Book Birdhouse Attempts

So of course it's not as easy to make birdhouses out of books as one might initially think. However, I gave it a try. The little one cost about $2.50 to make, as opposed to the whopping $120.00 you'd pay for perfection. Patricia, if  you still want one of these wrecks, let me know which one and it is yours. And if you'd prefer one of the three unfinished ones that you can see in the flickr set, I can finish it for you.

I must say, I felt kind of guilty cutting up books, even though they were cheap second hand ones. The little birdhouse was made out of My Little Book of Birds. The large brown one is The Three Wishes. The blue one was going to be made out of Billions of Bugs but I got sidetracked.  I think I would have preferred it, so I still intend to make that one. There's also a Beatrix Potter book waiting to be converted. And a beautifully illustrated version of The Bremen Town Musicians -- I was really afraid to go at that one with a pair of scissors.  If you want to see those other books and the process, view the set.

Comments

[Matt]

Wrecks? What are you talking about? You either need a better digital camera or a less developed sense of modesty. They look fine to me.

E-mail me the secrets. Shellac?

Now I wish I'd tackled this instead of my misguided attempts at burning the (very, very wet) leaf and pine needle mountain in the yard.

[Sara]

Oh, those are lovely.
Have you considered doing bat houses as well?

[Steph]

Well, Matt, they're pretty unpolished. I used mod podge (the outdoor kind) and I'd never used it before. So they're a bit glompy. I think I just made up that word. But I'm betting you'll know what I mean.

Sara, I'd do you a bat house in a heartbeat -- if I could find a ready-made bat house. I didn't actually make the birdhouses from scratch, just "finished" them. This begs the question: do you have bats?