I’ve often been asked why? Why bother building custom,
elaborate bird-houses when birds could care less what they look like? Someone
interested in acquiring a bird house could easily go to the store and buy one
for a few bucks or if they were handy, making one is fairly easy, with the
right tools. So, why spend all that labor and time building something that could
be purchased for a few bucks?
There are several reasons why I do it: 1; It’s relaxing. 2;
it’s challenging, 3; it’s creative, 4; it’s fun, 5; it’s an art-form/craft, 6;
a great feel of accomplishment, 7; teaches you patience. 8; keeps me more
focused. 9; it’s a great diversion…after painting my 300th
painting; I needed a diversion from it and from my usual daily routine. 10; it
involves a great ego trip after others see it and are blown away by it. I have
one more which was an unexpected surprise while working on my recent project,
11; I lost two pant sizes. That’s true. Because I was so focused on my project,
I had little time to think about eating or being hungry. When I got up each
morning, I had my usual coffee and toast and got to my project. Mid morning
time, I would take a short break for a bowl of cereal and then back to my
project until lunch which came around 1:30P.M. For lunch I would have a half a
sandwich with a bottle of light beer before getting back to my project. I would
quit for the day around 5:30 and get ready for dinner. For dinner I would have
a small serving of whatever the wife made and a glass of wine. Since I wasn’t very
active physically, I didn’t need a lot of calories to burn off so I didn’t eat
a lot nor was I hungry. What I ate was just healthy stuff.
The last thing on my mind is trying to sell these
masterpieces which can take several weeks to complete. I don’t think that
anyone would be interested in purchasing one especially for what I would have
to charge for one. Yes there is a lot of intense detail in every one of my
bird-houses which take hours and hours of my time. I also realize that birds
could care less about any of that let alone know the difference in the quality
of one. Sure I’d love to sell a few, but realistically it probably just isn’t
going to happen. Therefore, I consider my projects as conversation pieces when
completed. I’ve given several away to family and friends in the past to use as
they see fit. Some have used them for birds while others keep them inside in
plain view for their visitors. You would be surprised how well it breaks the
ice of conversation without the usual small talk.
I built my first one, a simple one at that in just a few
hours all painted and ready to hang, many, many years ago. Others liked what
they saw and asked me to make them one. After making about a half a dozen, I
got bored with them and began adding a little more detail to each new one. To
say the least everyone loved them. After a while I had about twenty orders.
Each one was different and all detailed. At first the detail was simply painted
in and later they were made out of wood and glued in place after painting and
cutting them out. The roofing was made from either painted gutter wrap or real
shingles. I had left over shingles and just painted them a different color.
Some of the designs were duplicates of homes or vacation
cottages or rental houses which I had been to. Sometimes I even add landscaping
to the project as an extra wow factor. I use sand gravel and small stones I’ve
picked up along my many travels. If I see something unusual, I’ll just pick
some up and place it in a container for future use. Painted saw dust makes a
good alternative for grass and attach it to the base using Mod Podge. Colored
crab sand also has many uses for landscaping my miniatures. Since Mod Podge
dries clear not only will it keep the sand on the base but it gives it a final
finish.
I also have made bird feeders to attract more birds into my
yard. I love to sit and watch them on daily basis and often see some unusual
ones that I would not normally see around. Making bird-houses or feeders can be
a lot of fun especially once they are completed and are being used. If you
decide to make some, do it for the fun of it or for the art. Treat them the
same way as you might a painting. I love to paint. I paint for myself for the
enjoyment and not with the idea of selling them, even though I’ve sold several.
Once you start doing something for money, it becomes a job and often times the
enjoyment is sucked right out.
My recent project started out with the idea of making a bird
house but ended up a craft project which can be easily converted into a bird
house by simply drilling a few holes in strategic areas where I had built
cubicles for nests. The project turned into a log home which was made mostly of
cedar. The decking on the roof was from a piece of ¼” scrap birch plywood I had
on hand. The roof was made from real asphalt shingles, cut and adhered to the
deck using roof cement. The logs were
3/16” dowels I picked up at a local home improvement store and stained with an
exterior, natural cedar stain, then glued individually using an exterior
construction adhesive. Everything else was cut from stock cedar, stained to
match the logs, and then glued into place using exterior, waterproof wood glue.
The grass was made from cedar saw dust glued and then painted and sealed. The
stone landscaping was from various collections I gathered during my travels.
They are from lakes and rivers. They too were glued in place and sealed so that
the sandy parts would not come loose. The entire project from start to finish
took four weeks. Now I just have to figure out where and how I’m going to
display it.
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| here I am right after completing this cool little gem |
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| The
house is mostly made from cedar. The logs are from dowels, individually
cut, glued and stained. The posts and supports were cut from a piece of
stock cedar. The doors and windows are trimmed out. The roof is made
from real roofing left over. I painted it using a special paint for
roofing. |
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| I used black sand for the path to the doors and little red stones from Wisconsin for landscaping |
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|
I
used oil paints to create the stone look on the chimney. If I wanted to
make this into a bird house all I have to do is drill a hole just left
of the windows located on the left side of the chimney. There is a large
enough cubicle in there for a bird nest.
|
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| I
used cedar saw dust and added color to it for grass. Both the left and
right side of this wall have cubicles in side for bird nests, should I
want. |
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| what's a cool log house without a deck,railings and some sort of cover for shade or area for barbecuing. Both
the front and back decking and posts/railings were cut painstakingly
with a utility knife and a small hand saw from cedar. |
