Take-A-Seat Bird Feeder

Once upon a time, someone told me they wished they could spend a day in my head.....be careful what you wish for.

This story is about a chair.  I seem to be drawn to chairs; and in the spirit of a true junker, I happily accept broken chairs.  After all the usual projects using backs, legs, and spindles, I find myself left with an abundance of seats with holes.  What to do?  This particular chair seat is flat but has a large hole at the center back.

The heavy hardwood seat with the hole gave me an idea.  It's sturdy enough to use as a base for something....but I want the base to look even heavier than it is so I give it my secret heavy metal finish.  (Okay...I promise to share the secret in a future blog).



When there's a hole, find a peg.....   Digging through my bin of legs, I find the perfect "peg".  The old table leg is round and tapered at the bottom, perfect for the hole, and flat on the top.  It's already white and I like the natural distressed look so I just sand it a bit here and there and give it a coat of clear paste wax (Fiddes Supreme in Light).

Now that I have a base and pedestal....I need to make something useful....

I have a little collection of unfinished bird houses that I purchased at an estate sale but you can find them at Michael's or JoAnn's.  I  pull out my old craft paints and set to work painting the little house.  I like things to look a little old and worn so I sand a little here and there and wax it with Fiddes Supreme Wax in Rugger Brown.

Now I have a tiny house sitting on a tall pedestal with a large heavy base....I need visual balance and more recycled parts.....an outdoor dining perch!

Awhile back I purchased a vintage brass chandelier that was missing some parts.  I take one of the arms and give it a verdigris finish using a chemical patina solution from Modern Masters and then a coat of spray sealer.

I love using lamp and chandelier parts because the threads are universal and so it's easy to find hardware.  Using a short coupling screw as a guide, I  drill the appropriate size hole into the wood leg.  When I need something to be extra strong, I'll put Jen Weld (a two-part epoxy), in the hole of the leg and then insert the screw.  That way, it's more like a welded in bolt and then you just screw on the chandelier arm.

For the birdseed dish, I use a rusted iron bobeche (at least that's what I'm calling it).  I give it a coat of spray sealer and use the shortest coupling screw I can find to attach it to the chandelier arm.  I like everything to have a finished look so I use a brass cap instead of a nut to attach the bobeche to the chandelier arm.  I also give the brass cap the patina treatment.

....as I said, I like everything to have a finished look so I need something for the little holes where the chandelier crystals used to hang.  I don't want to use crystals because that's not a re-use and it might scare the birds away which would defeat the purpose.   I make a little chalkboard that said "welcome" on one side and "come again" on the other.  I attach it with some recycled chain that received the patina finish.  I found a little bell from a garage sale purchase of a bird cage.  It's  a perfect door bell for my new bird house/feeder.

In the spirit of "nothing wasted",  I add the tiniest beginnings of a real bird nest to the inside of the house.  For those who don't know me, I live in the country and have a large collection of bird nests.  I started with one many years ago that my husband rescued out of a rolled up awning he was cleaning.  From that day on, everyone brings me the nests they find when cleaning.  We have a beam on our back patio that isn't the best place for building but there's always a bird that tries and so during the building season I can go outside almost daily and find the beginnings of a nest on the patio where it wouldn't stay put long enough to be finished.  I pick up all the sad little starts and figure someday this will be useful for something....because it's already beautiful!

Bifold Screen Saver

Back in October of 2006 I came upon a set of old bifold doors.  You know, the kind with half of the upper louvers missing....

I wanted to make a screen that would have a more functional side with a chalkboard and a pretty side with fabric.  The screen could then be used as a divider in a large living area creating an office or playroom side using the chalkboard and the fabric would create interest on the living room side.

The first step is to remove any remaining louvers and sand the whole piece.  I wanted an old world look and a punch of color so I decided on a medium green.  My doors were originally white and I like the look of multiple layers of paint so I only lightly sanded leaving most of the white.  Apply a good coat of green and let it dry.

While the paint was drying, I cut new upper panels from 1/4" fiberboard.  For the chalkboard side I like to spray at least two or three thin coats of chalkboard paint, changing the direction I spray with each coat.  I had a beautiful piece of upholstery fabric for the other side which I adhered with a spray adhesive.  Use a brayer to roll out any wrinkles or bubbles, just like you would when wallpapering.

Now that the green paint is dry, I sand off a little here and there to create a distressed look.  Finish off the frame with a coat of Minwax Gel Stain in Aged Oak to give the whole piece that extra layer of depth and an aged look.  This also gives the white under layer a warmer tone.

To insert the panels into the screen, I cut quarter round trim using a miter saw and stained the pieces with the Gel Stain.  Attach the pieces to one side using a small finish nail gun and insert the panels like you would a picture in a picture frame.  Then nail the remaining quarter round trim pieces on the other side.

Pretty and practical!


Tip:  Always cure a new chalkboard!  Have you ever bought a new chalkboard, written on it and the first time you go to erase it you find that whatever you wrote on it is now permanently visible?  It's because the chalkboard was not properly "cured".  To cure a chalkboard simply take a piece of chalk on it's side and rub it over the whole board.  Sometimes chalk is a little waxy and it's hard to get started so I use a little sandpaper to get the side of the chalk rough enough to work.  Once you've covered the whole board, simply erase.  This leaves the board with a light dusting of chalk which serves a little protective  layer between the board and the chalk.  Sort of like using that wallpaper primer so that when you go to remove wallpaper it comes right off.

Idea:  Make one side a bulletin board using cork which can be exposed or under the fabric.  Burlap or grain sacks are really hot right now and would look great.  Or try vintage wallpaper.....the list could go on and on and on.....