Bird's Nest Bonnet

It's a daily joke in our house that my daughter's hair looks like a bird's nest every morning. I honestly don't know what she does at night.

So when face with the challenge of making an Easter bonnet, I decided we'd go all Philip Treacy and actually put a bird's nest on her head.

You will need:

• A ready made straw bonnet - you can get these in Pound stores, supermarkets and craft shops at this time of year
• Lightweight plastic/cardboard/polystyrene eggs - again from Pound stores or craft shops
• Wool
• PVA Glue
• Decorative extras as required - we used ribbon & some artificial flowers and leaves

First you'll need to make your 'nest'.  Cut strips of wool 3 or 4 inches long.  You can use any type of wool or even string or garden twine for a more rustic look.  We made one in brown wool and one in pink, angora type wool which gave a totally different effect because of the fluffy fibres.

Soak your lengths of wool for a minute or two in a bowl of PVA glue, then squeeze out the excess and layer over an upturned bowl (cover bowl in clingfilm first to make removal easier).  Layer in a cross-cross fashion to ensure a firm structure and leave in a warm place to dry thoroughly (overnight-24 hours).  This is pretty much the same method I used to make doily bowls previously.

Once fully dry, carefully remove from the bowl and trim ends to neaten.

Next decorate your eggs.  There are a million different ways to decorate Easter eggs - dyed; painted; fabric covered; decoupaged... We chose to make glittered eggs as Ruby wanted a pink and purple hat.  Coat in glue and sprinkle with glitter.

Then I fixed the eggs in the nest with a glue gun and then glued it to the hat.  Finally add more decoration as you wish - we added a purple ribbon and some artificial flowers.

As you can see, it's great for posing!