Birdhouse x 2 Project

This weekend I had several ideas for projects to work on with my little helpers (daughters Ryley and Farryn).  Unfortunately most of my project ideas weren’t possible this weekend because my lumber stash is getting a bit low and I wasn’t able to replenish it yet.   So with that said I did a little “googling” to locate “kid approved” woodworking projects.  As I did this my sidekick Ryley spoke up and said, “Let’s make that daddy, I want to make a birdhouse.”  I said, “Ok, but we will have to make two, one for each of you to decorate.”  So with that it was decided, we would be making birdhouses this weekend.

I was able locate a lot of different woodworking plans online, but I wanted a plan that included a way to view the bird’s eggs.  I just thought it would be great to have some sort of hinged lid so my girls can take a peek at the bird’s eggs.  So I decided in the end to make my own blueprints using a free open source software program called Google Sketch up.  I definitely recommend Google Sketch up.  It is a great CAD program to use for designing and remodeling.  Google Sketch up takes a bit to get use to, but once you learn and understand how to use the tools, it is actually fairly easy and fun to use.  There are a lot of great video tutorials to help you to master the tools.  I especially fell in love with the push/pull tool, a real time saver.  Be sure to take a moment to look at the Google Sketch up screen shot of my birdhouse blueprint above.

Now that we had our woodworking plans for our birdhouse it was time to begin building.  We began by ripping the boards to proper width.  After that we cut the boards to proper length.  About half way through the project I realized that we were going to be short a board to use for the side of the second birdhouse.  No worries I just did some quick adjustments to our plans and informed the girls that the smaller birdhouse is Farryn’s because she is the little sister, and the big birdhouse is Ryley’s because she is the big sister.

After all the pieces were cut, I grabbed my 1 ¾” hole drill bit and drilled the holes for the birdhouses, and yes the 1 ¾” hole drill bit is the same one I purchased a few weeks ago for the K-cup Holder project (see previous post).  The girls enjoyed looking through the holes, pretending as if we were playing a game of peek-a-boo.

Next, I used my air nailer to assemble the birdhouses.  Then I used my router with a 1/4 inch round over bit to make the hole smoother for the bird to enter/exit the birdhouse.  We then sanded the birdhouses before heading inside for much needed baths.

After the girls much needed baths, we finished the birdhouses by attaching the flip-up roofs using hinges I had laying around from past projects.  The girls thoroughly enjoyed opening and closing the flip-up roofs, often pretending to be talking to a make-believe little birdie.  Next we will paint the birdhouses and then hang them outside.  I can’t wait to see their excitement when birds move into their birdhouses.  It will be a great moment to see.

Update!

Below are photos of the birdhouses after we painted them and hung them outside.