Adding some vintage charm to this birdhouse has been on my ‘to do’ list
since I brought it home several years ago. It was in need of a little love as the
tin roof had come untacked and it lacked general curb appeal!
I collected rusty pieces of bits and bobs . . . hinges, door knobs, finials,
keys, etc., picked up for a few dollars or in small odd lots for
$5 a bag from flea markets and antique malls, with this project in mind
to add a little vintage charm and curb appeal to this birdhouse.
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To do some repair and attach my rusty pieces I used some Liquid Nails,
a construction adhesive, also used for my Mosaic Flower Pots. . .
Along with some brown screws and panel nails that would blend
with metal roof and vintage details of the birdhouse.
First, rehab and repair to the roof with Liquid Nails and the panel nails, tacking it back in place.
My hubby volunteered to help so I could photograph the steps.
I pulled out the pieces I thought I might use . . . door knobs and plates, hinges and old lock,
and some metal rings and then added a few more pieces from my stash as I went.
Note: In this day and age of fewer flea markets and shopping opportunities, check Etsy
or eBay for sellers with an assortment of vintage metal pieces you can buy in a ‘lot’.
My dad was a bit of a hoarder and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. ;)
I recently brought home a few pieces from his stash, including this rusty metal sconce.
It’s ready to be repurposed with the help of a bolt cutter.
A 14-inch bolt cutter makes it easy to cut the metal bands and leafy vines on the sconce,
no hand strength required!
It also makes it easy to to make your own DIY Flower Supports .🌼
I cut the little curlicues off the end of the sconce for a porch railing of sorts. . .
And applied Liquid Nails to the back of the metal so to adhere it to the wood rails and roof.
A little curlicue and strip of metal band from the sconce was added as a ‘ridge vent’
and decorative detail to the birdhouse roof.
The leafy vines were tucked in between the metal roof pieces and tacked on with panel nails.
A hole was drilled in the wood base to secure the vine climbing the side of the birdhouse.
Rings were added to the openings of the birdhouse for decoration
and can also serve as predator guards.
And a steeple was fashioned and cobbled together using rusty finial,
a thingamajig and a whatchamacallit. :)
I’m not sure where my bird abode will ultimately end up, but I placed her on a
small wood ladder on the porch of the Potting Shed to photograph.
This is a fun project you can do with a birdhouse you already have,
giving it a makeover to use decoratively or adding
some curb appeal for your feathered friends!
I love that!
What fun and so creative. We can’t wait till we may once again have our grandchildren down to our home and garden to have a tea party and have them add special touches to their homemade birdhouses.
What a cute little house!! Thank you for another thoughtful idea!! Plenty of scrap wood in our house since my hubs does furniture building and repair!! ♥️🕊
Very sweet. I visited a shop in Rhode Island last year, and they had a very large Victorian style bird house out front. It not only had all these little trinkets on it like yours, but they also used broken bits of pottery to cover the house.
I imagine you won’t be able to restrain yourself from wielding a paintbrush to add a new colour scheme. It’s looking really quaint as it is but I’m sure there will be colour changes about to happen. So good to have an in-house handyman! :))
So creative, I love to do things like that. Will the day ever come where I can go back to garage sales and second had stores to look for knickknacks?
I love it! The steeple, the circles, the door knobs, the hinge and the whatyoumaycallit!😀😀😀😀
Very cute! I would love to see photos with birds at the bird house!
Very cute! I would love to see photos of birds at your birdhouse!
So creative, Mary! I love little projects that allow you to use whatever you can find. The steeple is so adorable! Happy Thursday!♥️
I like the rustic charm of your birdhouse – very creative!
Fantastic Ideas!
You are amazing! You bring me such joy with ventures like this. What lucky birds at your house. Thank you so much for all your inspirations.
It looks very proud of it’s “fancies” Mary! I am always amazed by creations made from a pile of old rusty things, I love the way you cut this and that and whimsically added these wonderful touches to the original sad little bird abode, it looks fabulous now!
Jenna
You are so creative, what a nice home improvement for your feathered friends! AirBNB for sure!!
So cute! It’s ready for occupancy. I love repurposing items. The sconce pieces added so much. Wonderful project! Enjoy your day! Clara♥️
How cute!
You are so creative…
Love your vintage birdhouse.
I’m sure the birds will love it!
How adorable! I knew you were capable of doing anything, but honestly, Mary, this project is amazing. You make it look and sound easy, but in reality, this took not only skill with all these tools, but your expert eye for style and design. Not many would have given it such incredible depth and dimension. Bravo! Bravo! This is prime real estate!
OMG – That could be a whole other business you could start! There is nothing you can’t make cuter, more beautiful or yummier! :)
Sweet!
As a birdhouse collector (have sixty-four displayed on my deck rails), you’ve inspired me to do some needed repairs to my yard sale treasures!!! Thanks so much for your posts. Your blog is the first I read each day. Janet.
