make a bird nest shadow box – creative gift packaging

 

Make a bird nest shadow box for creative gift packaging.  The gift recipient will be as delighted with the gift as the packaging.  The box is the perfect size for giving jewelry or to tuck in a gift card.

There is an interesting story behind my inspiration for this project.  It’s hard not to be inspired by birds in Spring. The cheerful singing and constant presence of birds this time of year cannot be ignored. I create almost daily next to a large window. Almost every five minutes or so I am startled by a cardinal who thumps the window almost violently. This occurrence has gone on for a few weeks now. After searching the web, I found out that cardinals are notorious for fighting their own reflections in an effort for territorial rights. With the constant thumping and sweet site of my cardinal, I once again became inspired to create a bird themed project.

It was by pure chance that I ran into these really cute wood boxes at my local craft store recently. I thought they were really different. I also snagged these super cute laser cut wood bird shapes. Super tiny and perfect for jewelry projects.

The boxes are different. They have a glass top and a wood slat that is removable so that you can display components of your choice, shadow box style.

Supplies for bird nest shadow box:

• wood shadow boxes
• liquid dye
• glue
• polymer clay
• wire
• wire cutter
• embellishments

Here is a look at most of the supplies I used for this project, give or take a few.

Instructions for bird nest shadow box:

Instead of painting the boxes, I decided to use Rit Dyes to stain them. I love this process because its fun, fast and easy. I simply used a teaspoon of dye to about 1/4 cup hot water to mix a dye bath. (Remember to wear rubber or latex gloves when using dyes) A paintbrush was used to “paint” the dye to the top of the box.
For a two toned stained effect, I added some water to the dye and painted the bottom of the box a lighter shade of Rit Dye’s Aquamarine. I also dropped the shapes into the cup that I used for the dye bath and let them sit for five minutes or so.

For the second box, I used Cocoa Brown. Here is a shot of all the pieces dyed drying on paper towels.
So, with my bird theme, what to display under the top glass but a sweet little wired bird nest? I used Artistic Wire to create a simple spiraled nest.

These are super easy to create, just keep wrapping the wire in a circular motion until you have a nice full “nest.” Use wire nippers to cut off a few small piece of wire and use them to wire the spirals together. Twist them tight with round nose jewelry pliers.
Don’t worry too much about what your nest look like at this point. After you feel them with eggs in the center, any little “imperfections” will be invisible.
I used Premo by Sculpey to shape little tiny eggs. A pea sized piece will make perfectly sized eggs for these nests.
The eggs were baked right in the nest, in the oven at about 225 degrees for about 25 minutes on a clay dedicated baking sheet. Then I brushed the eggs with Silver PearlEx by Jacquard Products.
To embellish the box, I added a stamped oval, some fabric washi tape from Stampington and some self adhesive gem stone rows.
To make the pendant, I glued the bird to the center of the dyed circle and added some rhinestone chain to the edges with Beacon’s Glass Metal and More. I also attached a super sparkly brooch to the piece. To create a brooch, I added a pin back.

This little brooch turned out to be the perfect addition for the boxes. My cardinal is still outside the window, thumping away and reminding me that birds are so artfully inspirational.