A Home for the Birds

As much as I've come to like working with non-dry modeling clay, specifically GO CREATE EZ Shape Non-Dry Modeling Clay, there are a few drawbacks. For me, the most significant is having to use Mod Podge or another kind of sealer once you're done shaping the clay to prevent any dust from sticking to it. It's not the easiest medium to apply with a paintbrush, especially when you're dealing with multiple curves or indentations in the clay. One alternative that bypasses this requirement is air dry clay, which you can purchase pre-made or make yourself with a few simple ingredients. I opted for the latter option to create the mourning doves and eggs shown below.   

First, I followed the instructions for the salt dough clay recipe featured in the following video (see timestamp 00:20), but because I needed significantly less clay for this project, I cut the respective amounts of flour, water, and salt in half.   

Here's the first dove:

And here's the second:

To craft your own, watch the short TikTok (via YouTube) video below.

Now it was time to make the nest. According to this article, each mourning dove nest is "a flimsy assembly of pine needles, twigs, and grass stems, unlined and with little insulation for the young." (Is it just me, or does that description sound just a tad judgmental?) After gathering all of these materials from my yard, I carefully layered them on top of a small piece of brown construction paper, applying tacky glue to each layer. I wasn't confident that the tacky glue alone would hold everything together, so, in lieu of an adhesive spray, I spritzed some hairspray onto the entire piece and allowed it dry. Happily, that seemed to do the trick. 

The aforementioned article mentions that the average clutch size for mourning doves is 2 eggs, which are (and I quote) "unmarked, white." The first egg, on the left, turned out rather well, but unfortunately, despite numerous attempts, I was unable to replicate it. (I'm still trying to find those elusive "copy" and "paste" commands for non-virtual items.)

 I'll definitely be making more air dry clay miniatures, as I have quite a bit of salt dough left over from this recipe. To a future batch I'd like to add some food coloring, perhaps red and green for Christmas decorations? Stay tuned!