From Planter to Bird House

Hello my beautiful friends! I’m most excited to share with you how I made my first ever bird house from an old planter box I picked up at a good price at my favorite antique store! This planter sat in my garage for ages just waiting for it’s refresh turn. At one point I tried to add a bottom to it, but it didn’t hold using a nail gun, so I thought of screws later. The tough thing was that it was made from 1/4″ wood. Very difficult to attach screws that small. I had a hard enough time attaching the wood with a nail gun.

It was a very delicate planter.

So when I was working on my project for Project Challenge #5, I realized I had the perfect option to hang a birdhouse from a pulley (you can see more about that HERE).

So I pulled the thing (quite easily) apart using a screw driver to gently separate the pieces.

I grabbed an old fence board I had in the garage, and cut it down to make sides for the fronts. The top of the sides are at an angle to line up with the edges for the roof, and the bottom is a straight cut.

(I wish I had a better shot of this, but I think you can tell what I mean. ???)

And then one piece for the bottom.

For the roof I decided to use bead board. I cut it down to size, and before adding the second half, I took one of the perches off and added a bird knob I bought last year on clearance at world market. I’m wishing now that I had done this on both sides, but seeing as how I didn’t use the sides of the planter, I will probably be glad to use them later when I make my second birdhouse! 😉

I overlapped the bead board on top to make the roof, with a little over hang on the edges (like a roof, haha!)

This is the point where I added a cup hook (cause it’s the only hook I could find) and hung it from the tree.

I wasn’t satisfied. I decided it was just too ~~boring~~ plain.

So I pulled it down and stenciled a pattern with an adhesive stencil (from Hobby Lobby) using a tan miss-mixed paint I got at Home Depot for 50¢

Eeep!!

(I love a good deal!!)

Adding a number 9 and a spring for the bird to perch on, I decided my bird house was complete!

I hung it back outside and am LOVING seeing it hanging from our apple tree through my kitchen window.

I kept envisioning it with a sign so I made one and hung it above.

Now it feels complete!

Thank you for letting me share my fun project with you. Things are so busy lately, that I feel like I don’t get to do much “just for the fun of it”. I love my project groups that encourage me to be creative and have fun while doing it.

I am preparing for my first ever Vintage Fair next weekend. I will share more with you about this as the upcoming week progresses, but for now, have a wonderful weekend!!

Hugs,