Simple DIY Birdhouses

When DH and I were in England last June, I saw this birdhouse outside a little shop. I took a picture of it thinking it would be fun to make one like it when I got home.

Before I got started, DH cut out the birdhouse shapes for me on his table saw. 

Monday was a beautiful Spring day here (finally) so I invited a few of "the Girls" over to make the birdhouses.

These two ladies, Margaret and Jo, are sisters. They have lived in the same house in our little town their whole lives. I met them over coffee at Dunkin' Donuts and really enjoy their company, their stories . . . and their creativity. They got to work staining the birdhouses with exterior stain.

My sister-in-law, Lillian, and BFF, Mary Elizabeth kept busy using the drill press to drill a small hole in the bottom of each can. The cans need to be clean and dry. We used a metal file to make sure the open end was free of sharp metal edges that could hurt the birds (or us!).

I set up the spray paint area. Everyone brought half-full cans of spray paint they had on hand to contribute to the project.

Lillian and Mary Elizabeth got the brilliant idea of hammering paint sticks and tomato stakes into my lawn , putting a can on each one, and spraying them on there. Sure worked better that trying to hold each can up separately while painting our arms!

Does this look like fun or what?

The "Ladies" ended up with lots of great colors to choose from.

And I ended up with a polka-dotted front lawn!

A couple of the ladies decided to use acrylics to paint designs on their houses.

The last step is to use a washer and short wood screw to attach each pre-drilled can to the wooden back of the birdhouse. 

We also drilled a hole into the back of each house for hanging.

And Voila!

Eleven birdhouses completed, two bottles of wine consumed and a good time had by all!

 This was a perfect Spring project to share with friends!

This post is linked to:

Farmhouse Friday #54 at The Painted Hinge

Getting Organized: Tackling the Garage

Now that we've downsized, I'm beginning to realize that the job isn't over. We have less "stuff" now, but also less space. I want to spend more time doing things and less time looking for things. So here goes...Day 1 on the road to a more zen retirement.

I decided to be bold and start with "clutter central"...the garage!

There is no way that all of this...

is going to fit in here.

Our old farmhouse had a 3-bay garage, two outdoor sheds, and a huge third floor attic. We were lucky to find a condo with a 2-car garage, but here we actually have to put the cars IN at night so space is at a premium.

The first thing I had to do was find my work gloves (see what I mean?). Once I found them, I used closet hooks from the dollar store to hang them from a shelf so I'll always know where they are.

 

I used tough love on myself and  gave away most of my seasonal wreathes. (In my old cluttered life, I clearly spent way too much time at Home Goods). No more tangled piles of shedding plastic greenery stuffed in every available corner. The three I kept fit on top of the garage cabinets in wreathe boxes from Target...color coded of course.

I've learned to love those ugly looking plastic-covered garage hooks...they're huge...like my grandmother's coat hooks on steroids.

I actually became a bit obsessed, collecting them in every possible shape and size and then searching through the house for things to hang on them.

A couple things I learned about garage hooks:

• The screw end of the red ones from Walmart is short and they don't work well. I returned them  paid $.80 more each for the gray ones at Ace Hardware...those babies will last!
• A screwdriver helps provide the torque (?) to turn the hooks into the wood when the going gets rough. (see photo below photo from DIY Network)
• LOOK UP!!! There is tons of hidden storage space right over your head.

I liked the big hooks so much I used them on the wall by my car door to hold shopping bags.



I love these hooks from IKEA too; only $4.99 for 6. We used them in our last house to hold pool towels on the patio. Not as sturdy as the big daddy hooks from Ace Hardware but awfully cute! They'd be great for hanging pet accessories on in the garage.

And another thing that I figured out...it saves time to put the tools away right after you finish with them (Now I do sound like my mother!). A peg rack isn't very original but it works for the screwdrivers.



We have finally finished stripping wallpaper and repainting the whole house. We're lucky that the leftover paint fits in the old kitchen cupboard the previous owner recycled for garage storage.

A few things I've learned about storing paint:

• Clean the lip of the can before you replace the lid or you may never get the can open again.
• Before you start painting, use a hammer and nail to pound holes in the lip of the can; while you paint, the excess will drip back into the can and not pool in the lip.
• LABEL the paint cans when you're done. I learned this the hard way. I labeled mine with leftover painters' tape to indicate which room the paint goes in.
• Don't paint the ceiling right after getting your hair colored.
• Paint freezes; plan for a warmer storage spot indoors if you live in Maine. We plan to put the paint cans on the floor of the front hall coat closet in the winter. (Reason #1 saner people retire to Florida?)

No fancy storage tips here; I just like the picture.

Hank installed a scrap of wooden closet rod for our ski clothes...they don't fit in the closets indoors. (Reason #2 for the Florida thing...no ski clothes to store).

 

Still "looking up", we hung wire closet shelving high on the garage walls. Since I can't reach it without a step ladder, I only put things we use infrequently up there...like the lobster pot (Reason #1 for retiring in Maine?).  The stuff we used even less frequently than that (think Tupperware deviled egg server) now has a new home...Goodwill. We don't miss it!

Did I mention labeling all containers? It definitely saves time during a project.

I got rid of TONS of candles and accessories but need to go through them again and purge a second time....a work in progress.



 

Another work in progress is storage for seasonal shoes and boots. Even so, our garage is feeling a bit more zen-like tonight. Hank even managed to get the car into it when he came home from tennis!

 

 

I think I'm feeling calmer already!