Apr 24, 2013

Garden Filling: Birdbaths

Good morning folks,

Before we do birdbaths, I wanted to show you 2 pictures of the amazing book I won from Jana over at http://illyriasminiatures.blogspot.com/ . I got her package in the mail and it was beautiful!
 
I decided to buy her table from Etsy, the one I blabbed on about because I thought it was so beautiful, in hand it is even more so!
 
Here is the wonderful little book she made, it is a gorgeous piece!
 Thank you again Jana!
 
____________________________________________________
 
 Alrighty, lets talk birdbaths! 
 
You see from above I have decided to create two simple birdbaths from clay. But of course you can combine wood with clay, plastic pieces with clay, it all glues together... and once your paint is applied, you wont be able to tell ;)
 
So just break down your favorite picture of any birdbath to create the shapes:
 
I decided to make a simple shallow mold for the one bowl part of one birdbath. Remember to search your house like we did on Mold Making:
 
I used a drawer knob ;) 
 
So here is my dish mold
 
You would simply flatten out a piece of clay, cut a circle, for this one and press into the mold.
 
If your saying now, I don't have cutters..did you look around the house? Here are some of mine, yes those are plastic caps ;)
 
The hard part is going to be your bird bath bowl shape, so for that one molds would do nicely and twice bake if you want to make something more intricate.
 
You can also surround a tin foil shape or a large marble to get your rounded shape and add details to that.
 
Now for the base and middle, You can use a wooden dowel, a chess piece, a long discarded cap, just look around and use that mini eye and see the detail after you have painted it, of course I decided on clay for this round...SHOCKER!!
 
If you want to add detail via multi bakes do that before you, sand the rough spots and glue your pieces together in whatever order you like.
 
I just used a bunch of scrap clay because the next steps will be to paint in layers, maybe use crackle maybe shabby it.. but I like applying paint to look weathered.
 
SO I added one base coat of white, smeared a bit of grey, then more white on the first. The second one I coated black, then I just dabbed on grey to simulate peeling. Straight flat acrylic.
 
I hope this helps, we will continue our journey with a raised garden next time.
 
Let me know how you do :)
 
***Ps my nails are jacked up...WHY didn't you TELL me??? *lol***

29 comments:

  1. Great prize and purchase, Jane! This tutorial is lovely too. You've given me so much inspiration with just this one post! xo Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. aww thanks hon ;) you inspire me!

      Delete
  2. Those are beautiful prizes! I'm watching your gardening project with interest, even if I'm not making it :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh-the book and table are gorgeous! I love the birdbath's...can't wait to try them out. I hope the publisher's clearing house comes to my house soon because I need to quit my job so I can make more minis! PS- my nails always look jacked up :) I don't even try because as soon as gardening season gets here I'll have constant dirt under them :) I try to use the gloves, but somehow I always end up tossing them aside-lol :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well when one of us wind the lotto let make sure we promise to take car of the other, so we can mini all day ;P

      I gots' man hands but that's ok ;P

      Delete
  4. I'm so glad you liked your gift and of course the table :D
    And what an amazing tutorial on these birdbaths!! Even though my witch doesn't have a garden around her cottage (yet!?) I'll have to try this one day. But then again this tutorial could also be used for an indoor fountain or a wall fountain... Ooh, a wall fountain!! Hmmm.... :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ooooo a wall fountain would be awesome!

      Delete
  5. Thank you for your tutorial!Very nice these birdbaths!! Hugs Manu

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fantastic birdbaths!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. You're a genius, Jane. Fantastic tutorial! I love your table and the book is so small and so sweet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. aww thanks hon, my husband does tell me I am a smartass ;P

      Delete
  8. The little book is fantastic and so is the table. Thank you for your bird baths tutorial.
    Hugs, Drora

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your table and book are fantastic. Thank you for the wonderful tutorial.
    Hugs Maria

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your book is so beautiful and the table looks like a great purchase. Thank you for showing this tutorial, it's so inspiring to see when you show how.
    Hugs
    Wyrna

    ReplyDelete
  11. The things from Jana is beautiful! and your birdbath is so cute! thanks for showing us how to do, maybe I can squish a birdbath in to my greenhouse... but birds don't visits greenhouses do they?! maybe I'll have to build a garden.... =)
    Hannah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe a birdbath with plants inside? ;P

      Delete
    2. Thats a great idea! =)

      Delete
  12. Felicidades por ese premio, es un libro hermoso, gracias por el tutorial :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. The book is gorgeous. I love the bird bath tutorial. Another one of your tutorials on my to-do list. I think I will just have to set a day aside at some stage and just work through your blog. Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha, thanks honey, I hope it inspires you ;)

      Delete
  14. That book IS fabu!

    I think I will need to make a bird bath to go in front of the Tennyson... yep. Gotta do it!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Water features inside your greenhouse would be cool, I was thinking of something in mine.I was thinking of at least a leaky faucet going into a bucket. Your birdbaths look great Jane. I also like how you use the left over clay so not to waste those left over bits. I actually have a bag with blobs of left over colors that get smushed together for book covers as well.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The little book and the table is very nice. The ide´a of a bird baths is great.

    Lil on Lilsdolls

    ReplyDelete
  17. The book is fabulous!
    I like your idea of bird baths. Thanks for sharing.
    Bye, Faby

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love your bird baths, I am definitely going to try this.

    ReplyDelete
  19. what a great tutorial I'm not doing a garden yet but I will be watching to see how things turn out :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. How lovely! I may make one soon! I appreciate your tutorials so much, I nominated you for an award! You can pick it up on my blog!

    ReplyDelete