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Knife Topped Birdhouse

Okay, so I know you all think I’ve gone off my rocker. I bought a bunch of silverware (err, excuse me flatware) from Goodwill recently. I made some Fork Photo Holders (which I absolutely adore!) And had been thinking of some cool projects to do with the knives.

Inspiration hit when my chickadee’s birdhouse roof caved in. I knew I had to act quickly and build a new birdhouse for my repeat nesters! Here is a look at the dynamics surrounding the chickadee’s annual nest location.

I had no idea that the little chickadees could continually defend their bird house from the larger birds, but they do. Every year!

I bought this $3 unpainted birdhouse at AC Moore and painted it a pretty blue;  gave it a white wash; and put a few coats of protective polyurethane on it.

Then, because I can’t leave well enough alone, I decided that the birdhouse needed something extra. Knives!!! Of course, right?!

So, here is what I did:

Materials:

Painted and Polyurethaned Birdhouse
Knives (about 14)
Wire
Wire cutters
Staple Gun
1/4″ Staples
1 Spoon or Fork Handle
Dremel power tool (with metal cutting disc, drill bit, and engraving tool)

Instructions:

Begin by removing the standard perch (yes, I really can’t leave well enough alone!)

I used my Dremel 8000 that I got for Christmas. Love it!

Then clamp the spoon or fork to a work surface and use a metal cutting wheel attachment on the Dremel to cut off the handle (those sparks will fly, so be sure to use safety goggles and keep the work area clear.)

 

Mark the width of the handle on the birdhouse.

Use a drill bit attachment to drill a series of holes to fit the spoon handle (perch) into.

I got tired of drilling holes and eventually cleared out the leftover material with the engraving tip. (If anyone is a Dremel expert and has a recommendation for a better bit to use, I’m all ears!)

Dip your handle (perch) in the E-6000,

and insert it into the slot you made in the birdhouse.

Now, time to play with the knives! Oooo, that sounds so sadistic! Measure the height of your birdhouse roof and then line up your knives to double that length (to cover both sides of the roof.)

Wrap a wire around the first knife a few times, then wrap it around the second knife a few times to connect them.

Continue connecting the knives together until you reach the double height length of the roof.

Repeat tying the knives together on the opposite side.

Drape the knives over the birdhouse roof and adjust any that have fallen out or are not lined up.

If some of the knives want to fall out, add a drop of E-6000 to the underside to secure the wire to the knife.

Load your staple gun with 1/4″ staples and staple the wire to the roof. Tap any that didn’t sink into the wood with a hammer.

Finally, add a hook to the top of your birdhouse and hang it up outside! I hope the chickadees appreciate their new home.

Note: At first I wanted to use more knives so that you couldn’t see any space between the knives, but those suckers were so heavy that I had to modify my plans.

PHGFancySign

15 replies
  1. laurenjanelle
    laurenjanelle says:

    I definitely needed to read this today. I’m going to be painting my apartment back to bland white before I move out of my apartment in 4 weeks. I have a brick wall in my apartment and if I get white paint on it, I would be devastated. I am pretty much the type of person that does things as efficiently as I can and most the time, that means taking out prep time but I most definitely need to tape the apartment walls the right way before I get started painting. Thanks for the inspiration and tips!

    Reply
  2. Marie
    Marie says:

    That’s a little strange looking. Creative though. I love the fork project you did. This whole site is pretty darn cool. What kind of camera do you use? Everything looks so clear.

    Reply
    • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl)
      Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says:

      LOL! Well, thanks for your honesty. Yes, it is a little funny looking ;-D.

      I have been using a Canon Rebel T1i since September and I couldn’t be more thrilled with it. Before then I used a point and shoot camera and edited the sharpness and vibrancy of the colors in Photoshop. It did a decent job, but couldn’t compare to the Rebel!

      Reply
  3. Hillary
    Hillary says:

    Hey, let us know how the birds like the house! I heard recently that putting shiny, flashy things in a veggie garden keeps birds from destroying the tomato plants. Supposedly birds are afraid of shiny, flashy things. I think this will be a great test to see whether that is true!!

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] add more birdhouses to the yard by adding a two-story birdhouse. We already have two birdhouses (one that is a little wacky and made with knives), but I’ve always admired the two story birdhouse condos that house […]

  2. […] the handle of the spoon in a vice grip and use a hack saw (or Dremel with a metal cutting wheel) to saw off the handle. Use a metal file to file down any rough […]

  3. Grateful says:

    […] Sadly, I think some baby chickadees lost their lives. I’m hoping the parents survived and will consider building a new nest in their favorite home: […]

  4. […] saw this one unique birdhouse online that I decided to recreate. It was just so cool looking that I knew I wanted to try and see […]

  5. […] a grueling 45 minute inspection by a certified home inspector, my knife topped birdhouse received a COA (Chickadee Occupancy Approval). That inspector was very thorough, but ultimately he […]

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