All Spunk No Junk...Guest Tutorial and Link Up!!!!!

Beautiful Readers...

Please help us welcome Jennifer from Dark Blue Dragon.

Jennifer also runs a business called Mariposa Forest 

that is definately worth checking out!

First off, thank you to Shanti and Maureen for having me over on their fabulous site. You have been missed and I am so glad to see you back again.

Here in our house we like bees. I dream of one day having bees and my littles know how important the bees are to help the flowers and vegetables grow, so I thought a bee themed craft would be appropriate.
So here you have it, a Bee and Hive Mobile.

To make this you will need:

one small terra cotta pot (think seedling sized)

some wool roving in golden, yellow, black, and white

small pine cones, or any small oval shaped nut or seed that has a bit of texture to it

two sturdy sticks

small piece of a twig or stick

twine

glue gun or craft glue

invisible thread or fishing line

First up, we need to make the hive. To do this, take some of the golden colored roving and rub it with slightly dampened hands as if you were making a snake (remember those playdough days?). My coil was about 45 inches long, but you can do smaller ones and just attach them on the pot.

After you have your coils made, we need to glue them to the pot. I use a glue gun for this because it is faster than craft glue, but use what you have. Starting at the bigger side (so the pot will be upside down) apply some glue and start coiling the roving around the pot, take care to keep the rows close together so no bits of the pot show through.

Keep going all the way around until you get to the top of the pot. Now, coil around the top of the pot, stacking it a bit to shape the top of the hive.

Using a blunt needle, thread some twine up through the hole on the inside of the pot and tie a small piece of stick or twig or even a bead to the end keep it from pulling through.

Now that we have a hive, we need some bees.

Using the pine cones or nuts or whatever you have, take a small bit of the wool roving and pull it slightly to make it wispy. It doesn’t take much here, just a pinch.

Wrap this wispy bit around the pine cone and roll it slightly in your hand to adhere it to itself. Now taking a very tiny amount of black roll it between your fingers and then wrap it around the yellow to make the stripes.

I found it easier to attach the string to hang these little guys before putting on the wings. If you like to live on the edge, go ahead and put the wings on first then tie the invisible thread on to hang them. If you are a rule follower, put the thread on now, just wrap it around the belly and tie, and then proceed to granting them their wings. To make the wings, simply take a small little pinch of the white roving and using your fingers, shape them into wings.

I like to make a little rectangle, then pinch and roll the middle bit. Once you are happy with them, glue them on using hot glue.

All that is left is to make something to hang them from. Taking the two sticks, tie them together to form a cross. Then attach some twine to the top of it to hang when you are all finished. Now simply attach the hive to the middle, and the bees flying happily around it. I put a drop of hot glue on the top of the sticks where I tied the bees just to keep them from flying away.

There you have it. It is perfect hanging above a Nature Table or Seasonal Display or above your dining table like we have it. The best part? These bees won’t sting!

Thank you SO much Jennifer for sharing your creativity with our readers!! 
Now it's your turn...link up your beautiful crafts and recipes below in our weekly

With LOVE

xo maureen & shanti