Americana Stars and Stripes Birdhouse Gourd
Celebrate the birth of the United States of America with a homemade birdhouse project inspired by the American flag. This tall standing gourd makes a perfect holiday centerpiece. The white stars were blocked out from the blue background with stickers made from blue painter's tape.
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Materials for this project:
A cleaned gourd birdhouse with drilled entry and drainage holes
Kilz acrylic primer or other sealer
Scrap paper for tracing shapes
Permanent marker (we use Pigma Micro Pens because they are odorless and versatile)
Acrylic paints: ochre, cobalt, white, red, and gold
Blue painter's tape
Waxed Paper
Delta Ceramcoat Exterior Gloss Varnish or other Polyurethane Varnish
Seal the gourd with KILZ primer and letting it dry overnight. Paint the gourd with ochre acrylic paint.
Either sponge or dry-brush white paint over the ochre. This helps give the gourd a more primitive appearance.
Draw and cut out a large star to go over the entry hole. Trace the shape onto the gourd with a permanent marker. Paint the star gold: it may take several coats of gold paint to make the star reflect evenly.
Blue painter's tape lifts easily and doesn't leave adhesive residue so it is a wonderful tool for blocking off areas to be kept free from paint. To make star stickers, begin by laying strips of painter's tape adhesive side down over a sheet of waxed paper. The painter's tape won't stick firmly to the waxed paper, but it can be smoothed flat. Draw out a star that is narrower in diameter than the painter's tape is wide and cut it out. Trace enough stars onto the painter's tape to cover the top of gourd.
Cut out the star stickers, peel the waxed paper off the backs, and position the stars over the top of the gourd.
Paint blue paint over the stickers at the top of the gourd. At this time, also paint the bottom of the gourd with blue paint. Let the paint dry.
Even if it takes two or three coats to make the blue paint even, the star stickers will still peel off. If a sticker is covered with too much paint, pick its edge loose with a knife blade or pin.
To make the red stripes, stick a strip of painter's tape running from the middle of the star down to the gourd's bottom. Evenly space more strips of painter's tape around the lower half of the gourd. Because the gourd's bottom was painted blue in an earlier step, the stripes can finish off with an even edge instead of having to fit over a curved bottom.
Paint the lower half of the gourd with red paint. Try to keep the edges between the red paint and the blue paint neat. After the red paint has dried, peel off the strips of painter's tape. Before varnishing the gourd, clean up the edges of the stars and stripes with white paint.
Fill the inside of the birdhouse with sphagnum moss or shredded alder wood and display it within a wreath of grapevines or honeysuckle.
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