, and at Love Grows Wild I share my crafts, DIY projects, recipes, and organization tips. I've always got a new project up my sleeve, and I love making new friends, so stop by and say hi anytime!

Today I have a super cute project to share with you! 

I saw a photo from Daisy Mae Belle and was inspired to create my own "Perfect Nest" framed art. 

Here's how I did it:

First I started with an old wooden frame I picked up from Goodwill. I wanted the frame to have an aged look, so I decided to use a crackle paint technique. I painted the whole frame with black acrylic craft paint and then generously applied a crackle medium over the black. Once the crackle medium had dried slightly, I applied a white acrylic paint on top. After a few minutes the crackle started to work its magic, and gave a beautiful aged look to the frame.

Next I created two little birdies for my frame. I drew a simple bird shape onto paper and used that as my template to cut four birds from white burlap, two for the fronts and two for the backs. (I'm OBSESSED with white burlap!) I used my sewing machine to stitch the birds together, leaving the bottoms open. I stuffed the birdies and finished stitching them shut. They were adorable all on their own, but I thought the little guys could use some color. So I gave them some stripes using a fine tipped brush and blue craft paint. (Doesn't this color totally remind you of Kristi's favorite oops paint?)

I found a tiny bird's nest at Hobby Lobby, but couldn't find any eggs small enough to fit in the nest. So I picked up some oven-bake clay and made my own! I just rolled the clay into egg shapes, baked them for 15 minutes, and let them cool completely. They got a blue coat of paint to match the bird's stripes, and to add some dimension I added black and white speckles using a toothpick.

For the word art, I wrapped a piece of muslin around the cardboard backing from the frame and hot glued it in place. I used a Sharpie to write the word "home" (you can see the technique I used here) and used my favorite new letter stamps to write "the perfect nest".

I placed the muslin-covered cardboard back into the frame and hot glued the birdies, nest, and eggs onto the edges of the frame. 

The finished frame found a home on a table in my entry where I made a fun bird vignette using feathers, my Sheet Music Eggs, and sticks. 

So what do you think? Do you love my little birdies as much as I do? 

I want to say a HUGE thank you to Kristi for letting me hang out with you all today!

 {big hugs} I've had a blast! I hope you'll stop by Love Grows Wild soon, and you can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. 

Have a wonderful day!

  

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Thanks so much for joining me today, Liz! It was an absolute delight having you here. And I'm loving this frame and nest combo...gorgeous. And yes...that's some serious Oops Blue right there...love it!

I adore Liz's style...we have a lot of similarities in our decorating style and I'm super drawn to her stuff. She consistently has awesome projects and ideas that knock my socks off. Some of my favorite "Liz projects" include:

{DIY Ruler Growth Chart and Vinegar Stain} 

{Sweater Pillow Tutorial} 

{Once a Cork Board, Now Necklace Storage}

Loving it all. You've got to head over to Love Grows Wild and check out all of the awesomeness going on over there. I'm thrilled to have connected with Liz through the bloggy world. Her ideas are fabulous and she's such a sweetie. Thanks bunches for being here today, Liz!

{i linky-party here}