Speaking of Ornaments...

~image used with permission by DRG Publishing~

This birdhouse ornament is a nice way to bring some of the outdoors inside for the Christmas season. I created this ornament for an article I wrote titled Gift of Love, which appeared in the December 2008 issue of Simply Beads. I didn't provide step-by-step instructions for this ornament in the article, so I'm pleased to post them here.

When creating this ornament, I was going for a shabby-chic look. Once the birdhouse is painted, this project can easily be completed within less than an hour's time. So, let's get started.

Materials

* Small, wooden birdhouse ornament from the Dollar Tree
* Americana acrylic paint by DecoArt in the following colors: Snow (Titanium) White, Burnt Umber
* American Painter #10 flat shader (series 4300)
* Super Thick tacky glue from Aleene's
* Turquoise beads from FireMountainGems.com
* 20-gauge wire from ArtBeads.com
* A twig from outdoors

Tools

* Wire cutters
* Round-nose pliers
* Chain-nose pliers
* Flat-nose pliers
* Garden shears

Instructions

1) Paint the birdhouse ornament with two coats of Snow White. Let dry between each layer of paint.
2) Apply some Burnt Umber using a dry brush technique, and gently wipe away excess paint so that the white paint shows through. Let dry completely.
3) Wrap some wire around a twig and create some fancy shapes with your round-nose pliers. I formed my wire to look like little flowers, and I added some turquoise beads.
4) Glue the turquoise beads and the twig onto the birdhouse. Let dry completely.

Now your ornament is ready to hang on the Christmas tree. Consider painting your birdhouse either red or green for traditional Christmas colors.