Back in July I was asked to take part in a little upcycling competition, entitled make a house a home, with Ocean Finance.
You know me — any excuse to get the paints out — there’s nothing I like more than giving something a face-lift.
In the past I’ve given a boring old chest of drawers a makeover, as well as giving a little shoe-rack a new lease of life and turning it into a bench-seat.
So of course I agreed!
Roll on a few months — with just a couple of days to spare — I finally got around to making a start (time management is definitely not one of my strong points since having the twins).
To complete the task, I was sent a sweet little wooden birdhouse plus a £25 Buddly Crafts voucher to buy any supplies I might need, to turn it into something special.
It was a bit of a plain Jane. And also quite lonely looking.
Exhibit A — A lonely little birdhouse
So what’s a girl to do with a lonely little birdhouse?
Make things a little more sociable and add a couple of others to keep it company of course!
I decided to turn my bird house in to a row of beach huts.
How to make a beach hut birdhouse
Take three little wooded birdhouses
We went to Brighton recently and saw lots of lovely beach-huts at the sea-front and it gave me the inspiration to paint the birdhouses in a similar way.
With my voucher, I ordered a couple more birdhouses and two pots of chalkpaint. I’d already got half a pot of Annie Sloan’s Old White chalkpaint — from the chest of drawers upcycle — so chose Vintage Green from Americana Decor and a mauve chalky vintage look paint from Viva Decor.
Chalkpaint is fab for outdoor items.
Chalkpaint to decorate
In order to make the birdhouses butt up together, I had to saw off the overhanging roof and base either side of the middle house and the left and the right of the edges of the outside boxes.
My GCSE woodworking skills came into play and it was a fairly simple task to do this ;)
Utilising those GCSE woodworking skills! ;)
Sawing off the excess
Less birdhouse — more beachhut
Next, I stuck the three houses together using a glue gun, then filled any gaps with woodfiller. When it was dry I sanded it down, then gave it a coat of white chalkpaint.
I glued the pieces together with a glue-gun
First coat of paint
When the first coat was dry I painted the designs using the coloured chalkpaint.
If I’m 100% honest, the coverage on the green was much, much better than the mauve. The paint seemed to contain a lot more pigment and the finish was much smoother and not as patchy.
And here is the house after painting.
Definitely an improvement. I like to think of it as social housing, although my boy pointed out that some garden birds are fairly territorial and probably won’t appreciate my efforts.
Neither would they appreciate my final addition — some tiny bunting! This is purely for decorative purposes as it’s made from paper and string. Plus, I don’t think the birds will be able to get in the doors — let alone appreciate it — but I thought it looked very sweet!
So there we have it. A coastal inspired beach-hut bird house.
I hope you enjoyed this up-cycling project as much as I did!
I thought it would be quite a fun thing to film the bird house being transformed but, annoyingly, didn’t really manage to capture any of the final stages, as I spread the project over two days and it rained on the second day.
All day.
Also, my boy filmed the sawing part and forgot to turn the phone to landscape so, once again, we’re blighted by the irksome black lines either side of the frame. Never-mind. Live and learn.
In future I must remember to leave myself more time and not do things at the last minute!!
Many thanks to Ocean for asking me to take part in this competition and a big thank you to Buddly Crafts for providing a fab range of crafty supplies.
This post is my entry into the Ocean Make A House A Home competition. I was gifted one wooden birdhouse and a £25 voucher for Buddly Crafts in order to take part.
Caro Davies art directed fashion and interiors before leaving the world of design to pursue a career in social media. She can now be found chasing the light — and two small twin boys.
Caro, I love, love, love this. You must pin it at once!!! I’m desperate to do this for my garden now. Ooo, such a fab idea.
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Aaah thanks so much darling!! I’m pleased with how it turned out, although I wish Id given myself a little more time for the painting. It’s a bit blobby in places!! ;)
How adorable are these?! What a fantastic idea and you make it look so easy, the tiny bunting is a sweet touch! They would definitely look a lot cheerier in the garden than a regular birdhouse xx
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Yes — regular birdhouses are a little bit boring aren’t they? No wonder the birds try to decorate them themselves in the spring with twigs and fluff!!!! ;)
Oh my goodness, this is adorable Caro.
Lucky birds!
