Whimsical and Homespun Art Creations with a Little Rural Living Thrown In





Sunday, February 5, 2012

Vintage Fence Post & Barn Board Birdhouse

My son has been creating birdhouses out of old barn boards for the last couple of years and mounts them on old porch turnings or fence posts.  This house was built with a cool old knotty weathered fence post.   He also added door handles, old keys, and an old rusty hand sickle for embellishments, along with a grapevine wrap.   Usually the welcome sign on the front is hand painted, but this one is burned into the wood.  On one of his birdhouse creations, he snitched some gourds that I passed on cleaning for my art and created a cross bar with little gourd birdhouses.   Each one is unique from the shape of the houses themselves to the assortment of rusty hand tools.   A few of these barn board creations have graced the front windows at the antique shop that I work at.  The sun comes from the south in that window but does not bother them, and they lend a nice rustic charm to the antiques.   This one was created as a donation for our local school raffle that my son donates to every year. :)


My son has an arsenal of old worn out tools from sales, along with keys, hinges, and knobs.  He also has earned  a reputation  around town for taking cast outs.  So... local renovations usually bring old doors, porch turnings, and wainscot his way for the hauling... or anything else that strikes his fancy.  Of course, it is a win - win situation when homeowners are worried about filling a dumpster! ;) 

I can remember back before Farmer boy was a teenager, he use to take a lawn mower and trailer to haul items. (Now he just uses a bigger tractor and trailer! LOL)  The local bank was taking down the brick building that housed their first location.  I cannot tell you how many bricks and odd items made their way to our backyard!  My hubby and I went for a walk while this demolition was going on that summer, and there was our son going under the yellow tape for another load.  My hubby informed him of trespassing and safety issues.  It  was right at that time when the leader of the demolition team came out of the building and informed my hubby that our boy had his permission to enter the area...  We should have known that kid had all of his bases covered! LOL      

12 comments:

Jody Wakefield studio said...

What a talented and creative young man your son is! I love the birdhouse it is a work of art!

Brenda said...

Thanks Jody... I wish that he would take more time out of his schedule to do a little more creating... But he probably thinks the same about me! LOL

A Primitive Homestead said...

Your Son is very talented. So nice of him to donate such a work of art. He should sell some at your Grease Rust & Steam Tractor Shows. Some lucky bird will have the best home in their heighborhood. Blessings!
Lara

Susan At Glen Oaks Primitives said...

Hi, Brenda:
It's nice to meet you. I think you're son is doing a fantastic job. Usually you have no chance of getting any
cast offs around here. They get grabbed up right away for sale by the crew or the owners, perhaps the second hand stores. Us crafters don't stand a chance! People know what the items are worth now, just like copper is the first thing to go now. When we had to repair our entire roof from the tree falling through it, you should have seen the people after my copper ice dams. The new copper costs over $2200 dollars but the roof copper has a beautiful verdigris finish that the antique people want, and the drive bys for scrapping, that's about $2.50 per pound at the scrap yard. I'm hanging on to my copper, when we make a pie safe I'm going to be piercing the panels with a design for the pie safe doors.
Hugs,
Susan

Susan At Glen Oaks Primitives said...

Your birdhouse is quite lovely. I think if you put it in your yard you will have some very proud birds to call it home!
Hugs,
Susan

Brenda said...

Thanks Lara... I wish the kid would get more active in promoting his work. Hopefully, he will in the future! :)

Brenda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brenda said...

Thanks Susan... I think the copper used in a pie safe would be absolutely lovely.

There are a lot of people that just don't want to mess with finding places to take items. It amazes me... You wouldn't believe what gets set out for the trash around here sometimes. It is a shame. Well... Unless you are the one stopping and picking it up! ;)

The Rusty Thimble said...

What a talent I love that Birdhouse Brenda, he did a wonderful job

Brenda

Brenda said...

Thanks Brenda! :)

Bente-I like to QuiltBlog said...

Brenda, I want to congrate you, you have a very talented son!
The Birdhouse ist absolutely beautiful ans very unique, please tell him ☺
Liebe Grüße
Bente- Germany

Brenda said...

Thanks Bente... I will tell him. It will make him very happy! :)