This has been the craziest week! I have been thinking about what to make for the DIY Club for a while. I just couldn’t make up my mind! I decided to go to D.I. (which is a local Utah thrift store) and see what I could come up with. I really wanted to make an outdoor project since it’s Spring — I’m excited to be out in the sunshine!
I decided to try to make some birdhouses. As I was looking through the used goodies, I spied some worn out pans and a huge cake lid. Hmmm, those might be able to be transformed into something cool. I got the pans for .50 cents and the cake lid for $1. I had my father-in-law helped me cut circles out of MDF — he’s a handy guy. And he also helped me make holes for the birds using a tool that is made to cut out holes for doorknobs.
Sponsored Materials:
Gorilla Glue (regular)
Gorilla Glue (super glue)
Gorilla Glue (epoxy)
Gorilla Glue (tape)
DecoArt Americana paint — red
DecoArt Americana paint — green
DecoArt Stencil — Tracey Moreau — Jacobean Stencil
Other materials:
Scrapbook Paper
Mod Podge
MDF
Saucepans or Cakepan lids
Hinges
Chain
Ribbon
Knobs
Roofing elbow material
Upholstery tacks
Outdoor spray polyurethane spray
I wanted to pretty them up with some paper. I was a little nervous about using paper for something outside, but after talking to the good folks at Home Depot, I went home with some industrial strength outdoor spray. I mod podged the paper one the boards and once dried, put about 10 coats of the spray over the top. And just to be safe, I put a think layer of Gorilla Glue epoxy along the edges of where the paper and the boards meet. I figure this is the place where water will seep in — so I caulked that up with the epoxy.
After the finish was all dry, I embellished the front of the boards, On some I hammered in upholstery nails around the bird entrance. The nails stuck out a little, so I put a strip of Gorilla Glue Tape over those — so no birds would get impaled – lol.
I thought it would be a good idea to put a covering over the bird entrance too. So at Home Depot I picked up a round roof flashing. I cut it into a little hood and put it though the hole on one. I attached it to the back with Gorilla Glue Super Glue. And the other two I attached it to the front using the same glue. I also put some upholstery tacks through the strips of the hood for fun.
I also attached a little bit of ric rac inside the hole of the bird entrance. I attached it with Gorilla Glue Super Glue. I added a little perch to the birdhouses by attaching some old knobs and a very old doorknob. The doorknob I attached by drilling a hold through the MDF and putting a screw through. I then attached some regular Gorilla Glue and put the doorknob on top of the screw and let it dry.I have to say that Gorilla Glue is awesome stuff!
The pots I painted with some DecoArt Americana paint. I put about 3 coats on each and then a couple coats of the same outdoor varnish spray that I used on the fronts of the birdhouses. The largest birdhouse which is made out of a big cake lid, I left silver and used an DecoArt stencil to stencil a pattern on the sides. I really like this stencil. I am going to think of some other places to use it. I think it would be really cool to use on a furniture DIY project!
To attach the front of the birdhouse to the pans, I used hinges that I also bought at Home Depot. I drilled one side into the wood. Then I made a shim from a piece of wood and used Gorilla Glue Epoxy to attach the shim to the pan. Then I screwed the other side of the hinge into the wood. On the biggest pan, I drilled a hole in both sides of the silver pan and then a matching hole through the front of the birdhouse and put a decorative ribbon through and tied it to keep the front of the birdhouse shut.
To hang the saucepan birhouses, I drilled a hole through one of the handles of the pans and put ribbon through. The other pan already had a hold in the handle. And the largest birdhouse, I drilled a hole in the top of the cake lid — toward the back — so it would hang straight, and put chain through the hole with an “S” hook at the end to keep it in the pan.
Ok – I can’t wait to see what you have made!
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