You just need to make them a few deck chairs now! ;) xx
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Thanks so much lovely!! :) I had a ball making this — nice to get crafty every once in a while :)
This is beautiful, much more exciting than a plain bird house
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Thanks so much Fiona! :) I’m really pleased with them. Not so lonely-looking now! :)
They look so cute! What a great idea!
Thanks for hosting #twinklytuesdays as always xx
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Thanks so much Becky!!! So pleased with how they turned out :)
These look so cool. My little girl just won a wooden birdhouse kit so maybe we’ll copy you and give it a beach feel! I hope you win :) #twinklytuesday
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Thanks lovely! Yes — do!! Or a princess castle would be cool too — you could add a tower and some turrets!! ;)
They look great! I love craft activities but I’ve never really worked with wood (I think techie at school is to blame). This sort of thing would be a good starting place.
Thanks for hosting #AnythingGoes
I’m half asleep still. I meant thanks for hosting #TwinklyTuesday
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Aaah bless you pet!! I know the feeling!!! *yawns* Thanks so much for stopping by! x
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Honestly — it was SO simple. To be honest, if I can do with with a rusty old saw anyone can do it!! ;)
Those birdhouses look fab Caro, what a brilliant idea and I love the tiny bunting too :-) #twinklytuesday
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Thanks Louise! I think the tiny bunting was more for my benefit than theirs!! LOL! ;)
Those birdhouses look fab, Caro, what a brilliant idea and I love the tiny bunting too. #twinklytuesday
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Yes — they looked like they needed a little more prettying up, although the bunting will have to come off when I hang it up outside! The poor birds won’t be able to get in!!
I love this Caro!! You are so talented!! I’m really bad with these things !! I would love to have that skill. Thanks God my husband has that skill so he can do nice things with the girls!! Thanks so much for sharing and hosting, :-) xx
#TwinklyTuesday
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Thanks SO much Franca! That’s lovely of you! xx
these look so awesome!! I’m totally obsessed with birdhouses. We have a much coveted Tamar Mogendorff fabric birdhouse and I would have a dozen more on the wall, but they’re so so dear. Maybe I can do this instead? The bunting is such a cute little addition!! #TwinklyTuesday
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Do you know? I so very nearly covered it in fabric to look like one of those!! You could do that too!! Have a whole collection on the wall x
I absolutely love this! Living by the sea it would look perfect in my garden. Can’t beat a bit of up cycling, I don’t have much time anymore but I have lots of pieces in my house which have been splashed with a bit of Annie Sloane #twinklyTuesdays
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Aaah I’m SO with you. It’s all time isn’t it? I’ve got a few really big up-cycling projects on the back burner but just don’t seem to have the time to start/finish them!! xx
Aw these look super cute! Especially loving the bunting, what a lovely touch. I didn’t know you could use chalk paint outside, how cool! Becky x #TwinklyTuesday
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I’ve pained quite a few bit and pieces that live outside in Annie Sloan’s chalk paint. The advice they give it not to wax it. I’m hoping this new chalk-paint I’ve used will be as hardwearing!!
Oh my god! I LOVE these! They are so cute!!! I think this is going into the archive ready to do in the spring! Good luck in the competition lovely! xx
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Thanks so much Clare! It was SO easy to do! I might make some more!! ;)
Ooh I love these! They look fab! I wouldn’t have realised that chalk paint worked outside – good to know. For some reason I always thought it was like F&B emulsion… I’m obviously very wrong! #twinklytuesday
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I’ve used Annie Sloan outside and it’s worked a treat! You just need to remember not to wax it, if its going in the garden!! :)
That is the cutest thing ever… the lucky birds! #twinklytuesday
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Ah thanks SO much Aisling!! Thanks for dropping by :)
Wow they look super cute and such a great idea to stick three together would have never thought of that. We have a single bird house but this looks fab so think I may have a go at this somewhen (i’m like you any excuse to get the paint out here) and the mini bunting is just adorable!! x
Popping by from #twinklytuesday :)
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Thanks so much lovely! The one by itself looked a little bit lonely!! MUCH more sociable with three! :)
These are so cute! We have a few birds in our garden (the most territorial ones, inevitably!) after I finally got round to putting up a squirrel proof bird feeder – I don’t have any woodworking skills at all, but this would definitely tempt me to try. #twinklytuesday
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Aah Cathy! The woodworking but was really, really simple! I haven’t picked up a saw since school and found it really easy to do. Give it a go! xx
I think I fall a little bit more in love with your blog every week. So lovely and I really want to make these now!! So pretty #twinklytuesday xx
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Aah Rachel — what a really lovely thing to say!! Thanks SO much — that really does mean a lot! :) xx
They turned out fabulous! I love the beach hut look & the colors you choose are perfection. Some very trendy birds will be delighted to move in there! Thanks so much for hosting #TwinklyTuesday & best of luck in the upcycling competition x
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Thanks so much Becky!! I’m looking forward to seeing if we get any feathered lodgers in the spring! :)
Very pretty. I love the bunting. I am not creative at all and wouldn’t have had a clue what to do with a birdhouse. Great idea turning them into little beach huts.
