Wedding Card Birdhouse

This wedding card box is bird friendly! I built this one to create an over the top gift card box for weddings with a bird theme.

I am not sure what is about me, but I am the kind of guy that can never just build a plain old birdhouse. Too funny.

I used reclaimed picture frame molding on this one, some of which is over 100 years old.


I also built a second, interchangeable roof for it. That way the bride has a choice after the wedding is over. She can keep it with the slotted roof as an indoor vignette accessory. Or change the roof over to the one that does not have the card slot and use it outdoors as an over the top, country french birdhouse.

4 small screws and about 2 minutes is all it takes to switch roof tops. Removing the roof is also the way that the cards are accessed later. I designed it this way to keep the bride and groom's money cards more secure.

This pic should give you an idea of what it might look like under a tree at the couple's new home.

I also left a small space above the heart shaped doorway to make room for an engraved plate, just in case a new bride would like it personalized.

The antique picture frame molding that I used for the roof top is incredibly detailed.

I love the porch columns and the trim that wraps around the side of the house. It took a lot of extra materials to get the look I was going for. But I think it was worth it in the end.

Hope you enjoyed my little wedding box birdhouse. If you know of a bride who might like it, I have it for sale on Etsy. I have only one of these available though.

I have also thought about making smaller wedding birdhouses for table centerpieces.

Let me know how you like this new project of mine. It turned out to be a lot more involved that I thought it would be, but it was really a fun one. I am interested in your comments, as always.

My Latest Country French Bird House - 2 Story Version

Okay, the birdhouse thing may be getting a little out of hand. I admit it. But, I am really having fun doing it. Seems like every time I make one I want to try and out do the last one. The neat thing about it is that most of the materials was stuff I already had in the garage or in the back yard.


My latest one is this cute 2 story model. I love the country french feel of it. I painted it using a whitewash technique.

I made a major improvement in the design of this one. It has a removable floor and roof. Just remove a few screws and they come right off. That way the insides can be cleaned out at the end of the season, before the next occupants arrive.

Here is a tip for you on birdhouses. It may look cute, but never use metal as a roofing or perch material. Wood is a much better choice. It stays cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Hope you liked this one!

By the way, I decided to put a few of these birdhouses on Etsy. If you are interested, you can check my sidebar for which ones are available. Just click on the pic of the one that catches your eye.

Antique Picture Frame Birdhouse

I have been wanting to build a birdhouse for a while now, and I thought I would share with all of you what I came up with.

As some of you know, I often restore antique picture frames, and I had one sitting around that was in pretty bad shape.

I also had a few pieces of old cedar fence planks and some table legs.

So, I started cutting and nailing. No plans. No real direction. Just wanted to have some fun with this one.

I cut a table leg in half lengthwise to get a pair of columns. The body was made from the cedar fence planks. I made the pitch of the roof with a pair of 45 degree cuts, so that the picture frame molding could be easily used as trim. The perch and the trim across the bottom is also made from picture frame molding.





I decided to do a distressed white wash finish and let some of the gold frame peek through in spots.

By using cedar planks and outdoor grade glue this birdhouse can now be used outside by some lucky bird, or inside as a decor piece.

This was a pretty fun project. I might have to do a few more of these.

Check my Link Party Directory to see which ones I am linking up with today!

Steamer Trunk Lamp - Repurposing Project

This project came about because I found an antique steamer trunk from around 1890. It was too good to throw away, and not good enough to put in countless hours restoring it. I loved the cast iron hardware and the naturally aged patina, so I decided to see if I couldn't use the individual components, to make a very unusual and showstopping table lamp.

The colors were very appealing to me. It seemed to have those Ralph Lauren leathery, cabin hues.

I scavenged the parts I thought I would need from it. The idea here was not to throw anything away. If I was going to dismantle an antique trunk, I wanted to make sure that the entire thing went to good use. By saving all the pieces from 1 trunk I probably have enough parts to make a dozen or so lamps.

if you are going to make one of these yourself, will need to make some sort of lamp body to nail everything to. I used some scrap that was laying in the back yard. I stole the dimensions from a lamp I had in my living room.

