Vintage Metal Strainer Up-cycled

My Mother had this vintage metal strainer.  It is too old to use anymore but it makes a really cute Spring decoration.

I went through my stash and found a bird's nest, a faux bird to go with the strainer.  My plan was to add faux succulents and insects.

The first thing I did was to hot glue the nest to the inside of the strainer,  added some natural colored packing shred and then I added a few moss covered sticks I collected last time we were in the mountains.  There had been a wind storm and there were sticks all over the ground.  I also added the bird to the nest.

Next I glued a few pieces of moss around the bird nest.

I chose a few colors of card stock to make faux succulents.  

Using my Big Shot Machine, I cut out my succulents using the Oh So Succulent dies.

Using white ink and the stamp for the succulent tips I stamped each tip.

I also cut out a few grass pieces.

I cut out all the petals.

The next thing was to shade the tip of each petal to resemble real succulents.

Then using a  small brush handle I curved each petal.

Then glued each plant together.

Then it was just a matter of gluing all the succulents in place and adding a bee and a dragonfly I also cut out on my Big Shot.

I cut a small ribbon from vintage music and added a small succulent to the center.

Lastly I glued a icicle shaped crystal to the bottom hook.

And here is the completed project.  Now I just need to decide where I am going to hang my new bird's nest.

I have several more projects in mind using these dies and stamp set for summer decorating, too.

I love it when I can turn something that would get thrown out and make it into something new.  One less item for the landfill.

Happy Crafting!