Just For Fun - Fall Birdhouse

Hello everyone. It's another Just For Fun Friday and I've got a home decor piece to share with you. After I made my Graphic 45 Botanicabella card in my last post, my husband said it looked like a pretty Fall card. That's when I decided to create a Fall birdhouse. Even though it's still super hot here in Florida, and humid as can be, I can't help wishing for cooler temperatures and falling leaves. And I have this thing about birdhouses. I have one for every season now, I think. All you have to do is type "Birdhouse" in my blog search and you'll see for yourself. I love them! So, once again I grabbed the beautiful Botanibella collection from Graphic 45 and got going.

My finished birdhouse measures about 13" high, and is covered with Botanicabella papers, Petaloo flowers, Tim Holtz's Idea-ology findings, and a few more embellishments. Let me take you through my process and share a few tips when altering wooden items.

I started with these wooden pieces, all of which were in my stash. When wood crafts go on sale at my local craft store, I tend to grab a few things whether I have a plan for them yet or not. I've had this birdhouse for about a year now. I also give the rough areas a gentle sanding to make sure all is smooth.

I painted my pieces with Americana Rockwood Red acrylic paint and glued the two candle stands together with wood glue.

I always use this technique when covering wooden items: I make a paper template from recycled printer paper, testing where the holes will go and to check the fit. And in the case of a large hole or space like my birdhouse, I lay the paper on the wooden surface then do a pencil rubbing to locate the exact area of the hole. By scribbling, I reveal the outline of the hole. See it? Then I can cut it out with  a craft knife and lay it on my birdhouse again to check the fit. 

If my paper template is good, then I trace it onto the actual paper I want to cover the birdhouse with. I inked the edges with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink on a blending tool.

I glued my stand to my base with wood glue, and while it dried I adhered some papers to my birdhouse.

I used two (very old) paper punches to punch a maple and an oak leaf from the Botanicabella papers.

To make the leaves look more dimensional, I inked the outer edges and pressed some vein lines into each with a scoring stylus. After folding on the scores, I inked on those folds too. Big difference, right?

My leaves looked pretty good, but I wanted a bit more shimmer and drama, so I grabbed a few Perfect Pearls mists and gave them a light spritz. 

Here you can see a bit of that shimmer. My favorite combination was spraying Forever Green onto some of the red and orange leaves. It gave such a natural look! I also used Perfect Copper and Heirloom Gold on other leaves.

I used my favorite French Pastry doily die from Cherry Lynn Designs to cut this 4" doily from one of the Botanicabella papers, then cut a circle from the center for my stand to go.

I slid the doily over the stand and adhered it to my base. Why did I cut away that hole? If I hadn't, my stand wouldn't be as sturdy. This way, wood is glued to wood. You may notice a bit of shimmer on the stand and base. I decided to spritz everything with more of the Perfect Copper spray.

As I waited for the wood glue to set completely, I covered more of my birdhouse with papers using the same pencil rubbing technique described earlier. After all the paper were on, I sprayed the main birdhouse with the Perfect Copper spray too.

I laid the birdhouse on its back to adhere several metal adornments to my birdhouse using E6000 for a strong hold. Once those were completely set, I stood the house up again and adhered the pretty metal photo corners. (I'm pretty sure I got those at Hobby Lobby).

The laurel at the top is from Tim Holtz's Idea-ology "Nature Adornments." I gave it a hit of some Gold Mixative and Mushroom alcohol inks to mimic the look of the other metal findings. The brass button is from a mixture I found at Hobby Lobby, and the little Artisan Stud is from Close To My Heart.

 I adhered an Ornate Plate over the largest hole in the birdhouse which you can see is oval and not a great fit for the round hole. But don't worry, there's an easy fix coming up. I pulled the prongs off a Graphic 45 metal brad and adhered the head to the perch below the hole.

To cover the mis-matched hole, I simply adhered some overlapping leaves and flowers. Easy enough, right?

I had some leftover leaves and some pretty Fall stems, so I decorated the base of my birdhouse, using hot glue to adhere everything securely.

After adorning the front of the birdhouse with more flowers and leaves, I adhered the house to the stand. And my Fall birdhouse is complete.

Thanks for joining me for another Just For Fun Friday. I'd love to know if you like altering wood or other items? What are your favorite papers to use? Do you have any tricks or tips up your sleeve when altering items? We'd love to hear!

Thanks again for stopping in. Have a wonderful weekend!