Can you believe it’s less than three months until Christmas? Where did the summer go?  I can really be a procrastinator, so if you are like me, here’s a little push to get you started on your holiday craft projects.

When I received my box of goodies from the Ribbon Lady, I had this wonderful  Cling Jumbo Cardinals stamp set from Stampendous, which completely got my mind reeling towards birdhouses.  I didn’t end up using the birds themselves – but they still completely inspired this project.  This could either be used as a decoration or a gift box.

I found a template for a 3-d birdhouse in a stamping magazine, and scanned it, enlarged it, and printed it on 12 x 12 cardstock.  I cut out the base.

I scored all of the folds, using my Scor-pal, and inked the edges.

I printed a second template onto my patterned paper, and cut each panel of the house (cutting slightly smaller than the base).  The edges were inked and the papers were glued to the cardstock base. The house was glued together using Scor-tape.

The roof was made with a 9” x 4” piece of cardstock, scored in the center.  A smaller panel of coordinating patterned paper was added.

Now, the best part – the embellishing!  I stamped, cut and colored two of the berry branches, and shaped them with a ball stylus, to give them dimension.  I tied a multi-loop/mixed ribbon bow using the Bowdabra, and glued it to the top of the house.  I added a little bit of crochet lace around the bottom of the roof and the front of the house (just because I love this ribbon with all of my heart!) and tied off my berry bouquet on the front with a little twine.

Wouldn’t it be adorable to make a bunch of these little bird houses and put them around a little bird themed skinny Christmas tree?  See what I mean about it’s time to get going on my holiday projects?!!

Supplies

• May Arts Ribbons: 361 5/8″x15y CROCHET 361-58-10; Grosgrain/Stitched Edge  BH16; Twisted Burlap 363-33
• Stampendous Cling Jumbo Cardinals
• Echo Park Paper: Very Merry Christmas
• Scor-Pal, Score-Tape
• Worldwin Cardstock
• Copic Markers
• Clearsnap Ink

Blog post by: Gini Williams Cagle

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