Approaches to decor
The decoration of the birdhouse can be dictated by the very shape of this “structure”. Traditionally, it is created in the form of a hut with a gable roof, although there are options for round “buildings”, intricately contoured fairy-tale towers, and so on.
The design is also selected depending on the material of manufacture. Croakers are often used for birdhouses. If you leave tree bark on its surface, this is already a “claim” for the design. You can decorate the roof in different ways, giving it, for example, a tiled look. People who know how to work with wood decorate such houses with original carvings.
It is appropriate to paint with yellow and brown colors, which look the most natural. The outside of a wooden birdhouse can be painted in other colors. It makes sense to use acrylic paints. Aerosol ones are also suitable.
With a child, it is good to decorate such a house, for example, for the New Year, depicting fir branches, New Year's balls, red-breasted bullfinches and other drawings on this topic on the walls.
One of the most spectacular ways to decorate a birdhouse is to decorate it using the decoupage technique. Using ready-made pictures allows you to create beauty even for those people who have absolutely no artistic talent. All you need is accuracy, patience and imagination.
On the topic: methodological developments, presentations and notes
The activity helps to develop a sense of beauty in children, cultivate interest in folk art, and improve technical skills.
Municipal budgetary preschool educational institution Child Development Center - kindergarten No. 5 “Beryozka” Summary of educational activities.
Summary of a drawing lesson. Topic: “These are the legs of a centipede.” Tasks: Involve in co-creation with the teacher and other children: draw legs - straight and vertical, complementing the created item.
Master class on birdhouse decoupage
In order to decorate a birdhouse using decoupage technique, you need to prepare:
- “home” for starlings;
- paints (acrylic);
- varnish (moisture-resistant);
- sandpaper;
- tassels;
- scissors;
- napkins and decoupage card;
- special glue or regular PVA, diluted with water at a rate of 1:1.
The decoration looks like this step by step.
- Sand the birdhouse with sandpaper so that it becomes very smooth, devoid of the slightest nicks. Remove any remaining wood dust with a damp cloth.
- Paint the walls and roof with the chosen color. Let dry. If necessary, repeat the procedure.
- While the paint is setting, cut out fragments from the decoupage card in the shape of the “sides” of the house.
- Coat the side wall with glue. Carefully place the paper blank on it. Smooth it out, moving from the middle to the edges so that the air comes out and no air bubbles appear under the sticker. Do the same with the second side of the birdhouse.
- For the front part, you can use separate images. For example, gnomes and mushrooms. It is better to cut out pictures with scissors with sharp ends.
- Glue the images onto the facade in accordance with the plan.
- In order for the structure to serve for a long time and not lose its elegant appearance, it should be coated with moisture-resistant varnish in several layers, allowing it to dry after each stage of varnishing.
Unusual decor
A birdhouse can be made a bright accent in a natural area near the house if you paint it with spray paint in a bright color, leaving only the “false door” white. An “extension with firewood” will give the “building” originality. Such a birdhouse looks beautiful both in summer among the greenery and in winter, standing out as a bright spot against the background of white snow.
The “three-story birdhouse” can be designed as a traffic light. It looks very unusual on a tree, attracting the attention of anyone walking nearby.
An original solution is to make a bird house in the form of a mailbox. You need to paint it in a characteristic blue color, stencil the word “post office”, hang the birdhouse on a tree and the local “forest postal service office” can be opened.
Decorating a birdhouse in the shape of a telephone booth is also an interesting approach to design. Such a decoration cannot get lost in the forest. But it is interesting to watch how birds fly in to “make a phone call.”
Fans of birdhouses can make a real village out of such houses. Each of them creates room for creativity. If you want to maintain a single style, you can “assign” numbers to the houses and paint them in different colors.
People with artistic talent can paint birdhouses to their liking, and if they don’t have such a gift, use a stencil. If you apply paints correctly, the result will be no worse than a real painting.
An elegant bird house surrounded by a fence looks very cute. With it, the whole garden will acquire a fabulous atmosphere. A birdhouse in the shape of an old mill is a wonderful design find for a summer cottage or garden.
Summer residents will appreciate the humorous approach to birdhouse design. The “slate” roof, like a rusty one, the “peeling” paint on the facade and the recognizable shape of the house - a real country toilet with an adjacent “bed”. Simply a miniature embodiment of a typical Russian plot of land outside the city.
If you plan to make a birdhouse part of the design of the veranda, just paint it the same color as the railing of the extension. A beautiful roof in several tiers will give the house an unusual look and artistic completeness.
