Apparently, these baby birds were found in a nest that was built on the ground. I think they could be a whip-poor will or chuck will’s widow because they nest on the ground. The picture also shows the elongated wings. Anyone a bird expert?

An Eastern Phoebe’s (Sayornis phoebe) nest was spotted in a Southern Maryland Yard.

How fun! They build their nests from moss and grass lined mud nests.

Did you know that both parents will feed the baby birds?

Photos taken 04/21/2012

It was a beautiful day here in Maryland. Hope your day was great too!

Can YOU stick out your tongue and touch your nose with it?

Meet our super cute Lion Head rabbit. He is a relatively new part of the family. Happy spring!

Her dolls inspired me to make these cute bunnies just in time for spring.

“For you.”

“Thank you; I love it!”

Floppy-eared bunny: Violet.

I cut out ears, paws, and tail from a piece of felt. I used a vintage wooden spool of thread as the body. The face was hand painted on.

A violet for Violet.

Here is a simple way to re-size a skirt that is too big.

Use a seam ripper to open up the seam (on the inside of the skirt), near the top. Open the seam on the other end as well. Many skirts have a band around the top. This band will become a channel for a cord. Use a safety pin to thread the cord (or ribbon or shoe lace…) through the channel. Use a few small stitches to tack the cord to the channel about midway along. This prevents the chord from working its way out when washing. The chord can be tightened to fit perfectly to your waist size.

The bow should be on the inside of the skirt once zipped up.

I admit that when I’m at thrift shops and second-hand stores looking for items to re-purpose, I sometimes find a fun skirt (often too big) that I like. This skirt is one such find.

Skirts are comfortable to wear when the weather is nice and I like having some that I can wear in the garden or on the beach and not care about getting dirty.

This is useful if you lost weight or you got some nice skirts from a friend…

I discovered this adorable white-footed mouse Peromyscus leucopus while walking around my yard recently. I fortunately had my camera in hand so I was able to capture a few pictures to share. It was probably out foraging for berries, seeds, nuts, and/or insects when I disturbed it.

Can you see it?

I enjoyed seeing it.

Add sparkle to a plain looking second-hand table by painting and adding a mirror top.

This is the table after I put on the primer. I forgot to take a “before” picture.

How to tips: This table had three small pieces of wood attached to the top; these pieces kept items from falling off the back and sides of the table. Anyway, I took those pieces off; they were attached with screws. I sanded the table and then I painted on some primer. Later, I painted the table with silver spray paint.

I used tile grout and small (1 inch x 1 inch) mirror tiles to cover the top. If you want to be more eco-friendly, you can repurpose a salvaged mirror instead. I was going to use a solid mirror but we decided on the tiles because my daughter has a mirror ball in her room and this table top looks great in there.

This is a great idea for any preteen that likes sparkle.

Awesome, right?!

I didn’t make this picture frame but I’ll show you how to make your own fabric covered frame in another post.

The Rules of Acceptance are:

1. Thank the blogger who presented you with the award.

Thank you so much Deb from dorkydeb.com

How sweet of you to include FunInTheMaking.net on your creative favorites list. I’m flattered.

2. Post a photo of the award. (see above)

3. Share 10 things about yourself your readers don’t know.

A. I’m from New England. (NH)

B. I love to rock climb. Mostly in a gym but occasionally on real rock.

C. I love flowers but don’t have a favorite. -Or rather I have many many favorites, Lilly of the valley, hydrangeas, lilacs…

D. I don’t have a  favorite color. Again -lots of great colors.

E. I don’t like white chocolate or blue cheese.

F. I like history.

G. I like vintage things.

H. I can use power tools but I will not use a chainsaw.

I.  I enjoy learning about and making historic costumes.

J. I love seasons. There are things to look forward to in each. Winter is my least favorite but there are things I like about it too.

4. Choose six people to present this award to.

In no particular order:

Blue Velvet Chair: recycle reuse relove

Shares neat projects from around the web as well as showcasing her own cool projects.

Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle

“The goal of Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle is to bring you the best upcycled crafts from all over the blogosphere.”

Look for inspiration here as well.

Freecycle

A way to connect with local folks to request or give away (free) stuff. Don’t just throw away: give away!

Crafting A Green World : the home for eco-friendly crafts

Great minds think alike. This site has similar content to my site but more. Check it out!

How can I recycle this?

Loads of ideas for reuse.

Green UpGrader

More “green” ideas can be found here.

It’s fun to be “green”! Have fun surfing.

I discovered this interesting caterpillar while doing yard work last summer. It was on a smilax plant (also called a greenbrier). I love the tendril-like projections on the curve-lined owlet (Phyprosopus callitrichoides). The neatest part is when they hold on with their anterior prolegs and dangle like a dead leaf. (see bottom photo)

Photo taken in June.

Photos taken one week later.

Japanese beetles Popillia japonica are native to Japan. They skeletonize the leaves of many of the plants in my gardens. Even if you are not a gardener, surely you have seen them before. For, they are ubiquitous.

This is Japanese beetle damage on my edamame plants.

Japanese beetles are really quite cool looking. I love the metallic green of its head and thorax. I’d really like these beetles if they didn’t much so heavily on my apple tree (and so many other plants).

This picture shows relative size.

I combat them by hand picking them off in the mornings when they are slower moving. I then feed them to my chickens; that snatch them up. If I don’t get them off in the morning, then I capture them in a jar that I keep handy. (I do this because the beetles will often fly away before the chickens can gobble them down.)

Mating Japanese beetles.