About the Recipe
Ingredients
A little bird house from Michael's Wood Section
CLEAR Acrylic Varnish- The Golden brand from Michael's or there's a clear sealer at Home Depot
Acrylic paint pens (or paint itself)
Paint brushes (Only if using actual paint)
Preparation
I was in second grade when I fell in love with HGTV. I was determined to be the next HGTV design star. I joined a GT program at my school where they pulled us out of class to pretty much build whatever we wanted. It was literally a class about curiosity. I learned how to research exotic things, build robots out of recycled materials, and it helped build my confidence so much so that as third grade rolled around, I reached out to my Idol. Nicole Curtis’s show Rehab Addict where she went around fixing up $1 homes in Detroit was the foundation for my castle dream. (That’s another story!) I reached out, she responded, and my dream to design beautiful spaces only grew from there! You never know who you may inspire! SO coming back to what we are doing and WHY we are doing it: This craft is designing your dream home for the birds. You might have no idea what that looks like yet, but here is your opportunity to PLAY. With colors, with patterns, what makes you curious. Use this to create something that makes you smile and maybe- just maybe it will bring you one step closer to developing your aesthetic style.
Have you ever imagined what you would build if you could build your DREAM home? Back in the 1800’s, the Nguyen Empire hosted multiple kings across multiple decades. What was fascinating was that each emperor built a custom mausoleum. In their culture, they believed that you take things with you into the afterlife, so they commissioned their dream landscapes that held much more than their tombs, but gardens, ponds, sculptures that would protect them in the afterlife. With different styles that followed each kings relationship with the European empires acquisition of different territories around Southeast Asia, each tomb was built with different architectural techniques in mind.
In today’s culture, cardinals represent those we’ve lost coming back, SO in keeping with history’s fashion, we’re designing our dream homes as bird houses!
You can use hot glue and natural elements to build your own from scratch, or if you’re like me and need a simpler approach to the craft, then I’ve found Michael’s craft store has cute little wooden bird houses you can buy for under $3 in their wood section!
Using those, I've also bought some POSCA Pens- acrylic pens that can be used on wood and other surfaces. I tested out the Michael’s brand and they work just fine as well! I do recommend getting an outdoor CLEAR spray varnish from Home Depot or using the Golden Brand gloss varnish to seal your design afterwards to keep the paint from chipping!
The Steps:
Time to paint! Maybe it’s flowers, maybe it’s inspired by the landscape around you, maybe it’s patterns, maybe it’s simple colors on each side, paint what makes your heart smile!Fill up the whole house- there should be art on all sides! Maybe you write a quote, your name, a fun fact! Definitely take some time to sign the bottom! It’s always important to sign your work! Be confident, be proud, and remember that YOU DID that! Whether you love what you make or believe it could be better, everything we do gets us one step closer to bringing our ideas to life, so CREATE!
Seal it! Use the CLEAR Emphasis on clear acrylic varnish or spray varnish to help preserve your creation for as long as possible!