Guest Post: DIY Booya Birdies

When I asked Zoe to do a guest post for me, I knew she’d say yes. Who turns down a grumpy 9 months pregnant sister-in-law?

I just love these Booya Birdies and can’t wait to try my hand at it. They are especially great for gifts (although I tend to hoard my homemade projects) or as decoration for a child’s room. Enjoy and happy crafting!

***

Hello, hello! I was excited when Kate asked me to contribute to her DIY series. I love DIY. And I was just starting this little project so it was great timing.

Have any of you joined Pinterest yet? It’s addicting. But it can be addicting in the best of ways. It’s where I saw these little Booya Birdies (whatever that means!) and fell in love. I needed a baby shower gift for a good friend and this was the perfect project.

So let’s get started.

1.       Gather your tools: fabric scissors, straight edge screwdriver, hammer, bird stencil (I made mine using a cereal box), pen, and a wire cutters. And a needle. He missed the shot. Somehow the picture hanging do-dad snuck into this picture, too. But he belongs in the supplies. Silly thing.

 

 

2.       Make a pile of your supplies: picture frame with glass, a piece of plexi glass the same size as the glass in the frame, 5 coordinating fabric scraps, coordinating embroidery floss, thin copper wire, double-sided tape, and a few triangular-shaped things that hold glass in windows. I apologize. I have no idea what the technical term is. 

3.       Take a piece of fabric and position your bird stencil on it, preferably near the edge so as to waste as little as possible. 4.       Trace around the bird with a pen. If you have a really dark fabric, it might be helpful to use fabric chalk instead.

5.       Cut out the bird, being sure to cut off any pen marks. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for the remaining fabrics.

6.       Remove the plastic from the plexi glass.

7.       Cut a piece of wire that extends a little beyond the length of the plexi glass.

8.       Position the wire about 1/3 of the way down the side of the plexi glass.

9.       Bend the ends of the wire to the back. Cut off any excess wire that might peek out of the final product.

10.   Arrange your birds below the wire.

11.   Cut a piece of embroidery floss to hang the bird. Give yourself a little extra to make knotting easier.

12.   Thread the embroidery floss through the needle and poke it through the top of the bird, about and 1/8 inch away from the edge.

13.   Lay the bird back down where he belongs and pull one of the threads under the wire and leave the other on top.

14.   Tie a knot, making sure that when the bird hangs from the wire, he falls where you want him to.

15.   Flip the bird up and stick a piece of double-sided tape on the plexi glass.

16.   Press the bird on top of the tape, pulling the embroidery floss snug. The tape keeps the bird from slipping around when the picture is hanging.

17.   Snip off any excess embroidery floss and repeat steps 11 through 16 with the remaining birds.

18.   Find your little triangle shaped things that hold in the plexi glass.

19.   Turn your picture frame upside down (with the glass in it) and place the plexi glass bird art on top of it, making sure the right side faces down. Lay a triangle in each corner.

20.   Using the flat tip of the screw driver and a hammer, gently pound the triangles into each corner. You may need to put some triangles on the sides of the frame as well, depending on how well you think they will hold.

21.   If your frame doesn’t already have a hanger, you’ll need to put one on. Measure the width of your frame and then find the middle. Put a little mark there.

22.   Place the hanger over the mark and pound in each little nail. I hold the nail with a pliers since my fingers are too big.

23.   And you’re finished! First be very proud of yourself and then go hang the thing. It’ll brighten up a child’s room or craft room quite nicely.

***

Follow Zoe on her blog at Whole Eats & Whole Treats