The Daffodil Nest

 

In November of 2024 I began making a series of nests. Why nests? Perhaps it was due to the darkening skies, shorter days and colder weather. Maybe it was a way to indulge my love of playing with unlikely materials and figuring out how to put stuff together. Or maybe it all started with a bargain bunch of daffodils from Trader Joe's. Who knows? I've learned not to question these urges.

This is not the first nest I've created. The first was called Weaving a Metaphor, and that nest, created to hold a wounded ceramic bird, was composed of eco-dyed cloth, native grass roots, broken jewelry bits, and scraps of coffee-dyed paper notes. I thought it was a one-and-done, but the nesting itch continues.

The woven metaphor nest

The nest that kicked off this current series was spawned during the Easter season when Trader Joe's sells lovely little bunches of hopeful daffodils at ridiculously low prices.

The birth of a compulsion

I vaguely remembered seeing posts by a charming young woman living in rural England who forages the forest for plants, including daffodils, and proceeds to make string and baskets from it all. I thought, hmmm..., and hung my Trader Joe's bundles up to dry.

Drying daffs

Having absolutely no idea what I was doing, I launched into making I-know-not-what by boiling the dried daffodil flowers in hopes of producing a dye. Which worked, sort of. A bunch of linen strips added to the daffodil dye bath resulted in a pale shade that an optimist might call "pale daffodil".

Daffodil-dyed linen strips

By now I'd decided to make a nest, largely because it is hard to be judgmental about a nest. You feel whoever made it, whether creature high or low, put in their best effort. I knew I'd need something to weave together with the daffodil stems, and the daffodil-dyed strips were one solution. Adding a dried ivy vine I happened to have on hand was another.

Soaking daffodil steps and dried ivy vine

The next step was to relax my chattering brain, work through my fingers, and build a nest. Note the aesthetic decision to leave the daffodil bulb heads arching out from the top of the nest. That seems to point to a meaning none of us will ever know.

Weaving the daffodil nest in a water glass

And the end result is the daffodil nest, the first in a series of four unless I can't stop myself.

The daffodil nest (with mamey seed inside)

Holiday Onion Kits

The original Holiday Onion: December 2020

I created my first Holiday Onion in the beginning of the Covid pandemic, and it charmed my heart enough that I have decorated an onion every year since. (You can find my original Holiday Onion post here.) This year I decided to spread the joy by distributing Holiday Onion Kits. Most folks got a flat mailer, complete with instructions and decorations, and had to supply their own onion. A few recipients who live close enough to allow an easy hand-off got the full kit complete with onion.

"Maybe the best package I have ever received." - Cici, age 13 

The feedback has been enthusiastic and included requests to copy the materials and use the idea. I have always believed ideas are free, so I've decided to make it easier for Holiday Onion enthusiasts and post the how-to with links to PDFs of all graphics and copy. Enjoy!

Materials:

• Paper lunch bags

• Tissue paper for wrapping onion

• Decorations (Google "decorative paper fasteners" on Amazon for a range of options)

• Onions (Either make a complete kit and include onion, or mail kit and have recipient supply the onion)

The Gift Bag

Front of Bag (click to enlarge)

For printable PDF for front of bag, click here.

Back of Bag (click to enlarge)

For back of bag printable PDF click here.

The Ornaments

Ornament Packet

Ornament packet unwrapped reveals instructions

The ornaments

For a printable PDF of the ornament wrapper, click here.

click to enlarge

The ornaments are decorative paper fasteners. I just happened to have a bunch in my overflowing maker stash when Covid hit. I have discovered since that if you google "decorative paper fasteners" on Amazon you will have a variety of options to choose from. As shown here, you'll need about  13 - 15 ornaments per packet, depending on size of ornaments.

Mailing the Holiday Onion

Since it would be downright stupid (barring exceptional circumstances) to mail an onion, for mail recipients I created a mailing packet, sans onion, that slides into a mailing envelope. The recipients then supply the onion at their end. To help them comprehend what is going on, I have created an added "What the Hell is This?" sheet.

The mail version

For a printable PDF of the "What the Hell" insert, click here. 

click to enlarge

The End Goal

My dream is that, a century or two from now, people across the nation and the world will be decorating holiday onions each year without an entirely clear understanding as to why. The might have some vague idea that the tradition grew out of the great Covid pandemic of 2020-21, and that it has something to do with making do, being grateful, and the healing nature of tears. 

To this end, encourage your recipients to save their onion ornaments each year. I keep mine inside of an old caviar jar.

Ornament storage