Patriotic Bird House Makeover

Rick the “Brick” is in the house! Yep…my very handsome husband stepped up to the plate this week and is taking over for me. It’s kind of mischievous of me though, don’t you think? I mean…Father’s Day is Sunday and here he is doing the work. Poor guy deserves a break, don’t ya think? Well, don’t you worry. We are a team, and I did help a little. Very little actually 😉. Welcome to this month’s very special edition of the Thrifty Style Team where the men are taking over!! How fun is that? Just so you know, you can see all 13 DIY Dad projects at the end of this post. Until then, let’s look at Richard’s “Patriotic Birdhouse Makeover”…

Maybe you remember when Rick was given the name “Rick the Brick” back when he made that brick wall in our kitchen? If not, here’s a flash back: DIY BRICK BACKSPLASH WALL.

Well, Rick didn’t stop there. He’s done quite a few DIY projects around here and he is quite talented. In fact, this blog wouldn’t be the quality blog that it is without him. So, big kudos to Rick the Brick. You can also see more of his work below.

Let’s move on to Rick’s “Patriotic Birdhouse Makeover”, shall we? Here birdie, birdie 🐥.

This is what the birdie shack, I mean birdhouse house looked like BEFORE Rick fixed it up. I was actually getting ready to whip it into the pond behind our house. Maybe some fish could live in there?

*** Some of the links in this post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.  Read full disclosure policy here.

Then this Thrifty Style Team Father’s Day Edition came up, and Rick had to find something to fix up. Sorry little fishies.

Take it away, Richard…

Well as you can see from Julie’s photo, this poor bird house was a mess. The paint was cracking and peeling all over. Underneath the first layer of paint, the first coat on the roof had turned a putty consistency in some spots and was a complete disaster. I knew we had to start from scratch, so I grabbed my palm sander and some 80 grit sand paper (wearing a face mask) of course, and began to sand the roof down to remove all the paint I could.

In those hard to reach sections I grabbed my chisel and scraped away the remaining paint. The remainder of the birdhouse received a full-house sanding treatment to remove as much of the old paint as I could, leaving a fairly smooth surface.

After sanding and scraping off the excess paint it was time to get down to business. First, I removed all the excess dust and material from the outside of the house and began the painting process. For paint, and staying with our thrifty theme, we searched our basement for leftover exterior paint. We found exactly what we needed to paint this baby up right.

I began with the blue paint for the roof. We used a wide angle artist brush we had laying around, which worked perfectly. Once I finished the blue roof, I moved onto the body of the of the birdhouse with white paint before finishing the bottom, and underneath with the red.

After letting the birdhouse dry, I repeated the process giving everything a second coat. We wanted to make sure this lady was sealed up right to withstand the Michigan outdoors. The last step in the process was adding the stars with the help of a hand-made stencil Julie made from a piece of plastic we had lying around. I started with white stars on the roof and the finished with blue stars on the bottom of the body of the birdhouse. Using a drill bit, I drilled a hole by the entrance and Julie and I added a toothpick flag to finish the project. That was it! The Patriotic Birdhouse Makeover is now complete and hanging on our side porch awaiting new residents.

I know, Rick is pretty awesome. He’s the best Dad, husband, and person I know. Not kidding. I hope you enjoyed this fun little Father’s Day adventure, and here’s one more photo with the Patriotic Christmas Tree in the background.

I invite you to check out the rest of the links below!

• BIRD HOUSE MAKEOVER by Redhead Can Decorate
• HOW TO MAKE A COLD FRAME by Hearth & Vine
• DIY BARN DOORS by DIY Beautify
• OUR NEW HEADBOARD by 2 Bees in a Pod
• DIY HANGING LAMP FROM THRIFTY FINDS by Chatfield Court
• AFFORDABLE DIY SHIPLAP WALLS by The Creek Line House
• HOW TO BUILD A WALL MOUNTED PLATE RACK by I Should Be Mopping the Floor
• THE MAN BEHIND THE NAIL GUN by Duke Manor Farm
• THRIFTY DIY LADDER CHANDELIER by What Meegan Makes
• THRIFTY REBAR BARBED BIRD HOUSE by Bliss Ranch
• REFURBISHED WOODEN STOOL by Cottage at the Crossroads
• WOOD AMERICAN FLAG by The DIY Village
• INDUSTRIAL FARMHOUSE TOILET PAPER HOLDER by Salvaged Sister & Mister

DIY Wood Planked Ceiling

DIY Stained Cedar Shutters

The Upskill Project