Visiting from your linky #twinklytuesdays Thanks for hosting :-)
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Thanks so much Janine! I really enjoyed the project — so nice to take something and turn it into something else! :)
Ah huni, this is gorgeous! I want to move in myself! :) xx
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Ooh me too Aby!! I’d blooming LOVE a beachhut!! :)
I’m in awe! That’s just amazing project and it looks so stylish and fun to do!
Your comment about not leaving things to the last minute sounds like most mums I know!
#TwinklyTuesday
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Thanks so much Tracey :) It was so much fun to do!!
How cute are these?!?! Thanks for the inspiration, I love a good upcycle!
#twinklytuesday
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Thanks so much Faye — that’s lovely of you xx
Oh they are so cute – you are very creative, gorgeous! #TwinklyTuesday
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Thanks so much!! Not often I get time to be creative these days! :)
These are just beautiful, I love beach huts! We recently discovered chalk paint and have gone a bit mad with up cycling some wood furniture round the home. This is definitely something I’d love to try, maybe in the spring. X MMT #twinklytuesday
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Aaah it’s addictive isn’t it? You end up painting everything in sight!! ;)
These are lovely, I have a thing for beach huts, wouldn’t it be lovely to have one! We recently discovered chalk paint too, so this could be another thing to get painting. X MMT #twinklytuesday
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Gosh me too — I would LOVE one!! A gorgeous little hut overlooking the sea — just lovely! x
These look SO gorgeous!!! #TwinklyTuesday
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Thanks SO much! I really enjoyed making them!! :)
This is mega cute! I love the colours you chose for it – perfect little ‘beach huts’ #twinklytuesday
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Thanks so much lovely!!! I spoke to a friend last night who said she say do it in red and white — I bet that would look awesome too!!! :)
How handy are you! Love the finished article. I have a thing for chalk paint too! Can’t get enough of the stuff #TwinklyTuesday
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Aah thanks lovely!! I love getting my Blue Peter head on!! ;) Chance is a fine thing, these days!! x
Wow… what a transformation?! Fab job beautiful lady, it’s so cute xoxo
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Thanks so much lovely girl!! Are you coming to Blogfest — would love to see you? xx
Wow! That is such a lovely birdhouse beach house! What a lovely artefact this would be in the garden. Thank you for showing us how :)
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Thanks so much Su! I figured a little film would be easier than pictures. Sometimes it’s simpler when someone shows you how to do something! x
Wow! Great idea and so effective, and the cute bunting just finishes it off so nicely! I may have one or two chalk paint projects that need doing, it’s just such a simple way to makeover anything. I haven’t heard of Buddly Crafts, so will have to have a peek later as I love anything crafty! Good luck in the competition too! #TwinklyTuesday
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They’ve got some lovely things! Lots and lots of great little craft bots and pieces. I’d never heard of these two brands of chalk-paint, so it was nice to try something new x
They are so cute! A fab idea to glue them all together! Good use of the GCSE :) #TwinklyTuesday
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Haha! Thanks lovely! I think that’s (possibly) the first time I’ve picked up a saw since school!! ;) xx
This is gorgeous! I love the coastal theme and have lots of beach huts, lighthouses and starfish in my houes (sadly I didn’t make them though!) #TwinklyTuesday
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Thanks so much Aimee!Aah these would go really well in your garden then :) To keep the theme running through — give it a go — it’s so easy!:)
Oh wow! They are amazing, I would love to make these :) Beautiful :)
#TwinklyTuesday
Gemma xxx
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Thanks Gemma :) xx
This is amazing! I am in no way good at DIY or anything that involves tools but now I want to practise my sawing because this is adorable! Thanks for sharing and for hosting #twinklytuesday :)
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Becky — I PROMISE you —it’s super simple! The wood is fairly thin so really quick and easy to cut :)
They’re so sweet! Love the little bunting! The birds will feel like they’re on a 1950s beach holiday…#twinklytuesday
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Haha!! I don’t think the birds will appreciate it at all LOL!! But hey — at least it will look nice in the garden ;) xx
These are so cute – I love the bunting! Thanks for having us on #TwinklyTuesday
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Aah thanks so much Sarah — and thank you for linking up with us too x
I love beach huts, so I love this! Great tip about using chalk paint for outdoor items, I didn’t know this but will be using it in future! #TwinklyTuesday
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Ah thanks so much Nicola!! Thanks for stopping by! x
Such a clever idea – a row of these would look lovely in my garden.
