The Miniature Bird Cottages are a fun way to celebrate any and every occasion. These charming little cottages can be a small gift, a gift box, a seasonal ornament and more. They can hold fragrant potpourri or be positioned over a twinkle light on a Christmas tree creating a soft, warm glow.
Follow the simple instructions.
Instructions:
Two suggested techniques for the Bird Cottages are embossing in gold, painting with Twinkling H2O’s, lightly embellishing with glitter and adding streamers of ribbon or stamping with permanent ink, painting with water color or water color pencils and embellishing with glitter and ribbon streamers.
#1 Stamp (in permanent ink or emboss in gold) the two fronts, two sides and two roof images.
#2 With scissors, cut out the six pieces leaving a very small space between the cut edge and the embossing or ink lines. One front piece will be the front of the bird cottage with the round door cut open. The other front will be the back of the bird house with the round door opening optional.
Cut the flap off of one roof piece. To cut the hole in front and/or back image, poke a hole in the circle with the tip of your small, straight scissors and cut a small hole counter clockwise. Coming up from underneath through the hole with your scissors cut a perfect hole cutting clockwise. With a craft or Exact-o-knife, cut a perfect X inside the circle indicated for a perch.
#3 Score narrow channels (twenty) on all pieces (six) for ease in assembly.
#4 Paint and Embellish.
#5 To assemble, lay all pieces, side by side, flat on the table, alternating side image – front image– side image – back image. The flaps of the sides of the front and back pieces will be glued to the sides panels creating a decorative panel on the sides. Keeping the pieces perfectly parallel, glue the panels to the sides by bringing the side image on the left back around to the right side of the front image and glue the decorative panel to the side of the side image.
#6 To close the bottom, fold up the round tabs on the bottom. Then fold up one bottom panel and glue the remaining panel to the folded up panel. At this time it is important to make sure that the corners of the bird cottage are perfectly square. This bottom part of the image may also be used to create a matching gift tag for the bird cottage.
#7 Before closing the roof top reach down through the open bird cottage with a sharp instrument and create a hole dead center in the bottom to accommodate a ribbon streamer. You may make a small loop with a knot and thread it up through the bird cottage and eventually through the roof to make a hanger or you may make a knot and thread the ribbons down through the hole.
#8 Fold the flaps inward on the top front and back of the bird cottage. Fold the flaps at the top of the side over the first flaps and glue in place. Be sure to keep the bird cottage corners perfectly square.
#9 Glue the roof image that has the flap cut off to the flap that remains on the other roof image. (See Figure 2) Keep the center lines perfectly parallel. Fold down the decorative edge on the front and back of the roof. This is the time to make a hole in the two center diamonds on each side of the top roof edge and thread the ends of your ribbons through to eventually make a hanger. Go back to the bird cottage and place glue on the large flap that is glued in place at the top of the sides. Place the roof down on this glued flap making sure the roof is centered front to back and side to side. Re –bend the decorative edges on the front and back of the cottage so they are even.
#10 Your Bird Cottage should be complete and standing tall. At this time pull the ribbons up and tie off for a hanger. Thread ribbons through the loop that is hanging from the bottom making ribbon streamers that may be embellished with decorative beads. Push a small twig through the X indicated for the perch. Additional ribbons may be tied to the hanger on top of the bird cottage for added charm. The perfect finish is the addition of the bird image designed for the finely feathered occupant. Hang and enjoy!
The Holly Berry House Originals Bird Cottages are available in five designs and three sizes and shapes, virtually creating a Bird Cottage Village. All images required, including the bird, are available un-mounted on cushion.
