Saturday, May 8, 2010

Faux Patina Birdhouse

 
There's a DIY Club Blog Hop going on! 
We thought we would join in the FUN!!!
~~there are prizes for the winner too! 
I don't know about you, but we could always use more glue!
To participate you must use one of the vendor's products on the project entered.

We chose Gorilla Wood Glue to use for our project.
 We have never tried it before and I do have to say...we are pleased!
The set time is so incredibly fast!

 

We decided to "embellish" a small birdhouse into a super duper mansion birdhouse
....fit for a king....well bird, and maybe a couple of his buddies....
Our inspiration came from a picture of a copper coin with great patina that I found on 
Wikipedia.
 ( my source for all of my unanswered questions! :) 

I wanted to see what true patina looks like and this is the example they gave.
  The colors are gorgeous!
We thought it would be cool to give a simple birdhouse the same colors,
 and add some bold color to my backyard. 
Real copper would have been SWEET....but......
have you seen how much that stuff costs?
Faux will have to do.
We started with this fancy unfinished birdhouse.
It's made to hang on a tree, but we've been a little obsessed with perches lately....
Although it looked large in the store- it looked
like an itsy bitsy birdhouse on our intended perch. 
So here's how we enlarged it!
We started by mimicking the base of the birdhouse by cutting 1x2's at 30 degree angles.
We always have a couple of 1x2's lying around....you never know when you'll need them!
Plus they're super cheap!
Then we built up and out.
 Each piece was glued together with Gorilla wood glue. 
  The set time was SOOOOOO fast!
This is the third layer of 1x2's to give it extra height.
Yes.....ADMIRE my fine tools.......
Here is my frying pan "clamping" system.
Did you know frying pans can be used for things other than cooking???
We covered the holes so birdseed couldn't seep down into the inside.
Now we let it sit overnight and I have to say...it was solid!
We added the perch with more
 Gorilla glue
and wood screws,
filled the gaps with some filler and sanded.
We gave everything a coat of durable outdoor paint and
cut a few triangular wedges to add under the perch.
The roof got a "faux" copper roof. 
Pretty ain't it!!!
The base is a post in the ground.  I've never done this before.
Thank goodness for our Dad!  
He said to bury it at least 2 1/2 feet into the ground. 
We probably should have used cement. 
But hey,
I'm always wanting to move things around and redecorate!
Next came the faux finish.
  We mixed turquoise, dark green,  navy blue and copper
and used the dry brush technique to paint the faux patina.   
We just dabbed and dabbed until we found the color we liked.
Wood screws attach the triangle wood pieces to the post.


There you go! 
A little far out for a birdhouse, but it got the "cool" approval from my boys. 
 That's all that matters! :)
Now all it needs are a couple coats of polyurethane,
and maybe some birdseed....

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Very pretty! That's a great looking patina!

Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and Dreaming said...

I'm amazed at these adorable outdoor projects you girls have been coming up with! Love this. {everything about it} Great painting techniques...looks fabulous! Thanks so much for entering the DIY club competition!! Hope you have a great weekend! ~ Stephanie Lynn

Its So Very Cheri said...

That looks fabulous. Thank you so much for the great tutorial--letting people know about using the products and for followign the guidelines.

I bet all the chic birdies hang out at your house.

I signed up to follow and hope you will do the same.

Cheri

Heidi said...

This is so great! I love how you fancied it up, and LOVE the painted finish.

~ Regan said...

Totally awesome! (Or shall I say- Awesomly Total! sorry... It's been a long day, I'm getting tired! lol)

I love your birdhouses, I have been thinking, if I put it up on a high enough post... Mabye the dogs won't terrorize the birds and I can have the best of both worlds?? I would so love to be able to sit outside and watch them!

Thanks for another great idea!

Holly Lefevre said...

Your birdhouse is spectacular. I love the finish of it and it looks like perfection in the yard. Great job and great tutorial.
Holly
www.504main.com

ificould said...

Very impressive! Love it- I'm amazed!

Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and Dreaming said...

Hi Candace & Nicole- Your project is one of the top ten finalists for The DIY CLUB. Be sure to check out the voting post on any of the four DIY CLUB blogs. Congratulations and thanks again for joining this month!

Charity said...

Amazing! I love how you put this all together!! I'm off to vote!

TheCraftInMe said...

This is really beautiful, the colors work so well. I couldn't help but vote for you!

Tonia Lee Smith said...

that is the coolest. I'm a new follower, I'm glad that I found you via 504 Main. Stop by to see me sometime.

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