DIY Network

Pebble Birdhouse Decorate a plastic birdhouse with shells and pebbles. From "DIY Crafts" episode DIC-146

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Make a decorative stone-covered birdhouse from a plastic ice-cream container. Figure A Figure B Figure C Figure D Figure E Figure F Figure G Figure H Figure I

Craft expert Melinda Graham uses stones and shells embedded in Quikcrete® to transform a plastic food container into a decorative birdhouse. This birdhouse is intended only for indoor use as a decoration.

Materials:

Plastic ice-cream container, or other food container with lid
Nylon tulle
Scissors
Quikcrete
Water
Container for mixing Quikcrete
Paint stick
Rubber gloves
Flat stones and seashells
Glue gun and hot glue
Twigs
Twine
Cardboard
Sheet moss
Square of felt

1. Remove the lid from a plastic ice-cream or other food container, and set it aside.

2. Wrap tulle around the sides of the container, and secure with hot glue. The tulle will provide a mesh foundation for the Quikcrete (figure A).
   

3. Cut a hole with scissors in the side of the container for the bird to enter the birdhouse. Poke a hole underneath the entry hole to place a twig perch for the bird (figure B).
   

4. Mix Quikcrete with water in a bucket or other container, following the manufacturer's directions. Wear rubber gloves, and mix the Quikcrete with a paint stick.

5. Apply a coat of Quikcrete to the outside of the container, working it into the tulle mesh with your fingers (figure C). (It's a good idea to wear rubber gloves to protect your hands.) Don't cover the container all the way to the top -- you'll need room to put the lid back on.
   

6. Press flat stones and seashells randomly into the Quikcrete around the outside of the container (figure D). If the stones won't stick, hot-glue them to the Quikcrete. Let the Quikcrete dry.
   

7. To make the roof of the birdhouse, cross two twigs in a V shape, with the ends overlapping slightly. Wrap the intersection with twine to hold the twigs in place (figure E). Make another V for the other end of the roof with more twigs and twine. Join the two Vs with a twig the length of the lid's diameter. Wrap the twig at both ends to hold it to each V. At this stage the roof will look like a tent.
   

8. Hot-glue each of the roof ends to the lid of the plastic container (figure F).
   

9. Cut a rectangular piece of corrugated cardboard for each side of the roof, and hot-glue the pieces to the twigs. Cut a triangular piece of corrugated cardboard for each end of the roof, and hot-glue them to the twigs (figure G).
   

10. Put the lid with the twig and cardboard roof back on the container (figure H).
    

11. Hot-glue pieces of sheet moss to the cardboard roof (figure I).
    

12. Cut a circle of felt the size of the container's bottom, and hot-glue it in place to protect your surfaces from scratches when you place the birdhouse on a table or shelf.