Today I’ve got a project that fits on the cute side of Halloween and as a special bonus: No Spiders! I bought a bunch of these tall birdhouses 2 summers ago from Michael’s for less than a quarter a piece. I decided on a trio because it’s easier to decorate with three of something and because it worked out with mixing up the colors, I’ll cover that later.
Supplies:
- 3 Birdhouses
- Craft paint – Black, White, Green, Purple, Orange and brushes
- Scrapbook paper – Green Print, Purple Print, Orange Print
- Mod Podge and Foam Brush
- Pencil
- Exacto knife or scissors
Instructions:
- Using your pencil trace out the shapes you need on the BACK of the scrapbook paper. I covered the roof and base of each house. Each base was the same, I cut a rectangle with a circle in the middle and make a straight cut from the circle to the edge so you can slip it over the base. Since I used 3 different hosues all the roof pieces were different. There is a little trial and error until your pieces fit, always cut larger if you aren’t sure.
- Start painting the major areas, I painted each house body a different color and all the bases black. You don’t have to completely paint the areas covered by the paper but at least cover the edges. The thin wood is VERY absorbent so you’ll need more coats than you think.
- Once the major painting is done start in with your details. I used white paint on the perches, the roof edges and the little detail on the center of the post. Again you’ll need more coats than you think.
- Now it’s time to carefully glue on your paper. I used textured stuff that was pretty thick so it was really forgiving but thin paper rips pretty easily combined with Mod Podge. This is the part where you really want to pay attention to what you’re doing. Divide your paper into three piles. You want each birdhouse to have an orange piece, a green piece and a purple piece. So the house I painted orange has a green roof and a purple base.
For now the houses are lacking inhabitants but I’m on the look our for some tiny birds to call them home.
Do you like mixing media in your holiday crafting?