Crafty Bees - Make Galvanized Decorative Bird Cages

Today we're making something beautiful and whimsical from something mundane. The photo above features "leaf guards for gutters"! Can you believe it? I found these on Amazon last year and they've just been sitting in my closet, but the price has gone sky-high since then. A similar one is available on TrueValue.com as a Chef Hat Gutter Pipe Strainer for $3.79 or you can check your local hardware store.

To be even more creative...you can try spray painting them white, black or another cute color that matches your theme. I decided to leave them industrial galvanized metal - because it's too cold to spray paint around here.

Gather Your Tools and Materials:

Metal Leaf Guard
Washi tape or ribbon
Jumbo thumb tacks or cute drawer pulls
Thread in your color choice

Embellishments - kraft paper hearts, photos, tags, rhinestones, stickers, small china plate

First, I chose a kraft paper heart to hang from the birdcage...I stamped a bird in the center and threaded it through the top. Then tie your heart to the screw before you screw it into the drawer pull. To skip this step you could use a thumb tack with the tack cut off and just glue on with E-6000 glue. Check out the collage (coming soon) below to see how I did it.

Next, you will need some washi tape (or you can use ribbon and glue). I was lucky enough to have ordered some a few days ago, and one of the styles is a silver tone, which I LOVE. There was also a red thick style and a skinny red heart style. You can find washi on Etsy, online and a small selection at Target. I purchased this selection at La Box Boutique.

After you add your "knob" or thumbtack you can embellish with the washi tape. You can add one, two or three layers...the photo on the left below is the first layer, and then I added red as a second layer...I also added some to the knob, (which I purchased a pack on clearance at Ikea last year, but they do have affordable drawer knobs).

Washi tape is easy to apply, doesn't rip and if it's not straight you can remove and reapply  easily. Just start at the back and wrap the tape around the middle metal band and around the bottom spines. You can tuck the tape under the spines or just go to the edge of the cage. Trim with scissors or a craft knife.

You may also embellish the taped band by adding stickers, glitter, beads, diamonds, ribbons etc.

We hope you enjoy this craft (or something like it...). What kind of odd or industrial type item have you used to make something cute for your decor?

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