RUSTIC "HOBBIT" STYLE BIRDHOUSE

Hey everyone. Here is a cool rustic "Hobbit" style birdhouse I made over the summer from stuff I found around my yard. This project used a pre made birdhouse as a base found at any craft store, but it would have been very easy to make a base as well.

 Here is how the birdhouse looked before i covered it.

 I used moss off the edges of my shed that had grown over years for a roof and trim around windows and door..

 The siding is bark off of a dead tree that had fallen in the yard earlier in the spring.

I used plastic leaves and flowers from the dollar store to create the awning on the door and attached with hot glue. The bark is also attached with hot glue. The chimney is sheet metal made into a cone and nailed into place.

 The windows and door trim are made from wet willow tree nailed into place with very fine finishing nails.

 The heart shaped door window is custom shaped, but the door is just the bare wood of the birdhouse.

 Close up of the siding reveals the nails.

Thanks for checking out my blog. Check out some of my other projects by using the links above at the top of the page. :)

"JEFF'S OASIS" TIKI BAR / RESORT MODEL 2.0

This project is a "Re-do" or "upgrade" of a tiki bar/resort model I designed called JEFF'S OASIS. I made this as a gift for my partner Jeff in 2001. He is a huge fan of tiki culture and it was his birthday so I made him a model of an imaginary resort with a tiki theme. 

The original JEFFS OASIS model from 2001

I took inspiration from "The Book of Tiki" which features many tiki bars and tiki culture, including Danny Balsz' "The Tikis", a 1960s tiki bar featuring an outdoor floor show and erupting volcano. 

Danny Balsz' The Tikis outdoor florshow and bar

Now 13 years later I decided Jeffs Oasis needed an upgrade!!

I re-did the entire entrance stairs and main gate. I used the old bar as a new peak roofed and added some tikis we bought in hawaii as statues.

The whole model is in 1/4 inch scale.

There were many toothpicks and bamboo scewers used in the making of this model.  

I bought this small wooden tiki in hawaii...its probably 1.5" tall.

I added a new water feature to the park, as well as a new bridge.

The mouth of the tiki god has now become the stage for the outdoor floor show, including waterfalls, boat, stages and more peaks. The water is all made from melted glue gun and a painted base.

The old giftshop inside the vocano has now become "Taboo" adult showlounge. Surrounding it is the outdoor lounge area for taboo.

 The tiki god was another small souvenier from hawaii.

The sign now has many gas torches all over it, as well as some new palm trees.

 The ourdoor bar is new and much smaller.

I created some VIP leather seating for the outdoor floorshow.

And places to get close to a loved one.

I used the styrofoam base to create vocano style rocks to line the moat.

The old cocktail umbrellas above the table tops are now made from grass I cut from my garden

The view from the stage

Birds eye view shows the layout much clearer.

Overall view

Of coures the whole thing had to be re-lit with lights. Looks great in the dark.

BEHIND THE SCENES
Here are a few pics of the making of the new oasis

"MUPPETS" VINTAGE VIEW-MASTER REELS

  Here are some vintage Muppet View-Master Images. I captured these myself with a lamp and a macro zoom setting on my camera. It was pretty easy:) Some of these images are pretty iconic! Hope you enjoy!!

MEET THE MUPPETS

(SCANNED BY LANCE CARDINAL) 

MUPPETS GO HAWAIIAN

(SCANNED BY LANCE CARDINAL) 

 THE MUPPETS AUDITION NIGHT

(SCANNED BY LANCE CARDINAL)

 FOR MORE VINTAGE VIEW-MASTER REELS CLICK HERE