It is always a pleasure to see a unique birdhouse, and what could be more unique than decorating your own. These little habitations can be jazzed-up exactly as you please, and to match any look, or garden decor.
Decorative bird houses can be expensive, but the unpainted unfinished ones are really cheap and can be made to look just as nice. You just need a little planning, imagination, and some basic craft materials to create a beautiful home for the birds and a work of art for your yard...
Where To Get An Unfinished Birdhouse To Decorate
You can buy some great 'paint your own bird house kits online (the one to the left for example), these generally come with a set of paints and an untreated wooden bird house for you to decorate.
Equally you could buy any untreated wooden bird house that you like, and then get the paints separately. (Acrylic paints are perfect, just remember to varnish afterwards.) You could even
build your own birdhouse to decorate.
You don't have to settle for just painting your bird house either, why not use handmade paper and glue to cover it, or stick on cut out paper accents, such as flowers, or little birdies, just remember to varnish it after for protection from the elements.
Another idea is to make a mosaic on your bird house, the possibilities are endless.
Some Unfinished Birdhouses To Decorate
Birdhouse Painting Ideas
I always like to plan my designs on paper first, that way I have an idea what I am going to be doing before I begin. There are so many ways that a birdhouse can be decorated that it can be hard to know where to begin.
Here are some ideas for designs that could be painted onto a birdhouse...
- Patterns - Stripes, polka-dots, chevron patterns, florals, birds, the possibilities are endless. You could even use a combination of patterns, a patchwork design would be nice.
- Nature - Take inspiration from nature, you could paint leaves, twigs, flowers, clouds, even cute little birds onto your box.
- Colorblock - Colorblock designs look cheery and eye-catching. Paint some of the box one color and some of it another, you might like to pick out areas already defined like the roof, each wall, or around the entrance hole, Or you could use masking tape to mark off lines to paint different colors.
- Hobbies - Do you have any hobbies or interests that could be replicated onto a birdbox? Sports motifs, maybe you like fashion or art, almost any hobby or interest could be used as a theme to paint a birdbox.
- Habitats - You could paint a desert scene, a beach scene, a forest scene, any kind of habitat that you like.
- Using Stamps or Stencils - You can decorate a birdbox very simply using stamps or stencils. Paint the box in a background color and use contrasting colors for the stencils or stamps.
Birdhouse Decorating Ideas
A birdhouse does not necessarily need to be painted, there are other ways that they can be decorated too. Here are some ideas for other ideas for decorating a birdhouse.
- Decoupage - You can cover a birdbox with decoupage easily, either cut out motifs from wrapping paper and use these to build up a scene, or use the whole piece of paper. Cover the birdbox with PVA glue or then lay the paper onto it, smooth out any bubbles. To smooth out the bubbles you may need to peel off and re-attach the paper a few times, until the bubbles go. A decoupaged birdbox can be varnished afterwards using varnish or more PVA or Mod Podge.
- Fabric - As with the decoupage birdbox, the same thing can be done using fabric and PVA or Mod Podge.
- Mixed Media Collage - Any objects can be used to make a mixed media collage, you could fix silk flowers, sea glass, shells, bits of fabric, mesh, any interesting little details that could be used to build up a design on the side.
- Mosaic - Use mosaic tiles, mirrors, and bits of smashed pottery and cover your bird box in a mosaic. Mosaics are really simple to do, just stick the tiles etc to the bird box with PVA glue, then when dry use grout to fill in the gaps. Any grout that is covering the mosaic can be sponged off.