I wrapped the tin sheets around the wood body and tacked them in place. Then I used the cast iron decorative hardware to add a little personality. I didn't worry about holes in the tin, or defects. I just let this rustic looking old lamp, "speak for itself" .

Here is a closeup view.

What could be more fun than an animal print shade to top it off?

I have a few more of these lamps I am working on. I will post some pictures, as I complete them.

Hope you enjoyed the post.

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Victorian Picture Frame Makeover

I love these old Victorian picture frames. Originally they were usually gold gilded. I sometimes do gilding, but shiny gold picture frames aren't much in style right now. So, I look for other ways to bring new life to these old gems.

This particular frame is for an 8" x 10" picture. It dates back to around 1885.

It is called a "reverse" frame, because of the way the outside edges of the frame are flat against the wall, while the center is raised, to lift the picture.

I wanted to modernize the look a little bit, so instead of gilding this one, I chose flat black paint.

I didn't do anything special here. I just cleaned up the frame with some soapy water and a toothbrush. I let it dry and then shot it with flat black spray paint.

Here is the after .....

My cost on this antique frame was $5.00, plus a can of paint. Hope you like it.

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Antique Picture Frame Makeover

I run across a lot of picture frames in my travels, and for some reason find them hard to resist. I bet I have refurbished at least 100 of them by now, but this particular frame is one of my favorites.

I found it at an outdoor flea market in South Carolina. I paid $5 for it. The picture of those 2 stern individuals is a 16 x 20. It looks to me like they just had an argument.

I really loved the detail of the ribbon running around the outside edge, amongst the flowers. It gave the frame kind of a whimsical feel and I wanted to emphasize that. So I removed this fun loving couple from the frame and went to work with some gold leaf and gilding paint.

Here is the after.......

I used gold leaf as a base and then hand painted the details with the gilding paint. Three different kinds of gold were used. To make the twisted ribbon stand out I used copper for the top of the ribbon and gold for the underside. It made it look as though the ribbon had a front and a back, really making the twisting stand out. Then I took a dry artist brush with small amounts of black paint and sort of burnished it in. This toned the gold down a little, gave the details some depth, and aged the frame.

I have been told by my best girl, that as a skinny young man with curly dark hair, I used to resemble the guy in the swing. I guess that's why I am so fond of this frame. Ahhhhh, younger days. Gotta love it.

Here is a closeup of the detail...

It now hangs in our house in the master bedroom. Hope you liked it.

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Seafoam Green vs. White

In an earlier post I made a comment about being tired of looking through magazines that were pic after pic of white furniture, in white rooms. A few of you sent me your thoughts on white makeovers as well. It was about a 50-50 mix of opinions. Half of you said you were also tired of the white craze, and the other half said, no way, I still love it.

What I didn't mention in that post is what I do like. So, I thought I would show you ladies a color that I am currently pretty fond of, called Seafoam Green. I had seen lots of examples of this color at the Scott's Antique Show in Atlanta and wanted to create my own versions of it. I have now done quite a bit with this color, and the oval mirror above is one of my latest projects.


This mirror frame dates back to about 1880, and it was in pretty bad shape when I started.


To get this look, I started by applying a flat powder blue latex paint. I added a coat of green tinted glaze and then took a rag and dappled on some amber shellac to highlight the carved gesso.


This was a really easy project. I love the depth of color. I am far from being an interior designer, but I am much more attracted to something like this than just another white mirror. That's not to say I don't do a mirror in white once in a while. Here is an example of one I did, not long ago. It dates to the 1920s.

I used flat white latex on this mirror frame and then used rottenstone in the crevices to highlight the carving somewhat.








Here is a close-up of the detail.

I would be really interested in hearing from more of you about what you are leaning towards as far as colors go. Do you like the white better? the seafoam green? or throw out your opinion about an entirely different color you think is pretty hot right now. Let's hear all about it!

