3 Little Birds HOUSE

My mom is in town for Christmas, which is such a relief, since we couldn't muster up the energy to haul the kids, and the compulsory half of house required for said kids to travel...you know.

So, I was trying to think of a little gift to whip up for my mom, and I came up with THE CUTEST LITTLE SOMETHING...patting myself on the back with one hand while I dominate the home row keys with the other.

Long ago my mom told us that Bob Marley's song 3 Little Birds made here so very happy because it made her think of her three kids: Thad, Tate and me.  While we certainly know Mr. Marley didn't write this song about his three kids (let's be real, he would give The Duggar Family a run for their money with all the kids he had...but, i digress).

As we know, I love me some papier mache (I have said it before, and will say it again, I would papier mache my family, if that sat still for long enough!) and I found this cutie little wooden birdhouse which set the course for the following project:

Printed words of Bob Marley's song 3 Little Birds (tight margins),

brewed tea, wooden crafters birdhouse, crafters moss

Printed words.  I was thinking it would be cute to pull some information

of a few species of birds and print that up, if you aren't feeling the

Bob Marley song.

Tear up the printed words into random sizes.  I tend to tear sizes

according to the piece I am going to adhere them to.  The

birdhouse is tiny, so I took that into account. 

Soak the paper in the tea.  I tend to start projects in the evening,

so I often leave the paper soaking overnight.

The next morning I set up my little work station...it's about to get messy,

just FYI.  I make a glue/water slurry and run each piece of tea stained

paper through the slurry and start attaching it to the birdhouse.  This

is where the picture taking ended as I ended up with slurry running

down my arms (I was running out of time, as my mom was arriving shortly)

Slurry:

equal parts water and glue

I didn't cover the roof of the birdhouse, beyond the edges, with papier mache,

 so I used that slurry-free section as my 'handle' as I covered the rest of the birdhouse. 

You really can't screw this up.  I figure a little mess up makes it all that more

'organic looking' which works in a piece like this! 

I also used a toothpick to push the slurry covered paper into the areas my fingers

couldn't reach, like under the roof lines.

Phew, hands washed and I set the birdhouse to dry.

Notice that the paper does wrap a little bit up on

the roof, that is just to cover the area that

the moss (next step) might miss.

After the slurry paper dried, I generously spread glue on the

roof of the birdhouse and pressed a torn off junk of the moss

on the roof.  I had wrapped the paper a bit on the roof, so it

didn't matter if the moss covered every bit of roof, which I

think gives it a sweeter look.

I am so happy with how this little creation came together.  Often what we think will be

totally adorbs, is totally a flop...well, not this time!  I know it will make my mom smile too,

as it will make her think of her favorite 3 little bird!