Birdhouses decorated with succulents are nothing new. But when I saw the petite, plain balsa birdhouses at Michael’s a month ago I knew I had to get one to use for a quick and easy craft project. They were all of 99 cents – how could I go wrong? For some reason birdhouses always remind me of spring so I thought now’s a great time to gussy one up with a melange of little succulent cuttings from my garden here in Santa Barbara, CA.
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I’ve been on a furniture painting kick these days so I used some of the leftover paints to take this birdhouse from plain to “look at me” in no time. It only needed one coat of paint and dried in a few minutes. It looks cute as can be is but some succulent embellishment was in order.
I hot glued some preserved and colored Spanish moss to both sides of the roof. That serves as the base for you to glue your succulent cuttings onto. I use hot melt glue chips in a large electric skillet because I do a lot of crafting. You can use a glue gun or E6000 craft adhesive.
I have a box full of succulent cuttings in my utility room. Whenever I do some snipping and clipping in my garden, in there they go. These are some I pulled out as possible candidates to use. This project doesn’t take too many – just a few small end clippings. I wanted a little bit of the roof to still be exposed.
My Lavender Scallops Kalanchoe provides endless material for all my projects. It’s blooming now!
All done in minutes flat. Here’s a side view of the roof.
This would be a fun project to do with kids but I’d use cool melt glue so they didn’t burn their little fingers.
If you’re having an Easter dinner or a garden party you could use these up and down the table instead of a centerpiece. After the feast is over, your guests could take them home as a remembrance of the glorious time spent together. Last week I did a lantern posing as a succulent arrangement, a birdbath filled with succulents & flowers and a Spring table arrangement. Be sure to check back in a few days because next up is a succulent wreath!
Oh, please be sure to check out our book Mother Nature Inspired Christmas Ornaments. I’ve used cuttings of succulents to adorn the ornaments I made in the book. After the holidays were over and the ornaments were packed away, I planted those cuttings in my garden. I now have even more to design with!
