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DIY Birdhouse and the Habitat for Humanity

By 05/26/2011January 23rd, 201712 Comments

I arrived home from my trip to Atlanta and New York and there was so much mail on the floor in my entry that I could barely-get-the-door-open. 

There was also a rather large box.

From the Habitat for Humanity, who partnered with Lepage products in a contest to celebrate their 2000th home being built this spring. 

Here were the instructions:

1. Assemble the birdhouse (are you kidding me, I am so not a do-it-yourselfer!!!) using the glue provided.

Right.

I did attempt this part by myself, but I nailed the walls together first because I thought – to heck with the glue, hammers rule!  Until I realized there is no way I was going to get the roof on without glue. In the meantime I managed to almost split the front panel in half because I nailed the ledge right below the entry.

2. Paint it with the colours they included. (Who has that kinda time?)

3. Send in your photo by May 22.  (Oops, At this point I was only reading this on Saturday the 23rd).
And so I had decided, there is no way I have the time to get it together for this little contest.

But then my mother arrived for the weekend.

My mother who I totally love and adore, who cannot sit still for long asked me what my lonely, unfinished birdhouse–sitting on the patio–was for and I waved it away and said “I don’t have time to do THAT! Anyway I’m pretty sure it’s too late”.  She said, “I would LOVE to paint it!  That would be soooo much fun!”

My mom Hellen

And so she did.

I sat in my living room and answered emails, blogged (and watched Little House on the Prairie re-runs together—I know totally cheesy) and got caught up and she mixed colours and painted the birdhouse.  And here is our little masterpiece:

Photo by Maria Killam

And then the strangest thing happened.

Two tiny birds, just the right size for the birdhouse, (you tell me what it is, below) flew into the sliding glass doors in the living room.  One in the morning and one in the afternoon.  The first one we put into a fabric nest and a little box and we were going to take it to a wildlife rehabilitation center, we were so worried that it was injured.  But then I opened the box a little while later and it flew away.  The second was a little less stunned and it flew away after a bit as well.  This has never happened before and we’ve lived here for exactly one year!  I posted this happening on my Facebook Fan Page and one of my lovely readers and True Colour Experts, Hannah Dee, commented “Home buyers, looking to get the listing first :)”

Photo by Hellen

The photo submission with the highest amount of “Likes” by June 1, 2011 will win a donation from Henkel of $30,000 in LePage products in their to Habitat for Humanity Canada as part of their larger $85,000 product donation as well as a $500 cash donation from Henkel to their local Habitat For Humanity branch or charity of your choice.

I love the Habitat for Humanity and the work they do.  So click here to get to Lepage products facebook page (which you have to ‘like’ to vote) and VOTE for my birdhouse!!

Related posts:

April Showers bring May Flowers
How to Create Drama with a Tiny Bunch of Flowers
A Bad Day in the Life of a Colour Designer

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12 Comments

  • Linda @ a design snack says:

    Love your mom's paint job!

    Tape a piece of white copy paper to the window; the birds have a visual that something is there and won't fly into it. Leave it up for a week or so and the birds in your area will get it. We live on the edge of the woods and had a bird in the house a few weeks back.

  • Lili says:

    Aww, the poor birds. Hope they are ok! Will you hang the house somewhere? 🙂

    Relatable Style

  • Kristie at The Decorologist.com says:

    Now that's a pretty cool story! Reminds me of that song: "Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul!"

  • De tout, de rien says:

    It looks like a goldfinch, perhaps? You can buy these transparent iridescent decals to stick to the windows, they have a pattern invisible to human eyes, but visible to birds. I have had that same issue, but no more since I use these decals.

    The birdhouse is really sweet!

  • Hannah says:

    Voted! It really came out so cute. I'd give you over asking price for that one!

  • camdesign says:

    your "are you kidding me" comment had me laughing out loud… great and funny post for a raining day in Calgary.
    So love what your mom did with the bird house, great colours and design… well done!
    weird the birds would fly into the window on that day, like everyone else, a decal or something on the window will stop them from flying into it… so glad they were ok, sweet and yellow… of course they would be yellow Maria its your home, lol
    Thanks for a great post this morning, a good pick me up for sure. Hugs, Carol Ann

  • traci zeller designs says:

    Hannah's comment is so funny! I voted!

  • Nancy DeVries/ Urban Aesthetics says:

    Oh I love the birdhouse! It definetely is something to brighten up the grey outdoors. And I love Hannah's comment.

  • Nora Rose says:

    Like it!!

  • Katie says:

    Turned out so cute!

  • Donna says:

    Oh Maria! I love this post! The house is darling..and I would have done exactly what your mother did in a heartbeat. :o)

    The house is darling. Funny about the birds. That happens in our dining room window sometimes.

    Before we moved to the country, we were always taking birds and baby rabbits to the wildlife rescue center. We joined too though we never got to do rehabilitation. You have to have a lot of free time on your hands for that.

    I agree with whoever commented that the birds wanted to get first dibs on that darling house. :o)

    Welcome home!
    xo
    Donna

  • mrsben says:

    Glad the the little feathered babies were okay.

    Maria you are going to have to invest in the adhesive product called 'No More Nails'. Then you cud build a hundred bird houses. (Just kidding.) Your Mother did an excellent job painting it.
    -Brenda-

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