A copy cat bird house

I have always liked "MacKenzie-Childs" things.  While looking through the catalog the other day I saw these really cute bird houses.  Whimsical and fun!  The only problem is the bird house in the catalog costs $200.  Since this is a little more than I normally spend on a bird house, I had an idea to make my own.

I found a $6.00 wooden bird house at Hobby Lobby.  I started with three coats of white paint for the base and then using a ruler I figured out my black and white squares evenly the whole way around.  After that I added color, and to top it off, I hung a crystal on the bottom of the bird house for some bling!

 

And this is how mine turned out.  It's not exactly like the MacKenzie-Childs bird houses, but close enough for me! 

 

My copy cat bird house.

 

  

"Nature" crafts

I started a few projects this week, and when I finished them, I realized they all had something to do with nature.  Funny...hadn't even thought about it until I was taking photos.   

So here are my "nature" crafts I've been working on.  

A white bird house for the fence post in the back garden.  

 I cut and pressed a fern leaf for framing.  

And I painted a rock with butterflies.  This will make a great paperweight and I'll be listing this on etsy.  

Simple and fun nature crafts.  

The mourning dove returns

Yes, she did!  She returned to the ivy hanging plant on the back porch outside the kitchen window.  She's been building her nest the past few days.    

Now we can watch her everyday until the baby dove arrive.  

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Today I am repainting an old bird house that has been outside and is in need of some repair.  A few coats of paint should improve it, and I've decided to paint it all white.   

Have a good day!  

A walk with the wieners, a bird house and a book

There's a chill in the air today and it's a beautiful day for a walk.

The wieners were ready to go. I put on my hooded sweatshirt, gloves and scarf and out we went into the fresh brisk air. It's about 54 degrees here today (that's cold for me) but later in the week it should be back up into the 60's (looking forward to that ~ I'm not a cold weather person, as you probably know).

The leaves are not as vibrant this year as they were in years past ~ slow to change color and they seem to be dropping fast, but I did get a few photos of some pretty Autumn color. Otis and Riley enjoyed running and playing and sniffing everything possible at the park.

And since the weather has turned cold I've turned to painting and reading. I'm working on a bird house that I purchased at AC Moore. I like their variety of bird houses and they're very inexpensive. If you put several coats of paint on and a clear coat varnish, you can use them outside.

This one on my art table is still in the works and will get a bit more embellishment. I'm going to make a bird house wall on the back of the house where I will hang several colorful bird houses all clustered together.

The book I'm reading is another one of Barbara Taylor Bradford's books, The Triumph of Katie Byrne, and it's so good I can't put it down!

Well, I hope you're enjoying your day today,

whatever it is you're doing!

A bird house

Another fun little project.

I love painting bird houses.

This one has scrolly vines around the front door, a couple of little red flowers, and blue and white polka dots on the side.

I think I'll be adding this to my etsy shop bird houses.