Tuesday, February 7, 2012

So "Tweet!"

Hey there everyone!
It's Wendy here today to share my "lovely" addition to this month's theme...


I've been wanting a set of chunky little birdies for awhile and Krystal's theme was a perfect excuse to make some. These are my little "LOVE" birds.


As I said I wanted chunky so I used a pine 2 x 6 and my jigsaw to cut them out. The wings and feet are cut from 1/4 inch MDF.
Just a quick saw note...if you're cutting wood that thick the jigsaw is the way to go. It's SO much faster than a scroll saw and you won't go through 700 blades trying to cut out one little critter!


I painted the bodies but paper covered the beak, feet, and wings. I used my drill to make a small hole in the top of each one to add some feather hair and then drilled through the boy's beak so he could hold the flower for his lady friend.
To make the flower I rolled a small strip of felt into a rosette and then glued it onto a twisted piece of craft wire. I twisted the felt leaves into the stem and also added a small scalloped felt circle to the back of the rosette to cover the wire. Then just slipped it through the drilled out hole, adding a little bit of hot glue to keep it in place.


I cut the tree trunk from the 2 x 6 and the leaves from the 1/4 inch MDF.
I used the milter saw to cut a well into the center of the trunk for the leaves to sit in. One, so that it was balanced and two so that I can take it out and easily store it.


The trunk was painted the leaves took paper and mod podge.
Definitely a fun and not to hard project.
 Just what I was needing!


{I'm sharing the patterns for the birds and tree trunk on my blog if you'd like a few birdies of your own!}

It's good to be back and crafting with WYLTC again!
These ladies I get to craft with each month are pretty awesome and too, I can't wait to see what all of you are making for your February decor.
Thanks Krystal for a great theme and inspiration project! Until next time...
Happy Crafting.





4 comments:

Krystal said...

what cute little birdies! And I love that tree! It is way awesome. Great job!

Megan said...

This is ADORABLE! I was lucky enough to get a Jigsaw for Christmas... but I have not mastered small shapes. Any tips for keeping the wood steady and how to handle curves?? This is so cute...

Unknown said...

Megan-

I keep my boards a little long and clamp them to my work surface to keep them in place.

As far as the curves on this thick of wood you just have to take it slow. Don't push the blade to hard or you'll end up with lopsided wood!

I also cut out small sections of the wood as I go along--I'll start into the curve just a bit and then pull the blade back and take a wider cut to my stopping point which lets a small piece of the wood break away leaving me with a wider area to move my blade in and work the curve a bit easier. {Hopefully that makes sense!}

Have fun with your saw! It is one of my most versatile and favorites to work with.

Wendy

Melinda said...

The birdies are adorable and you found a way to include a tree :) Good luck to Megan with your new saw. It's easy to get addicted to making stuff with it!