Make the cutest housewarming gift, a memento marking this big step, a new nest, for newlyweds, for friends, for yourself. 

There’s nothing quite like a new home, whether it’s your first or your fourth! This is an occasion that deserves to be marked with a housewarming gift. A handmade gift, personalized with the new address.

What is the best gift for housewarming?

Something personalized to the new home and homeowner(s)!

• Like with the street address, right?
• Number of family members in the new nest!
• How about their favorite decor color or style included

Something handmade — it doesn’t get any more personal than handmade!

What is a good inexpensive housewarming gift?

Handmade can be inexpensive, depending on the supplies — and is always special.

My framed nest was made with an assortment of supplies I had on hand.,

If you are not a craft supply stasher, these nest could run you as anywhere from $5 – $25, depending on how many supplies you need or want to buy.

Here’s How I Made This Framed Nest for Our Katie & Jon:

As Always, Start By Gathering Your Supplies & Materials

• Shallow box, or tray or deep frame
• Small nest with eggs
• Scrapbook Paper or just paint for the background
• Metal label frame and brads
• Scrap cardboard
• Small thin ring
• 6 – 8 inches of ribbon

• Drill with very thin drill bit
• Basic white glue with paint brush or spray adhesive
• Craft Paint and brushes and calligraphy pen if your eggs need repair like mine
• Exactp knife or razor blade

NOTE:  Be sure to read through directions first, as many of these supplies will not be needed if you are starting with a frame that has an easel back.

To make things a bit easier for you, I have included some links at the end.

Step 1) Optional – Change shiny silver frame to aged gold

I only had these shiny silver frames in my stash. But, luckily I also had a gold sharpie. Problem solved!

(truth be told, I started with my go-to favorite — Rub ‘n Buff. But sadly, it did not work at all on that thin metal.)

Step  2)  Repair Eggs, a Step You Probably Won’t Need:

The nest was adorable, but the eggs were sad and a bit beaten up. But this was a very easy fix.

I used three craft paints, white, soft yellow and a deep golden color. A small squirt of each on a piece of wax paper and I was sailing along. There was even a hole in one of the styrofoam eggs. I thought about using spackling to fill it, but realized that I can better camouflage it with speckles.

And then with a squirt of brown and a squirt of black craft paints, I swirled a calligraphy pen in them and added a few tiny speckles. And they are all better now.

Step  3) Finish the Box (or Frame)

            NOTE: You’ll Skip This Step if Starting With a Finished Frame:

I started by sanding it really well. particularly the corners to give it a more expensive cabinetry-made frame feel. Then I used some furniture paste wax I keep on hand.

Love the clean lines and natural feel. But of course, all kinds of stain and paint effects could work. 

Step  4) Cut (or Paint) the Background

Measure your background surface and cut out scrapbooking paper as I did or you can go fancier on this and paint it, stain it, or decoupage it with a collage of torn papers.

Step  5) Apply to Background

Use basic white glue or spray adhesive.
For liquid glue, squirt from the bottle, but then be sure to spread ti a thin even layer.

Step  6) Apply Address Holder 

This was the trickiest part of the whole project — making sure I had the label frame centered.

I ended up cutting a piece of paper the width of the box base. Then I folded the paper in half, laid it under the label frame, lining up the fold with the center of the frame, and marked the hole through both thicknesses of paper. Opened the paper and made sure the holes lined up with the frame.  If the holes didn’t line up, that mwould mean one of my measurements was off.

Now with my paper template was ready, I laid it in the frame, marked my holes and then with a very fine bit drilled each hole.

Next, Put your label frame in place and then I slipped the little brads through the holes. These brads were designed with scrapbooking in mind — thick paper. Not thin wood. But there was just enough length to the brad arms that i could spread them just a bit and tap them with a hammer to set them. For extra security I added a mound of glue on each on the back.

Step  8) Add the Nest 

This is the fun part!

Hot glue your nest in place. I imagine other varieties of glue would work if you don’t have a glue gun. But this is the perfect excuse to get one. 

Step  9) Add Hanging or Standing Options

             If Using a Frame With An Easel Back, You Are Done And Get to Skip This Step!  

For our new nesters, I wanted to give them the option of hanging or standing on a shelf.

This is how I made a convertible easel on the back:

Cut out two matching triangles of thin but sturdy cardboard. You’ll need a bit of ribbon, mine is 6-inches, and a thin ring.

With an Exacto knife or razor blade, cut a slit in one triangle about an inch up from the bottom and wide enough for the ribbon to slip through.

Slip one end of the ribbon through the slit and glue the ribbon down the center of the first triangle. The other end of the ribbon will hold the ring.

Fold the top ribbon end down with the ring exposed just above the top of the triangle easel. Now glue on the second triangle encasing the ribbon.

Score the front side of the easel about 1-1/2 inches  below the top. And now this top part is glued to the back of the box as well as the end of the ribbon coming through the slit on the other side.

Ta Da! You are done and ready to spread some joy and words of congratulations to the happy homeowner(s).

And Nothing Beats a Personalized Housewarming Gift

I encourage you to personalize this little gift. How many eggs in the nest? What color and style makes your nester smile? I used a very simple box but with an interesting geometry about it. You could use a very ornate frame in dark color or an ornate frame that you distress or white-wash or gild in gold. You decide.

And the background? You can paint it a solid color or do a paper as I did. There are so many fun options in the scrapbooking aisle, even some sheet music or a mosaic of torn bookpages would be cute. If that is the case I would suggest putting a Mod Podge coating on top.

Of course, the street address makes it very personal too.

And don’t forget a handwritten note of congratulations or well-wishes for their future on the back of your frame.

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