Nest Centerpieces for Easter

Inspired by the Swiss garden show photos that Sarah posted, I made some "nests" for Easter table decorations.

My grape vines needed their spring pruning so I took the cuttings with intentions of making the nests. I have made many grape vine wreath decorations in the past so I thought it would be an easy project. Ha!

I started by soaking the vine cuttings in warm water for a couple of hours.

It turns out that there is a big difference in the pliability of grape vines in the spring after a long dry winter, compared to cutting them in the fall for Christmas wreaths. No amount of soaking would soften them or make them pliable. I had a lot of trouble shaping them into nests.

No matter what I tried I could only get wreath shapes. I tried a few basket techniques but nothing was working as I imagined.

Finally I gave up on the grape vines and went outside to trim a wild and crazy clematis vine. The viable vines were much more pliable and worked a bit better.

I still had trouble shaping a "nest" with a bottom to it. I ended up making two wreaths, one slightly smaller than the other and linking them together.

  

 Or criscrossing some bits for structure.

Not at all as easy as I thought it would be. I need to examine the centerpieces at the garden show more closely.

 

The next phase of my nest building (birds have my undying admiration) was to walk along my favorite woodsy path looking for spring moss.

Though it was only March it was beginning to spread abundantly.

I gathered small sheets of moss from the ground, which was moist with spring rain. I also stripped sections from a log. These were completely dry and I expected them to stay green in my nests without watering.

Along my woodsy path is this amazing fairy house! I left it undisturbed.

The fairy house has an awning over the door.

I used the moss to line my nests. These nests were then filled with the decorated eggs done by the school children at our church. They were the centerpieces for the Easter breakfast tables at church.

For my home dining table centerpiece I added a primrose, disguising the soil of the plant (contained in a plastic bag) with moss. I then added some of my collection of our home decorated psanky eggs and painted eggs from European countries.

I used some of the spring moss to cover the soil around my seasonal plantings in the porch pots.

These porch planting have been snowed upon several times since they were first put out. Our weather has lately been dreary and rainy every day. Orchards are blooming and spring has arrived but the sun only appears for half a day at most and temperatures are chilly. We are longing for warm sun.