Birdhouse

Today I am sharing my method for making this pretty, decorative birdhouse from card.

"Decorated birdhouse"

A birdhouse template is printed in draft onto the reverse of an A4 piece of cream card decorated with sepia music notes and cut out. I adapted this free template from http://www.allfreecrafts.com/easter/house.shtml . The roof is cut out separately.

Once cut out, the card is decorated with the relief distress technique using a stamp - a Papermania Birdsong swirl was used here. Clear versamark ink is stamped and embossed with clear enamel. This provides the relief decoration when sponged with Tattered Rose distress ink. A few further swirls are overstamped using the same distress ink.

All the score lines are scored using a ruler and embossing tool (a scoring board could also be used), and a small hole punched near the point of one of the five-sided panels. I find it easier to tuck in the tabs to get the punch further down the panel, otherwise the hole is a bit too close to the top of the birdhouse.

"Decorated birdhouse template"

If you are going to hang the birdhouse so that you can see the underside of the eaves, you might want to decorate the underside of the roof. If your card isn't too thick, you can stick two pieces together so both sides are decorated. Once finished, a small eyelet punch is used to punch a hole in the centre of the roof. A piece of ribbon is looped and the loop pushed through the hole from beneath, then tied on the underside to make a knot. This makes a hanger.

The next job is to glue the tabs to join the base and sides, and to glue the roof on. A good, wet glue like PVA is best as it gives a strong bond. Once glued, the birdhouse is left to dry, preferably overnight, before embellishing.

"Plain birdhouse"

"Plain birdhouse showing the roof underside"

Finally, embellishments are added. Some gold braid for a skirt, a little blue tit & some fluffy feather in the hole, and a die-cut swallow on the ribbon. The finished birdhouses can be hung with pegs (don't hang near heat sources - card is flammable!).