This was the summer that we had a grasshopper invasion. It was also the summer that Nature decided to give us a break and we had a bird invasion. Our yard always attracts quite a few birds, but this spring we had a lot more than usual. Then, as the weather got hotter and dry and the bugs and worms all but disappeared from the ground, the birds went away. They let the grasshoppers take over for a bit, biding their time until they all swooped down one day and munched happily. This meant that I had little black feathers all over the place.
I love collecting feathers from my yard and we get a few neat birds like white and fluffy owls, doves, hawks, various smaller bids, and of course, crows.
We had a blank canvas to work with in our spare room and I kept hemming and hawing over what we should put up. Finally, with the abundance of feathers everywhere, I decided on a feather and wood wall hanging.
Step 1. Collect your feathers. You can find them in fields or in the forest. Or, if you don’t have access to feathers straight from nature (please do not pluck the birds!) a craft store will do.
Step 2. Find a stick to use as your base. You can cut a branch from a tree or use an already fallen one, which is my favourite method. Unless we need to prune a tree strategically, I cannot bare to trim those beautiful branches.
I couldn’t find the right stick that spoke to me, so I used some bamboo I had for a garden trellis.
Step 3. Wrap twine, yarn, rope, whatever your fancy, around the two ends of your stick. I wrapped it a few times to add some extra decor to the piece.
Leave an adequate amount of string so you cann hang up your craft.
Step 4. Paint your feathers (optional). If you like the au naturel look or have bought some in pretty colours, ignore this step.
I left some plain, painted some gold, and some a sparkly gold.
Step 5. Attach your feathers. Wrap your rope, twine, yarn around the stick and secure it. Then, you can either do the same for the feather, or make a semi-loose knot and add a bit of glue to the end of the feather. Poke it through the knot and tighten.
Step 6. Once you’ve all the feathers you want attached to the stick, tie some colourful rope, yarn, or twine to the stick.
Step 7. Attach to the wall!
