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!
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!
And now for more thrifty goodness!
Join me as we check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!
More Thrift Store Upcycle Project Ideas YOU Can Do
How To Make A Two Tier Tray Using Thrifted Picture Frames
Emily says
This is such a cute and creative idea, Shirley!
Chelsea @ Making Manzanita says
Turned out so cute!!! You’ll probably laugh at me because I had to google “See Rock City Barn” because at first I didn’t get it, guess I need to get out more! Haha. Love it.
Shirley Wood says
Hi Chelsea, nah I won’t laugh because if you didn’t grow up in the southeast, you may have never seen one of those iconic barns.
Jeannee Taylor says
I love it! I love the flag on the side, the price and especially the wooden spoon perch! The birds will love it because It’s water proof!
Jeannee
Shirley Wood says
Jeannee, isn’t the perch just the cutest! So many American barns have USA flags painted on the side, that was a must. Thanks!
Debrashoppeno5 says
This is adorable and so clever. I especially like the wooden spoon for the perch.
Shirley Wood says
Thank you Debra. I hope the birds enjoy the perch as well.
Megan Chamberlin says
Now that is some imagination at hand! A Fisher Price barnyard turned birdhouse?? Well done!! 🙂
Shirley Wood says
Thank you Megan. It was a fun craft and one my hubby says is now his favorite.
Beverly says
Oh my gosh, Shirley, I was so delighted when I spotted this at the party just now. This is the cutest thing I’ve seen in a while! I love it. I grew up seeing those “See Rock City” Barns, too. What a fun and clever use of the thrifted toy barn! This would make me smile every time I saw it in my yard. Thanks for sharing at Snickerdoodle! Pinning.
Shirley Wood says
Thank you so much Beverly. We are really getting enjoyment from it and now we are planning a trip to Lookout Mtn. so we really can go See Rock City 🙂
Beverly says
Popping back by to let you know we’ll be featuring this at tomorrow’s Snickerdoodle Party. Enjoy your trip! I haven’t been there in ages.
Debbie-Dabble says
Thai is amazing!! What a great transformation!! Love it! Thanks so much for taking the tie to stop by!
Hugs,
Deb
Shirley Wood says
Hi Deb, You would enjoy making one for your front porch. I know you are quite a talented crafter yourself.
Marie|The Interior Frugalista says
Shirley, your birdhouse is adorable! What a clever way to repurpose an old Fisher Price Barn and I love the story behind the See Rock City. Pinned
Shirley Wood says
Hi Marie, I hope you get to visit Rock City someday and Lookout Mtn. Chattanooga is right there as well. It’s a nice trip. Thank you.
Victoria @DazzleWhileFrazzled says
So cool! I have a similar vintage Fisher Price school house I could re-purpose, although my kids would probably freak out if I gave their toys to the neighborhood birds! Visiting from Thrift Store Challenge.
Shirley Wood says
Lol Victoria, don’t do that. Just pick one up at the thrift store especially for the birds. The children will enjoy it too.
Amanda @ The Kolb Corner says
This is so fun Shirley! Living in Chattanooga, we visited Rock City every time we had visitors it seemed. And that familiar drive North or South on the Interstate was littered with See Rock City signs and barns. I love that you made your own Rock City bird house.
Shirley Wood says
That is so cool Amanda. We haven’t been in years but are planning a trip for this summer. Hope to stay a day or two and visit Chattanooga as well. Those barns are so iconic, aren’t they.
Erlene says
What a fun birdhouse! Now you’ve got me wanting to find some old fisher price toys…lol.
Shirley Wood says
I know, right! I wonder what other toys we can transform!?! From the top, it looks a lot like those old plastic lunch boxes so I wonder what we can make with those too. Lol…the mind of a thrift upcycle addict 😉
Pili says
It is adorable Shirley, love the wooden spoon you added and the American flag
Shirley Wood says
Thank you Pili. I think I am going to go back and put some sealer on the wooden spoon so it will hold up for the birdies.