Birds of Bling

Christmas is sooo last season. I have set my sights on spring now. I am determined to make it as difficult as possible for the dark, grey thoughts that usually take hold of me in February. And with a stash of blingy bits and a massive creative flash taking hold of me now that my college exam is over, I set to work. Gimme some birds of spring bling.

 

Right, these birds started life as... wait for it... Christmas crackers. Yep. Miss Cheapskate here collected the torn up bits of Christmas crackers. Actually, it was even more embarrassing than that. The crackers had been used for decoration at a party hosted by friends and so I actually took the rubbish home from their party... Reason being that I was attracted by the sparkly card board, the black ribbon and the metal tie clips. 












Anyway, at first I thought I might reuse this for Christmas tags, but then I realised that my drawing room was so bare after taking down the Christmas deco and I didn't want to throw out the vase of twigs. Hence the idea was born to craft some decorations for that. And instead of Christmassy shapes I eventually settled on birds - they remind me of spring time...

I downloaded a few bird templates from the internet - a simple Google Image search throws up plenty of designs - and printed them on some card and cut them out. Then I used those three templates for drawing the bird shape onto the cracker card.












The result was not quite blingy enough. But I am one of those loonies who picks up any solitary earring lost in the street and who holds on to broken bits of jewellery and "whimsies". And from that stash I spruced up the birdies...

... with heart-shaped buttons...

... with the wire ties twisted into a heart-shape... 

... with a little bell...

... with a little red ribbon from my Lindt chocolate bear...

... with a heart pendant...

Some of the birds I gave wings by punching a hole into them and then just feeding the black ribbon through. He really looks as if he is soaring, doesn't he?











In any case, I am delighted with my blingy birds. They are happily hanging on the branches. Best thing: They are so light that every time someone passes by, they flutter in the air. Heck, they flutter at all times - this old house has a fine draft that comes in very handy for that.

 

A bit whimsical, I guess - and whim is not really something I usually like - but hey, I am waiting for spring time and they will remind me it is on its way.

Best,