Odd Bird Toy

It's all about birds this month at Alpha Stamps! This month, we were given a bird shrine, and since I've been having so much fun making toys lately, I couldn't help but make this shrine into a toy as well. My goal was to make it look like a well-loved toy from years gone by; you know, something you'd pick up at an antique shop or, I guess, at a thrift store.

The shrine comes with a front and a back, a plastic disk for the window, and two pieces for the inside. I used both of the inside pieces of the shrine to make a deep niche, and added some mini bird eggs and some micro beads to achieve a snow-globe affect. On the outside, I covered the shrine with black and white polka-dotted paper and colored it with Copic markers. It was way too bright and new looking, so I sanded it down quite a bit, and then brushed on some Cognac colored ink to make it appear aged.

 

After gluing all the pieces together, I drilled a small hole in the back to insert the winding key. It may look like it, but this is not actually a working toy. I used two sizes of wheels, 3/4" and 1 1/4".  I painted them black, and then added a little turquoise to the inside. Once the paint was dry, I sanded them down and added an axle. Dowels would work best for this, but I didn't have any at the time, and I was impatient. I used the handle of an old paintbrush that just happened to fit. Luckily for you (and me, now that I destroyed my only junky paintbrush handle!), Alpha Stamps carries the appropriate sized dowels to fit each sized wheel. The wheels are attached with some E6000 glue.

The eyes are bead caps, and I just had to add a little crown on her head. I love these little crowns. I need to stock up on some more! For a complete list of the supplies available at Alpha Stamps, click here.