Number five in favorite fun post of mine is this little birdhouse I redid. I remember when I started doing my dollar day do overs and out of all of those many projects this is my favorite up-cycling project of all time. I remember the day I saw this old birdhouse sitting there on the thrift store shelf and thought what a deal I got because I couldn’t wait to fix this little gem up. I stripped it the next day and painted it all white then set it aside for a rainy day when I would have more time to work on it. I actually have a whole box of rainy day up-cycling projects that I grab when I need a little art therapy…that’s my thing. When that day came for this little house I got so involved that I finished it up in one day. My daughter was out for the day and when she came home she saw this little house all decorated up and asked where I went shopping that day. She thought I went to some boutique. I looked at her and asked why she was asking because I had not left the house that day. She knows I love little mom and pop shops and pointed to this little house and asked where it came from because she wanted it. I told her that was my up-cycling project for the day and she was shocked to learn I redid this up in one day. “It’s a very tiny house, didn’t take long at all, just the roof.” I said. Later I would add tiny fairy lights that are timed to come on in the evenings just like a miniature house in our home. Hope you all like this repost, I loved sharing this one with you all.
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Time for another one of my junk store remakes. I found this wooden birdhouse on one of my shopping trips on dollar day. Dollar day is usually Thursday at the second hand shop I shop at. There are certain colors of tags that are only $1.
When I saw this little house, I knew exactly how I was going to redesign it and couldn’t wait to get it home to start having some fun.
First I had to strip away all the things I didn’t want to be part of this house and painted it white. White is my go to color when I start over on projects. I always keep accessories I strip away from projects just in case I will need them for another project like the little pole and sign at the front of this house.
Next, I broke apart pine cones for roof shingles on my house.
Just cut the tips to flatten them out a bit before gluing them down in place.
I also added some green moss I picked up at the dollar store that I glued to the edges of the shingles.
I found a cute little door at a craft store a few months ago and use it a lot as a prompt for some of my photos. The door looks great on this house. It isn’t permanently attached in case I need it for other photos.
There are tiny flowers in bloom right now in my garden that are about the size of a dime. I knew where I was going to put these, into miniature Terra cotta pots around the birdhouse.
I also have succulents and clippings from other larger plants that grow in my garden that will look nice added to my birdhouse.
I have a bucket of vintage plastic animals that I have collected over the years. When my kids were younger they used them for their pretend playtime. I also used to give these little animals out as party favors for their birthday parties. The birdhouse needed some life added to it and this bucket of animals was perfect for that.
The fun part was putting this all together.
Displaying little scenes around the house that tell a story, like the little family of chickens next to the garden gnome on the porch, was fun to create.
If you look closely, there is a raccoon in the corner watching those chicks very closely.
There is a ladybug and a tiny vintage owl up on the roof. The owl was a gift from one of my neighbors. One morning I woke up to boxes and boxes of craft supplies in our back garden area under my gazebo, it was like Christmas. My husband turned to me and said “ The neighbors heard you were into crafting and didn’t want this stuff anymore”
It was basically a hobby store that had closed down, which had items from the 50’s to the 80’s. Every box was filled with tiny treasures, like this funky little owl with crazy eyes. Hundreds of miniatures, faux flowers, ribbon, threads, yarns and yards and yards of fabric from decades ago had been stored up in our neighbors garage.
That was a fun day. Some of the stuff I re-donated and some of it I still have to make things with. It was a ton of products.
I added bits of fruit around this house as if the gnome goes out and collects food for the day. A fabric strawberry, from the neighbor’s craft gift is next to a tiny Terra cotta pot of live flower clippings from my garden. There’s a giant carrot from my own collection waiting by the front door to be made into dinner later.
Miniature vintage bunnies, while a bit scary looking were still cute to me. The front of this house needed something. I imagine these bunnies slowly working their way up to that giant carrot on the front porch eventually.
My flower clippings from my garden look adorable with this little house.
My husband calls this the drone view. Imagine how small that drone would have to be to fly over this house.
I used miniature lights on a vine to add to the whole house. I would love to have a full sized cottage like this. I would make it an artist studio where everyone could create.
The side of the house had more of my live plant clippings from my larger garden plants and I painted some of my heart designs all over the house to add a bit of my whimsical to it all.
This was so fun to do; I might actually keep this house for a while. Usually I donate things back to someone else once I finish a project, but this one is so cute, I just have to keep it. It even comes with a chimney mushroom. I can even change things up and make it different for the holidays throughout the year. This project probably ended up costing me about $10, with the door being the most expensive item at $4. The little gnome was in my Christmas stocking, that was a gift from my kids…it’s a Swedish thing. I think it might be a little German too. I am little bit of everything,
Hope you all enjoyed this dollar day do over. Remember to up cycle as much as possible. Instead of buying something new, save an item from the dump and remake something old. Happy recycling everyone.
Special note: This is the perfect project to do for Speech therapy lessons and while you are at it, you could work in some fine motor skills by making little clay animals or tiny Easter eggs to hide and decorate around your little houses. You can find birdhouses just about anywhere used or new. This birdhouse would be perfect for searching games like I spy. Ask your children where certain items are around the house and work in some lessons on attributes and prepositions. Where, what and when questions would also be great when using this little house. What do you think that raccoon is up to? Where should the chickens be? It is endless on what you could do with a birdhouse like this. I always encourage using toys that don’t use batteries. Use your hands and minds instead and just play and create. If you are having fun, it doesn’t feel like a lesson in the end.