Ahhh! I want one! 😁 love this Mary! I am going outside right now to our little scrap pile of wood behind the shed to put my order in and have hubby make me one. The hunt will be on to find the cute thing-a-ma-jigs, to dress her up. Just the project we need to keep us happy as it has been a very stressful 2 weeks with both my brothers in different hospitals. We need a fun pick-me-up and you just provided it. Hubby is on board to get this started! Thank you!! Also love that soft blue, hope you don’t change the color. It is so adorable as it is, love all the “iron work” and the beautiful door knobs. Our antique stores charge $26.00 for door knobs like that. I need to come to your favorite haunts and get those great deals. Hehe ♥️
Absolutely adorable! I love everything you added. Thank you for the tutorial.
You are so clever! I love this blog. So refreshing in these stressful times. Thank you!
Ahhh! I want one! 😁 love this Mary! I am going outside right now to our little scrap pile of wood behind the shed to put my order in and have hubby make me one. The hunt will be on to find the cute thing-a-ma-jigs, to dress her up. Just the project we need to keep us happy as it has been a very stressful 2 weeks with both my brothers in different hospitals. We need a fun pick-me-up and you just provided it. Hubby is on board to get this started! Thank you!! Also love that soft blue, hope you don’t change the color. It is so adorable as it is, love all the “iron work” and the beautiful door knobs. Our antique stores charge $26.00 for door knobs like that. I need to come to your favortie haunts and get those great deals. Hehe ♥️
I’m relieved to know that I am not the only one with a rusty junk pile of small, odd items! The birdhouse is totally my style. I love the look of repurposed items like that. Cutting up that sconce was a brilliant idea and gives me a lot more ideas! We have terrible wasps here and pretty much can’t have bird houses unless they are only for decoration. I shove a big cork in the hole and seal every seam with caulk to keep out wasps. I have a couple mounted on old garden tools that stay out in the garden as “art”. Old hoes make a perfect platform for a small birdhouse, then stick the handle in the ground.
I absolutely love your blog . . . and your ideas . . . and you! You do a tremendous amount of work to bless our lives. Thank you. For several serious reasons this week has been difficult. Watching friends go through struggles and hard times is just as sad as going through it myself. But you have lightened the load. You made me giggle as I saw that birdhouse develop right before my eyes. — and I needed the break. Thank you. Blessings on your sweet little head all day today.
It turned out great Mary! You’ve covered a lot of styles here… Victorian with the door plates, shabby chic with the glass knob, southern with the scrolling leaves, colonial with the steeple and southwestern with the cool railing! I likey:@)
I think it’s wonderful you have so many hobbies keeping you busy during these exhausting times! I long for an area to just play, spread out all my things and play outside, it’s such great therapy being creative! I hope you are still listening to books, this week there were so many new summer releases at both libraries, I am pouring through them as I garden my days away, hope you are too, Tuesday morning is when you should be loading up!
P-I-M-P birdhouse! ohmygosh, that is as fresh as fresh can be, I love it! I love old hardware, and it does well for us in our antique booths. That stash of yours is enviable!
This must have been so much fun to create! Thanks for the inspiration. I have a new birdhouse that definitely needs some personality – and this should get me started on the reno!
Your birdhouse has morphed into a darling one with such cute decorative touches! Great job, Mary, with the help of your hubby.
How cute is this! I love all the accents you gave it. Very creative and original!
If I was a bird I would definitely make that adorable birdhouse my home. Thanks for such a clever idea. You never cease to amaze me.
Mary,
This is a super-cute idea! I have so much leftover vintage stuff in my garage. I am dreaming about all the ways I can use it now. Thanks for the inspiration!
How cute. You left off the “For Rent” sign !
So creative and interesting, love it!
Very creative, Mary! You gave the birdhouse personality plus.
Hope you will not have bad weather. Thinking of you.
You are so creative! Always inspiring me!
Your ideas are fabulous, I just made an abandoned (ghost town) out of my old bird houses, but now I will have to spruce them up a bit as I also collect many ‘ this and that’ rusty items because I just like them. My family always wants to know what I am going to do with these precious items. Now I will always have an answer. …. To those wondering how to keep wasp and spiders webs out of your bird houses, I add a few mothballs or my husband adds small pieces of screen inside the opening. Of course, no birds either! Love your Blog!
Oh. My. Gosh!! I love what you did to this beautiful old piece and I can’t stop mentally pouring through my small rusty junk pieces! This is my first visit to your blog….I came here from Funky Junk’s posting…and it won’t be my last, because I just joined your email list. Just what I need….another blog to follkw!! 😊 by the way, I want your potting shed and all the pretties to go with it!
I love this so much! I have such a fondness for birdhouses and I have many both inside and out. Now I want to junk-a-thize all my birdhouses!
One of your posts had a picture of amazing grey poppies. I can’t find the post, but I wondered if you grew them from seed? I ordered seeds, and they’ve sprouted, but they seem so fragile. I’m in PA. Any advice on transplanting into my flower garden, or where I can purchase a small seedling for my flower bed?
Hi Barbara, I think you have me confused with another blog. I’ve never grown poppies, sorry.