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A box of birds: Make your own colourful decorative indoor birdhouses

09 Sep 2021

Let your wallpaper take flight and decorate your nest with this cute DIY wallpapered birdhouse décor. Using a range of wallpapers from the Resene Wallpaper Collection, you can create a colourful centrepiece for your wall that’s sure to set your guests all aflutter.

You will need:

  • Small cardboard boxes
  • Leftover wallpaper or your choice of wallpaper samples from the Resene Wallpaper Collection, or you could paint designs using Resene testpots
  • Scissors
  • PVA glue
  • Cardboard
  • Milk bottle lid
  • Pen
  • Craft knife
  • Sticks
  • Hot glue gun

Step 1: Collect your leftover wallpaper and wallpaper samples and find some small boxes – these could be tissue, popcorn or laundry powder boxes.  If you don’t have any wallpaper, you could paint your designs using Resene testpots.

Step 2: Cover the front, bottom and two sides of the box with wallpaper. Fleur used PVA glue to stick her wallpaper to the box.

Step 3: Next, use a pen to trace around a milk bottle lid to make a hole in the front of the box.  Carefully cut this out with a craft knife.  

Step 4: Under the hole, use the craft knife to make a cut shaped like an X.  Push a stick into this.  If the stick is wobbly, you can use a bit of hot glue to hold it in place.

Step 5: For the roof, cut out a piece of cardboard and fold it in half.  Cut some wallpaper into two strips and use scissors to cut some scallops along one side.  

Step 6: Glue the scalloped strips to the front of the roof. 

Step 7: Cut another piece of wallpaper and glue this to the top of the roof.  Attach the roof to the top of your box with some hot glue.

Wallpapers used:

House 1

  • Resene Wallpaper Collection AT7094 – green leaves on blue background
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection SMIL69736629 – blue with white circles
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection 8851 – flowers on purple background
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection 519846 – retro white, yellow grey geometric

House 2 (main house)

  • Resene Wallpaper Collection 434057 – blue geometric
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection SMIL69802112 – yellow circles
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection GP5917 – orange damask
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection GP5908 – pink, blue, green speckled

House 3

  • Resene Wallpaper Collection GP5908 – pink, blue, green speckled
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection GP5917 – orange damask
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection SMIL69802112 – yellow circles

House 4

  • Resene Wallpaper Collection SMIL69736629 – blue with white circles
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection AT7094 – green leaves on blue background
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection GP5917 – orange damask

House 5

  • Resene Wallpaper Collection SMIL69816705 – white leaves on yellow background
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection AT7094 – green leaves on blue background
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection 8851 – flowers on purple background
  • Resene Wallpaper Collection SMIL69736629 – blue with white circles

project and images Fleur Thorpe

Published: 09 Sep 2021