DIY See Rock City Barn Birdhouse

It is time for this month’s Thrift Upcycle Challenge and my craft is this adorable See Rock City Barn Birdhouse. I can’t wait to show you what I made it from!

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Are you familiar with Rock City at Lookout Mountain Georgia? It is a much loved tourist attraction with a rich advertising history related to barn paintings. A marketing genius decision to offer farmers to have their barns painted for free led to more than 900 barns across the southeast being painted between 1935 and 1969.  Each and every one said ‘See Rock City’ along with a myriad of other Rock City teaser statements. See Rock City Birdhouses are now common yard decor all across the south. My See Rock City Barn Birdhouse pays homage to that history.

The Rules:

• Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
• There’s no monthly theme.
• There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts

Amanda | The Kolb Corner    Kim | Made in a Day
Maureen | Red Cottage Chronicles    Pili | Sweet Things
Debra | Shoppe No. 5    Marie | DIY Adulation    Sue | A Purdy Little House
Chelsea | Making Manzanita    Ann | Duct Tape and Denim    Karen | Dragonfly and Lily Pads
Kimm | Reinvented    Kathleen | Our Hopeful Home   Megan | C’mon Get Crafty
Victoria | Dazzle While Frazzled    Shirley | Intelligent Domestications    Angela | Simply Beautiful by Angela
 Michelle | Our Crafty Mom    Jeannee | Shepherds and Chardonnay
Jennifer and Vicki | 2 Bees in a Pod    
Ali | Home Crafts By Ali    Denise | My Thrifty House 

Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!

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My See Rock City Barn Birdhouse is made from a toy barn! I thought it was perfect to tie in with the history of Rock City barn paintings.

As luck would have it, we had rain for days when I was ready to make my after pictures. That is why you see rain drops on the barn.

Supplies:

• 1 Fisher Price Farmhouse Barn Toy (Thrifted)
• DecoArt Acrylic  Paint Black
• DecoArt Acrylic  Paint White
• DecoArt Acrylic  Paint True Red
• DecoArt Acrylic  Paint Navy Blue
• 1/2″ Stick on Letters
• Wooden spoon for perch 
• Star stencils
• Washi tape
• 1 1/2″ Bit for  birdhouse hole
• 5/16″ Bit for wooden spoon perch hole
• Spray lacquer for sealer

I already had all of the supplies  in my craft room except the toy barn and the stick on letters.

Ain’t she a beauty! Nothing wrong with this old toy barn. It still sounds like a cow mooing when you open the left door. The top of the barn opens too but we decided to just keep it closed. Once we put the birdhouse outside, I’ll probably leave it open and see what happens.

Do you see that price of $1.99? Well it was half of that! Isn’t thrifting just the most fun!

First things first, it needs a good bath and all the stickers removed. Running water and a plastic scraper is all I needed to remove all the stickers.

Next was painting. The See Rock City barns were all painted black and red so those are my colors.

The area on the roof where the Fisher Price name used to be was perfect for our sign. I painted that area two coats of white and the rest of the roof black to begin with. You’ll see below how I made the name white.

I found 1/2″ stick on letters at the craft store which was the only purchase I made except for the toy.

First I drew a straight line with a pencil and ruler. Then I carefully added each letter onto the line to keep them straight.

Next I painted two coats of black over the letters to finish the roof paint. 

After the paint dried, I peeled the lettering off using a pair of tweezers to reveal the words in white.

To make the USA flag on the back of the barn, first I painted the back two coats of white.

Then I used Washi tape to create the stripes and the blue corner for the stars.

The top corner was painted two coats of navy blue and allowed to dry. Then I taped down the star stencils and painted white on top of the blue.

The red paint went in between the Washi tape which once it was pulled off revealed the white stripes. The bottom piece of washi tape has been removed in the above photo.

A 1 1/2″ bit was used to make the hole for the birds to enter their house. A 5/16″ bit was used for the wooden spoon hole. The spoon fits really tight so I did not add glue. 

The rest of the birdhouse is painted with two coats of red. 

We love the way our new See Rock City Barn Birdhouse turned out and now we are planning a trip to Lookout Mountain so we really can See Rock City! One of their Things to Do is Fairyland Caverns where there are lots of gnomes. It’s a great place to visit for Fairy Garden lovers like me. You may have noticed lots of paint on the table in some of my pictures. I have been repainting some of my Fairy Garden decor and will be sharing their makeover with you soon.

While shopping for this project, I found an item for next month’s Thrift Upcycle Challenge! Can’t wait!

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And now for more thrifty goodness!

Join me as we check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

We party with these blogs.

 

More Thrift Store Upcycle Project Ideas YOU Can Do

How To Make A Two Tier Tray Using Thrifted Picture Frames

DIY Tea Cup Sconce Planter