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Thanks so much Verity! They were so easy to make — give it a go! x
Wow, you’ve done superbly well with your bird house. I made a bird house once and it was, frankly, awful. Your effort is much, much better. Thanks for hosting #twinklytuesday
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Aah thanks so much John!! :) All those GCSE skills coming into play at last!! Who said I’d never use my woodworking lessons again? ;)
So cute, I must do this! I love the colors that you used, especially that shade of blue. #TwinklyTuesday
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Thanks so much Lara! Yes — it’s called vintage green but it definitely looks more like duck-egg blue to me!! ;)
Er, That is such a cute idea! I love it!!! You are one clever lady! Now the birds can have neighbours! lol xxx
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Aaah thanks lovely!! I really enjoyed making it — so nice to get the paints out and get all creative! x
Absolutely love this – I’d be in total heaven being given a blank wooden box like this. I have a little wood burning pen and any excuse I can find to use it I will!! Really wouldn’t have thought of doing beach huts but they look fab and would be very popular in a shop im sure X #twinklytuesday
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Aah thanks so much. Yes — I love these kind of crafty competitions!! It’s lovely to be given an excuse to get all Blue Peter!!
What a lovely project. I’d love to have a birdhouse (or several) in the garden, but unfortunately so would our cat, and I’m not sure the birds would appreciate it. They need a matching beach/birdbath to go with their huts. ;) #TwinklyTuesday
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Aaah! We’ve got three cats!! We’ve got Bengals — but one of them is a baby and is being kept in — the other is more intersted in tormenting the dog over the road and our oldest cat is a mouse fiend. The birds have been fairly lucky over recent years!! I hope it stays that way! x
Oh my god I love this! I really need to get some chalk paint. I love all of the colours and you can uplift anything with it can’t you. These are so sweet. Lucky, lucky birds! xx #twinklytuesday
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Thanks so much pet! I loved making these — so much fun! :)
This is so incredibly cute! I love beach huts and painting bird houses in the same style definitely brightens them up. Who cares if the birds don’t appreciate it ;) #twinklytuesday
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Thanks Claire — me too! And I totally agree :) The birds can please themselves!!