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Architectural Window Mirrors

My version of doing faux finishes on things like old window casings is a little different than most. The mirrors you see on the right used to be a dirty eggshell color. But, I am a nut for detail and wanted this pair to be just a little bit special.

The finish was done by first chipping off any old loose paint. You really need to do this, because a lot of these old windows were painted with lead based paint. Make sure you wear a mask and discard those paint chips properly.


I then used an oil based stain to darken the areas without paint.

The yellows, oranges and apricot colors came from playing with amber shellac. In some areas I used 3 coats, that I applied at random with a rag. In other areas I used only 1 or 2 coats.

I always cut my own mirror. For this project, I used reclaimed mirror from a 1950s vintage vanity. The vanity itself was long gone, but the mirror was still in good shape and it had some wonderful etching on it that I wanted to incorporate into these windows.

I use white silicone to hold the mirrors in place. My favorite way to apply it is with a caulking gun, and using at least twice as much caulking as what I need. I like the caulking to squeeze out around the glass a little bit to give it more of a rustic, handmade feel. The excess caulking sort of reminds me of the way they used to make old brick buildings, where the mortar would be allowed to squeeze out from the bricks.

I have done bunches of of mirrors like this, so if you have questions or comments be sure to post them. I would be glad to help you!

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Rush Seat Makeover Tutorial

Rush seat weaving is a pretty neat skill to have on your resume. It is one of those things that as a professional craftsman, I have used to make some extra money over the years. Rush weaving is somewhat of a lost art and I get a lot of enjoyment from doing it.

Here is a picture of an antique chair that many people would have given up on and left on the curb. It was brought to me by one of my customers, and she asked if I could do something with it. "Of course!", I said.

There are a number of different materials used to weave this kind of seat. The material usually used is a "paper fiber" man made rush. Other materials include natural rush, danish cord, cane, and Pakistan grass. I have even seen yarn used.

For this project I decided to use Pakistan grass. It is sort of a "hempy" rope-like material, that is hand twisted. Each piece of twisted grass rope is a different diameter, so it makes for an interesting sort of random looking weave when it's done.

You don't need much in the way of tools to weave a seat like this. A couple of spring clamps are helpful to hold things in place as you weave and tie off ends.

You will also need a utility knife, a bottle of yellow carpenter's glue, some carpet tacks, and a regular claw hammer.

Some types of these seats are padded with cardboard. For this one, I used leftover scraps of loosely knotted Pakistan grass.

I like to use a thinned out shellac as a finish on most of my woven chair seats. I usually dilute the shellac with denatured alcohol and start with a mixture of about a 1 to 1 ratio. Amber shellac is my favorite. It gives the grass a sort of honey colored look. It will take 2 or 3 coats.

Here is the completed chair. You can sometimes find chairs like this around for only a few dollars, that are in need of a new seat. Once you learn to weave one, you can take advantage of some deals out there.

Hope you enjoyed this little mini-tutorial. Please ask questions if you need help.

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Shutter Project - A New Twist

Ok ladies, here is a new kind of project I put together for an old window shutter. It gets tons of compliments every time someone walks in and sees it. And, the best part is how easy it was to do. I found this old shutter for $2 at a flea market.

I went down to the home improvement store and bought some chain and hooks.

The I went into the lumber department and bought some "H" molding. This type of molding is what they use when joining together sheets of redwood lattice to make a lattice wall. It comes in 8' lengths and is really cheap.

I cut the H channel into the lengths to fit across the shutter.

I then used the bottom of some different kinds of crystal glasses to space them out.

Once I had the spacing correct, I screwed them down into place, and added the chain.

I used 6 plant hooks to attach it to the ceiling. Sometimes I decorate it with grapevine or a little greenery and light it with small clear Christmas lights. Right now it hangs above our buffet.

This is a pretty easy project to do. Most hardware stores will cut your chain to length for you. All you really need is a saw and a drill. I carry several great cordless drills in my online store if you need one. Try out this neat project and let me know if you have questions. I am here to help.

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