Patriotic Wren House

A Patriotic Paint Job

Dressing up this birdhouse is a simple task, with the right equipment, says Mary Johnson of Parsons, Kansas, who built and painted this clever patriotic wren house.

Mary decorates her birdhouses with folk-art paints, available at Wal-Mart and most hobby and craft stores.

"I usually use antique white as a base coat, with a contrasting color for the perch, roof edges and outer edges of the floor," Mary says. "Then I just stencil on different designs."

For the patriotic house, Mary stenciled on red and blue hearts, stars and birds. The rooftop flags are painted by hand. To ensure straight stripes, Mary used strips of masking tape to help.

The last step is the most fun. Mary lightly "spatters" the whole birdhouse with a contrasting color of paint.

She does this with a homemade "spatter yoke", which is very simple to make. Just form a "Y" shape out of scrap pine, stretch a bit of wire window screen across the opening and staple it in place.

Here's the trick to "spattering":

1. Put a small amount of paint on a piece of aluminum foil and thin it with a drop or two of water.
2. Rub the bristles of a toothbrush in the paint.
3. While holding the spatter yoke over the birdhouse, press the toothbrush onto the screen and brush with an outward stroke, flinging the paint toward the house.

"This technique does a great job of spattering and saves your fingers from getting covered with paint," Mary says.