Bird House Hair Bow Holder

Hello everyone! Remember me? I'm still around I have just been super busy enjoying every bit of this summer that I possibly can.

Well, since I'm here how about a tutorial?  I'm pretty excited about the tutorial I'm sharing with you all today for several reasons. 1) because it's been SO long since I've shared a tutorial 2) if you are like me and have a little girl then you probably have tons and tons of hair bows and need a place for all of them 3) I was given a $30 gift certificate for the online store Lots Of Buttons, through the Totally Tutorials Supplier Exchange Program,  to help me with my project!!!

Yes! I love buttons and anything to help me get cute projects is even more awesome. The only difficult part, besides actually getting the project and post all together, was trying to select the buttons!   They have SO many cute buttons in all different colors and sizes to choose from! Thanks Lots of Buttons & Totally Tutorials for this great opportunity. Be sure and head on over to get your buttons, you get a $5 credit when you sign-up for an account!

Anyhow, I originally thought I would make a clock or a frame for baby girls room, but I couldn't find anything I liked at all so I decided on a hair bow holder. She already has one bow holder and it is crazy that it is already full of bows!  I decided to do something a little different for her 2nd bow holder so when I saw this birdhouse on clearance at Michaels my brain started churning and I totally started getting excited.

Cute isn't it?!?! 

(can you tell it is raining outside?)

So here we go...

Supplies:
-cute birdhouse of some sort
-wooden picket fence
-paints
-mod podge
-hot glue
-buttons
-scissors (make sure your scissors have a fine point, especially for cutting out the tiny circles)
-X-acto knife
-forgiving cutting mat
-fabric (or you could use patterened paper)
-ribbons
- foam brushes or paint brush ( I mostly used an angled paint brush on this project instead of a foam brush because of all the angles)
-brayer or other straight edge
-any other embellishments you want to decorate (I made fabric flowers)

If you are going to cover the birdhouse with paper or fabric, I would recommend making a template first. I used a piece of white copy paper and laid the birdhouse on top then traced. Notice I made a note reminding me which way to lay the template on the fabric.

I knew I wanted to wrap the fabric around so I added 3/8" (the width of the birdhouse) plus an extra 1/2" to go around to the back. This may take a couple of times to get the template right and that's ok, it's better to mess up here than on your fabric.   

If you are going to use and cover a wooden picket fence, or any other elements I would make a template for them now as well. I didn't add any extra to the sides of the picket fence,

 I just covered the top.

Now you will want to paint all the surfaces you want painted.  You know, so you don't end up painting on any fabric, paper, or buttons by accident that you don't really want paint on. (not that I would have any experience with that at all...)

Trim your fabric slightly larger than your template pieces. Then Mod Podge your fabric on the wrong side. This will help to stiffen the fabric so it is easier to cut with scissors or utility knife and will help prevent frayed ends. (If you are using paper, you don't have to do this step). I Mod Podged on the back (wrong side), because I'm using flannel fabric and I only have the glossy Mod Podge, I don't really want the glossy look and I wanted to keep the texture of the fabrics.

Let dry. This is a good time to go watch the Olympics, 

especially if you have several pieces to let dry :-)

Now trace around your template onto the fabric pieces and cut out.

Apply Mod Podge to the birdhouse and then lay your fabric on top. Smooth out fabric with a brayer or other straight edge tool (I'm using my ruler here-not my normal tool for this task) working from the center out. (Pay special attention to one way fabric or patterns that you wouldn't want to show up crooked.) Allow to dry.

I chose to use fabric strips for my "ribbons." I cut two strips of fabric 1/2"x 17 3/4"

Then using hot glue I attached the fabric strips to the back.

Now comes the FUN part, embellishing with all those buttons!

I used hot glue to attach threaded buttons to the roof line and the big yellow button to the back of the top birdhouse to represent the sun.

Then used this adorable pink button for the center of the fabric flower. 

And that's it. A super cute, unique hair bow holder!

Now the question is, should I paint the birds and springs cream or leave them the way they are? 

I hope you liked the tutorial, would love to know what you think! 

Here is a list of the buttons I used: 
*Kelsie
*Carlota
*Minh
*Marshall

Disclaimer: The buttons for this tutorial were provided by Lots of Buttons  through the Totally Tutorials Supplier Exchange Program Supplier Exchange Program. I received a $30 gift certificate to spend on whatever buttons I wanted in exchange for a tutorial using the buttons.  Thanks again to Lots of Buttons and Totally Tutorials!

This tutorial has been featured at the Awesome Blogs! Thanks!

 

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