Decorative Wooden Birdhouses with FolkArt Painted Finishes

Wooden Birdhouses

Friends, in case you haven’t guessed by now, I had an amazing time playing with lots of fun new products when I visited Plaid Crafts Headquarters last month! I’ve already shared with you about one of my favorites, the FolkArt Ultra Dye, and today I want to share with you something else I’m really excited about, the Painted Finishes line. The idea behind these paints {which will be coming soon to retailers near you} is that they create the look of other surfaces and effects, namely rust, moss, concrete, and barn wood. In order to test out these new paints, we created a project that uses all four effects, a decorative birdhouse. Take a look…

Wooden Birdhouses

You’ll need:
an unfinished wooden birdhouse
paintbrushes
FolkArt Barnwood
FolkArt Red Rust and Brown Rust
FolkArt Light Concrete and Dark Concrete
FolkArt Light Moss and Dark Moss
FolkArt Barn wood Tint and Barn wood Wax
FolkArt Metallic Silver Paint
Water in a squirt bottle

birdhouse4small

Because each of the finishes has two steps/coats, I found that the best way to maximize my time was to do the first coat of one effect, followed by the first coat of another, and so on, then go back and do all the second steps so that I always had something to do while my wet paint was drying.

Step 1: First, I applied a coat of the Barn wood Stain to the sides of my birdhouse.

Step 2: While I waited for the stain to dry, I painted the base with the Light Concrete. 
This paint has a gritty, somewhat clumpy texture to it which adds to how realistic it looks!

Step 3: Next, I applied a coat of Metallic Silver to the roof.

birdhouse5small

Step 4: By this time, the Light Concrete was dry, so I took a brush and stippled some Dark Concrete accents on top to make it look two-tone. 
You can also do it the other way around, starting with the darker of the two paints and accenting with the lighter.

Step 5: To begin creating the rust effect, I used a small brush to paint Brown Rust areas on the roof where I thought the metal might naturally have rusted over time.
I let this dry completely while working on another part of the project.

Step 6: I applied a coat of Barn wood Wax over the stained sides of the birdhouse. Then, I used a piece of hard plastic {a credit card works great!} to scrape off the excess.
This leaves the wax down in the grain of the wood and creates the awesome, authentic looking finish of barn wood.

birdhouse7small

Step 7: To finish the rust look, I applied tiny dabs of Red Rust paint over top of {but not totally covering} the dry Brown Rust paint. Then, I gently squirted it with water, allowing the paint to run a little bit, and dabbed it dry.
I am seriously amazed with the finished effect of this and how realistic it looks!

Step 8: Time to add moss! I used a small rounded brush to stipple Dark Moss in areas where I thought it would naturally grow, including around the base, on the roof, and in the cutout.
Like the concrete finish, this is clumpy, which makes it look like the actual texture of moss!

Step 9: Finally, I went back and added Light Moss accents.
Again, you can do this the opposite way if you prefer, starting with Light Moss and adding Dark Moss accents to create a slightly different look.

birdhousescollage

I absolutely love the finished look of this project and how the FolkArt Painted Finishes made it look like five distinct surfaces rather than all the same unfinished wood! Isn’t it neat? Here’s a look at all the birdhouses created by the 10 Plaid Creators! Mine is on the far right. What do you think? Are you already imagining the projects you can create using these Painted Finishes? I’ll be sure to let you know when they’re available in stores near you!

Decorative Birdhouse

 

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3 Comments

  1. Awesome! Painting is something else (like creative handwriting)that I’ve not done a great amount of, but your work is so inspiring! Your attention to detail makes it look quite realistic! Another project to add to my creativity list!!

  2. You have a true talent for painting! Your finished birdhouse looks professional. I love the way the different textures and colors of the paints you used give a rustic look to each one. If I could paint like this, I would make my house to decorate my living room with. It would be easier for me to buy one though.

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