The birdhouse can be given the appearance of a real gingerbread house. It is enough to carve, properly paint and decoupage. And if the composition is supplemented with a tea pair, similar in design to the birdhouse, you will get a real decoration for the local area.
Using moss and other natural materials, as well as green paint when decorating a birdhouse, allows you to create a structure in an eco-friendly style. Starlings will definitely appreciate the quality of such a home.
Craftsmen, passionate about creating beauty on a birdhouse, create on the facade the effect of brickwork, combined with fine carvings. It is absolutely impossible to pass by such a “structure” and not look back.
To learn how to make a birdhouse with your own hands, see the following video.
Progress of the lesson
Educator: Guys, look, guests have come to us, let's say hello to them.
A starling came to visit us . Look how sad he is! What happened? (Audio recording starling )
Well done guys, look what a beautiful birdhouse I drew for our starling . Let's take a look at it. Here it is a yellow house, a green roof, a black door, and even a step for it to make it easier to fly into.
Educator: Starling , do you like your birdhouse ?
Do you guys like it?
starling is still not happy . Let's play with him!
A little bird flew to us
A little bird flew to us
A little bird pecks the grains,
A little bird sings a song.
Well done, now let's sit down at the tables.
Educator: Starling , why are you sad again? (Audio recording starling )
.
starling guys are worried about their friends, now he has a birdhouse , but other starlings don’t . Let's help them, draw houses for them too? (children's answers)
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Design options
If you use craquelure varnish in your work, you can create an aging effect on the facade of the birdhouse, which gives the feeling that the wood is covered with cracks. To do this, the birdhouse blank is first primed with white acrylic paint, and then brown paint is applied in those places where cracks should appear.
Brown spots are covered with craquelure varnish, and when it dries, a layer of white paint is created.
Then all that remains is to stick the desired images on the previously provided places, cover the birdhouse on all sides with varnish (acrylic) - and the beautiful birdhouse is ready.
If you want to decorate a birdhouse in a New Year's style, you can choose napkins with appropriate motifs and stick them on the body. To give such a house a snowy look, you need to mix white acrylic paint, PVA glue and semolina in equal proportions. Then cover the roof and individual areas on the sides of the birdhouse with this composition, sprinkle with silver sparkles.
This birdhouse will be a great addition to the winter garden design.
Step-by-step instructions for making a birdhouse
We will make a birdhouse from natural boards 20x200 mm, tray diameter 5 cm, bottom size 16x16 cm. Wall height 40 cm, perch for sitting with a diameter of one centimeter and a length of 4 cm. House for starlings, corresponding dimensions.
Step 1. Calculate the amount of lumber and purchase it. The calculation is very simple: the length of the four walls is summed up, and the dimensions of the roof and bottom slopes are added to this value. There is no need to calculate everything down to the centimeter; let there always be a few centimeters of the board in reserve. As we said above, the optimal board thickness is 20 mm, width 200 mm, it is advisable to buy unplaned lumber. In stores there are boards immediately after cutting on sawmills, this is an excellent option for a birdhouse. If desired, one side can be machined or processed with an electric plane, but it is better to leave them unprocessed.
The board can be cut into pieces for easy transportation
Step 2. Place the board on a flat table and mark the blanks. The following details should be noted.
- Boards for the facade and back wall. These are the largest boards in our case. The roof of the birdhouse will be gabled with large angles of inclination, this is necessary to increase safety; from such structures it is impossible for cats to reach the nest. Two holes are drilled in the facade board: one for the taphole and the second for fixing the perch.
- Side wall boards. They are slightly shorter than façade ones, the difference in length depends on the angle of the roof. Width 20 cm - 2 cm -2 cm = 16 cm. 2 cm is the thickness of the facade boards.
- Board for the bottom. We recommend cutting it into a 20x20 cm square, then the dimensions will be adjusted exactly. In our case, the estimated size of the bottom in the birdhouse is 16x16 cm, but it is better to leave a reserve and then take an accurate measurement.
- Two boards for roof slopes. If it is difficult for you to calculate their length, then you can not cut off the parts yet, but do this after the facade boards have been fully prepared. The length of the slopes is measured on them and blanks are made according to these parameters.
Adviсe
When creating a birdhouse design, you need to take into account that the main thing is the convenience and safety of the birds. In order for them to be able to comfortably settle in such a house, they need to approach the choice of finishing materials wisely.
According to experts, the color of the product can be anything, but the paint and glue should not have a strong odor. Therefore, it is better to choose water-based materials. Otherwise, the birds will not settle in such a “dwelling,” and the birdhouse will remain just an uninhabited decoration in the garden.
