Golden Book Birdhouse

Michelle
by Michelle
3 Materials
$5
3 Hours
Easy

I love the Little Golden Books icon I don't know how many hours I spent reading them to my kids! I wouldn't normally suggest you destroy a perfectly good book, but when several pages have writing on them, or are ripped, you can always salvage some of it and re-imagine it into something else! I found several Little Golden books at Goodwill for 99 cents or less. I made sure none of the covers were damaged and they had at least a few usable pages. I wanted to make decorative birdhouses with them.

I bought plain wood birdhouses at Michael's for $2.50 each after a 50% off coupon. I used the book, Mod Podge and some green interior paint I had leftover from painting a bedroom in my house.

First I painted the base of the birdhouse....

...along with the edge of the roof, the underside of the roof and the perch with green paint. You can use whatever paint matches your decor or the book you are using.

I decided that I want to make several of these as gifts and to sell, so I made a pattern out of plain white paper to make the process faster.

Next, I chose the pages I wanted to use. I placed the pattern over the page (I could see through the pattern so it made centering the image easy) traced around it and cut it out. I used a paper hole punch to punch out the hole for the perch. It was the perfect size.

Here are all of the pages cut and ready for assembly! I painted the Mod Podge on the wood birdhouse and then placed the cut out page immediately on top of the wet Mod Podge. Then I applied Mod Podge over the cut out page and let that dry. I did one side at a time and after the first coat of Mod Podge dried I applied a second coat for extra durability.

I had removed all of the pages of the book so I could use the book cover for the roof.

I glued the cover of the book on the roof with E6000 craft glue.

Here is a close up of one side...


This is the front.

...the back...

...and the other side.

I absolutely love the illustrations in these books!!

This was such a fun project and brought back many memories of the endless hours of reading with my kids icon


DIY home decor using old books

Check out more ideas for how to decorate with old books here.

Suggested materials:
  • Little Golden Book   (Goodwill)
  • Green interior paint   (on hand)
  • Mod Podge   (WalMart)
Frequently asked questions
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3 of 4 questions
  • Christina Christina on Sep 09, 2017

    This is adorable....how can it be waterproofed?


  • Corinne Corinne on Sep 13, 2017

    Aren't the books copyrighted? Be careful

  • Becky Jones Becky Jones on Oct 23, 2023

    Can the bird house with stand the out side weather ???

Comments
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2 of 82 comments
  • Jax Jax on Mar 31, 2020

    This is one of the cutest birdhouses I have ever seen!! This would make an adorable baby shower diaper cake topper!!! Just love this!!🥰

  • Cheryl Cheryl on Aug 12, 2023

    I agree! Just adorable! Fantastic, creative idea!

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