Turn ordinary birdhouses into rustic birdhouses ...

Rustic birdhouses are some of the most beautiful hand crafted creations and take the form of tiny cottages, barns, towers and shacks.  A weathered or aged look is an important design element of these types of birdhouses so often then are shellacked so that they look a bit old.  Rustic birdhouses can either be hand painted or left natural so that they can become naturally distressed over time.

Sometimes it is a lot less expensive to make your own rustic birdhouse rather than to buy one.  All this entails is giving it a weathered or aged look on your own.  Ways to age birdhouses include shellacking them and then cracking the shellac slightly, rubbing their surfaces with sandpaper and soaking them in water for a couple of days to slightly warp the wood.

If you are interested in buying unique designs, check out the rustic birdhouses and birdhouses made out of natural wood provided by the following online boutiques.

The Bird Shed
Really nice decorative birdhouses in all price ranges.

Making painted birdhouses out of gourds