What a lovely idea and they look fabulous too! #twinklytuesday
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Thanks so much Catie — that’s lovely of you x
That is such a creative idea! I love them! Hope you win!! xx
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Thanks so much Sue!! It would be amazing to win! Although, to be honest, just having the blog post is pretty good! :)
So cute and very creative, what a great idea! I would have never thought about doing that. We inherited some rather dull and boring bird feeders when we bought our house. I’d love to have something more visually interesting and attractive so thanks for sharing your creative ideas :-) #TwinklyTuesday
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Thanks so much Emily! :)
How could any bird resist such a palace! I like the idea of the birds on their perches all twittering to one another, courtesy of Caro! Love the video – you are such a crafty so and so and the sound track is PERFECT! I love that song! #twinklytuesday
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Haha! I LOVE that song too!! Funny — as I was making the birdbox it was playing round and round my head! Seemed like to obvious choice to put on the little film :)
Wow these are so lovely and I love the little bunting too! #twinklytuesday
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Thanks so much Julie! I had a lot of fun making it :)
Caro I just love this as I love craft projects, I have a few planned and on the go at the moment, these are just adorable x
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Thanks lovely! Yes — I seem to have LOADS of projects either on the go — or in the pipeline — and no time to finish them all!! xx
Fab job! These look super cute! My mummy did GCSE CDT which is like woodworking and might try her hand to up-cycle something. You have inspired her! #TwinklyTuesday x
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Aah DO it!! Lots of fun — get those power tools out — don’t let those GCSE CDT skills go to waste!! ;)
These are just beautiful! And I’ll be trying to make one once in our new house #twinklytuesday xx
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Yes do!! A friend is going to make some in traditional red and white stripes! I bet they’ll look fab :) xx
Those are absolutely stunning, you’re amazingly clever! Couldn’t do that to save my life! #twinklytuesday
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Aaah I bet you could!! Really — the hardest bit was the sawing and even that was really simple to do! Give it a go! :)
This is a lovely little project. Thanks for sharing it with us. #TwinklyTuesday
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Thanks so much Helena! It was a lovely project to do! :)
I love this idea, they look so cute (and I really love the bunting). Our bird boxes are very dull in comparison, you may have inspired a little project for the Spring. xx
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Thanks so much lovely!! Yes!! Get the paints out and give them a makeover!! :)
This is so cute! Looks brilliant. You should make more and sell them! Thanks for hosting #TwinklyTuesday :)
Debbie
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Thanks Debbie!! Aah if I had time, I would!! Too much to do though!! ;)
Just love this! I wouldn’t worry about the birds, beautiful addition to the garden :)
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Haha!! That’s JUST what I’ve been thinking!! LOL!! ;) xx
What a sweet idea. Much better than a bog standard wooden bird house. Love the bunting.
#twinklytuesday
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Thanks so much lovely :)
OK I’m seriously jealous of your talent! They look so gorgeous #TwinklyTuesday
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Aah thanks Mac!! Nice to be given the opportunity to do something like this to be honest. I don’t think, without a prompt, I’d probably have done it!
Haven’t they turned out cute? Where do you get the ideas?
Why do men always leave it till too late to make their comments on projects? Still, i’m sure that a few birds will be attracted it.
#twinklytuesday
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Haha!! I KNOW!! Although — hey — if the birds don’t all want to live in it, tough! It will look pretty in the garden! Re ideas — I can just visualise things well, I guess. Comes from years of designing for a living xx
Wow these are amazing you did such a great job!! Super creative!
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Thanks lovely!! :)
These are so gorgeous, I blinking love them! You are so clever and I especially love the bunting!! Thanks so much for all you do for #TwinklyTuesday 😊
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Aaah thanks so much pet!! I really enjoyed this project. It’s SO nice being able to blog about this kind of stuff!! I used to do things and not have anywhere to put the photos — now I have somewhere to keep a record, which is lovely :)
Love these, we use to live in Brighton and they would have looked fab in our little garden! If I can figure out where to put them I may try a similar project next spring! I discovered chalk paint for the first time at the handmade fair the weekend just gone, looks amazing stuff and have a lot of projects buzzing around in my head now! Thank you for hosting #TwinklyTuesday xx
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Aah thanks pet! :) Chalk paint is a dangerous commodity!! You find yourself looking at all sorts of things and planning little makeovers in your head!! ;)
Oh Caro, I love this. This has to be the most gorgeous bird house ever. And you make it all look so easy in your video. You are one talented lady. Hugs Mrs H xxxx
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Thanks so much lovely!! I had a ball making it — it was funny watching my hands on the video!! :)
What a gorgeous idea, I love it! Especially love the painting part, it is so sweet! Hoe you get some birdies in it soon xxx
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Thanks pet!! I really, really enjoyed this project!! I hope the birds will like it :)
A great make Caro – I hadn’t seen this until today. It’s super to see you work your creative magic with our supplies, thanks. ♥
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Aah thanks so much Kim! I really enjoyed the project :)
Great transformation indeed! I really like that bird house. Very creatively made indeed! I can’t wait to make something very similar for my daughter as well. Birds really likes to stay on this type of nests.
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Thanks SO much!! :)
wow!! the idea is great.. I like how you make it look so easy specially on the video, I wonder how it will turned out with birds on it.. or maybe a great display on the garden
thanks for sharing!!
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Thanks so much! :)