Welcome Birdies!

Easy
A couple weeks ago I finally decided to create this bird house condo out of my largest piece of driftwood. I knew I wanted it to be a stand alone piece and the only way to accomplish this was to set in concrete in a pot (I like things to be mobile so I can re-arrange when I am bored). Okay the pot is ugly but it was all I had and since it will be either buried or hidden, what the heck.
I used rubberized undercoating leftover in the paint cabinets to seal up the end of the driftwood that would be set in the concrete. you could use any kind of rubberized sealer to seal the ends so moisture does not wick up the branch.
I built the birdhouses out of $1.54 fence picket and burned the wood with my propane torch to give it an aged look. I decided not to use screws but to drill holes to hammer in nails (I found a box of flooring nails that I am never going to use again), and use a scrap piece of metal for a roof. I had the red metal cardinal floating around the garden and I painted the sign. I can change this up when I find more metal birds.
I used a metal rod to hold the bottom birdhouse on because I had no way to attach to the driftwood. I drilled through the bottom of the birdhouse and had drilled through the driftwood to push the metal down through the 'trunk'.
I enjoy creating from branches, rocks, and finds from walks with the dogs or trips across the country. I hope I have inspired you to go out and walk through the woods to find yourself a dead tree branch or walk along the water for a piece of driftwood to create your next masterpiece.
Happy gardening!
For now I am happy with it but I want to add some more metal birds so hopefully on my trip to NM I will find some more 'stuff'!
What to do with a piece of driftwood, piece of metal, fence picket and a torch
I carefully drilled a hole with my long drill bit up through the bottom of the driftwood trying to go as high as I could without coming through. My goal was to have the edge of the birdhouse sit on the cut off branch
I burnt the birdhouses with my propane torch. Careful not to leave too long in one spot. I just love the look!
I had to keep a handle on the stem and adjust it to stand up the way I wanted. It was 90 degrees so the concrete set up pretty fast!
The Garden Frog with C Renee
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Diana Diana on Jul 07, 2014
    Beautiful! I also used some of the heavier logs cut to section off parts of the garden and upright as decorative areas for flower pots filled with cascading flowers. Thanks for the ideas here. I am getting inspired seeing the clever ideas of others. Thanks!
  • Rhonda B Rhonda B on Aug 05, 2014
    Looks great-I love the driftwood. The birds will love it!
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