Birdhouse Projects
The Fairy House
This is our first fairy house, made for a special person and his wife. It was almost our first "Beer Mug w/shamrocks" house. Seriously, I had it almost all figured out. Fortunately I called him before I began construction to talk to him about the design. His wife likes the "fairy decor" and that just made this all the more fun!
This house is hand chiseled, and I used the Dremel to expedite much of the negative space. I actually did some of it twice because I didn't like the initial stain. The wood was green in color from the start, so the first attempt at stain didn't really work.
This is also my first attempt at blogging the experience. I've included both my blog and the photo gallery below.
Rustic Whimsical
This birdhouse was made for my niece and her boyfriend Dave. We spent time together looking at different birdhouses posted on Pinterest so I could get a feel for what they like. Dave likes rustic, Nicole likes whimsical, so our theme became Rustic Whimsical. They also wanted old hardware, keys/locks, a metal roof, and no paint (much different from my "norm"). But I think we pulled it off.
The perch is from one of our old Christmas trees, the roof was from an old victorian barn, and the hardware for the eave and perch I found at one of my favorite local flea markets last year.
2017
Tear Drop
The Tear Drop birdhouse was created for one of my dear friends and collegues that retired. The shape symbolized tears of joy for her new life adventure, and tears of sadness for me, because I miss her. She provided some pictures of her yard so I could match up colors, which included white, black, turquoise, and she had planted red flowers along her house.
She and her husband have a beautiful love story, so inside the house I carved a little message for them. I included a picture in the project photo gallery you can access below.
2017
Mine
Almost all of our birdhouses have been built for friends and/or family, so we finally made one for ourselves. It matches our garden decor and gave me a chance to play with a new shape and experiment more with Dremel carvings. I'm still waiting for a bird to build a nest. I have since placed nesting materials close by and I'm hoping this spring we'll get a family of birds.
2017
Montana
This birdhouse was made for a friend that lives in Montana. Sorry, it's not the most original name for a birdhouse. The whole time we were working on it all I could think of was, "That perch is never going to make it during shipping." I was wrong, it made it. Likely because of the three tons of extra bubble wrap we used... it must have taken them a while to unwrap the package.
This is also the only house that I know of that has actually housed a family of birds (finches).
2015
Housewarming
This was a housewarming gift for a friend. It matches the home they built. It was our first multi-compartment house (and likely the last).
The Housewarming project gave me a run for my money. In the early days, I did some of the wood cutting and made "attempts" at putting them together. This house was built twice, or to be more exact, 1 1/2 times. Greg set up the nail gun, went to the store, and left me to begin the assembly. In the first 5 minutes of his departure, I had nailed it to the workbench. While I did manage to pry it up and continue, I had done it yet again before he had even gotten home. It was a tragic moment and this time there was no saving it. We had to start over. This is when Greg started cutting the wood and doing all of the assembly, which I thoroughly enjoy watching by the way.
2015
For Nana & Papa
This birdhouse was really made by Greg. He liked the Montana house (with the front space for herbs or flowers) and wanted it to be redwood. There wasn't much for me to do except add accessories, sand, and stain.
This one doesn't hang. It's attached to a stake and put it in the ground.
2015
Vines
This is one of my favorites. It was the first house we made from scratch, used the Dremel to carve a design, and really had fun with the creativity. We had also learned a few lessons from the "Coffee Can" house, so we were much more careful with the roof cuts and assembly.
2014 (?)
Coffee Can
The "Coffee Can" house was inspired by an old rusty birdhouse made from a can that I have in my backyard. I picked it up at a flea market and I love it! While that one is far more rustic, I wanted to use the same approach with a patriotic theme. This one is actually on Pinterest and gets a few "Pins" now and then, typically around the 4th of July.
2014 (?)
Singer Sewing Machine Case
It all started here! I like to turn "trash" into treasure, so my mom gave me the top of an antique sewing case to see what it might become. I stared at it for quite a long time, then put it in the garage for even more time. One day it finally came to me... it's a birdhouse. I could vividly see the outcome. I found an old industrial spool to use as the perch, created a base, Greg attached the hardware, and it was done.
Sadly, it fell apart after a couple years. It was our first and I did not treat the wood correctly. However, I have it back, and it will be reborn again, but probably in parts. There are some gems on this piece, and not just the hardware.
2014 (?)