People on Pinterest check under their bed for me when they go to sleep at night...
I have a box of about 50 wine crates from good friend Henny (not Youngman) and a box of 50-75 old license plates from my dad/grandpa. I decided to up-cycle/ re-purpose them into birdhouses.
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| A couple of miscellaneous pieces. |
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| Starting to brainstorm a layout |
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| First couple being dry fitted. |
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| Side shot |
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| Nailing the roof with micro pinner and wood glue. |
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| Shop dog guarding against possible theft. |
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| Ready for Spar Varnish |
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| One coat of Spar Varnish on |
A look at the mess in my garage. I kept pulling tools out. Notice my
kitty litter paniers and
bike trailer (previous projects) in the background.
My only major purchases were two pieces of cedar. The wine crate birdhouse were made out of wine crates. However, I needed some material to make birdhouses with license plate roofs. Thus the cedar.
A look at the line-up:
Summary of 3 types of birdhouses
1) These 4 are made entirely of wine crates. Two will be donated to a silent auction for Make a Wish Foundation at my school and 2 are gifts for neighbors.
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| Notice the variety of perches - crescent wrench is my favorite. |
2) Over the summer my parents moved and I found this box in their garage when we cleaned out. I thought it would make a good birdhouse for Julie's brother who resides in Oregon.
I delicately removed the sides. One side split anyways. These pieces were fragile as they were old and 1/8" thick.
I glued and micro-pinned the pieces to a thicker piece of cedar. I made the pieces a bit longer and then cut the angle on the Harbor, OR piece on the table saw as it was attached to the cedar with angle already cut (see piece standing on edge in left of picture).
Finished product. Love the hex bolt perch.
3) I made 3 birdhouses with license plate roofs. The license plates have significance. JUL 15 was my grandpa's plates (his name was Julias). 22 715 has been in our family since the 1940s, passed down from my grandpa to my dad and one day I will rock 22 715 on my vehicle. The birdhouse on the far right is actually a Chicago Bears colored birdhouse I made in Boy Scouts. It is in rough shape, so I attached some Orange license plates to hide the fraying roof and to go with the Chicago Bears colors.
The JUL 15 birdhouse is going on the balcony of my parent's new apartment. I am keeping the other two.
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| A look at my Boy Scout birdhouse and its rough condition. |
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| 22 715 from 1957! |