Magia Mia: Rustic Elegant Nest Baskets with Peat Pots & Chicken Wire

As promised, I finally finished my rustic peat pot creation.

I kept vacillating about the final touches, but I think I'm satisfied now...:)

I really do enjoy working with these peat pots, and appreciate the fact that these are sooo much cheaper than paper mache. I do believe I need to stock up on these, to have them at my disposal for Halloween treat baskets and Christmas décor/ornaments!

I think I'll take a break from creating with these, since I've got so many painting projects waiting to be completed, but I can't promised I won't have another design epiphany......

Soooo, Before:

After:

You didn't think I'd get through Spring without incorporating my little chicken wire, did you?

I reinforced the bottom with a chipboard disc, then dry-brushed these in a muted ivory tone & light crème.

I wrapped each one in aged chicken wire, crimping the edges over the top and bottom, so there'd be no sharp points sticking out.

I took some nice malleable 20ga annealed wire, twisted 2 layers together for the handle, then attached the handle through side holes in the pot.

I tied a little frayed piece of linen to the handle side, to give it a soft feathery touch. (I didn't have any feathers handy, so made do with the linen.)

To anchor all the inside elements, I inserted a half sphere of styrofoam till it was snug.

The first thing I inserted were the silver German glass glitter eggs. Aren't they gorgeous? This took a little more effort than just glue and glitter I'm afraid. I found some wonderfully small foam eggs at the Dollar store, but they had bright pastel glitter on them already. Since I'm not satisfied with glitter if it's not glass glitter, I soaked these in soapy water, then rubbed off their glitter. I wrapped a piece of stiff wire with floral wrap, then hot-glued it into the egg. I painted the eggs with metallic silver/champagne craft paint, and once dry, I glued on the German glass glitter. I sealed them with clear varnish to prevent further tarnish.

Once the eggs were dry, I hot-glued their wire into the styrofoam base, then the twigs, and finally, tucked in the Spanish moss to the desired fullness.

Although I could've stopped there, I felt the peat pot side looked a little empty. After finally deciding on the obvious word, I wanted to do something unique with it. I cut tiny pieces of aged wood, cutting the ends to mimic old rustic signs, then sanded all the tiny crevices to prevent slivers. I then used my wood-burning tool to write the letters.

Finally, I attached jewelry wire and chain to each nest sign, and secured the chain into the peat pot styrofoam with a piece of wire. All done!

I've had the wood-burning tool for years, and just now finally used it. I love how the signs turned out. I may have to incorporate this idea with my Putz house designs....:)