Not going to lie – I’m having an amazing time kicking off a long-awaited springtime tradition this weekend.
When we moved to the farm, Isai was 3 months old. It was the dead of winter – cold and snowy. When it wasn’t snowy, it was brown. The trees were bare. Everything looked pretty “meh.” That time of year, though, revealed one of my most favorite details of our backyard – the birdhouses.
The previous owners had spent years tucking small birdhouses into nearly all of the trees. Spend much time peeking through the branches and you’re almost guaranteed to spot one or two per tree. Some were little wooden things. Others were round tubes of PVC capped on both ends. They’d been drilled with a hole and had a string added for hanging.
In 2021, when I cleared out the workshop, I found a stash of new-to-us birdhouses at the back of a closet. That’s probably when this idea really took off. I knew then that we needed to keep adding to the magic in the trees.
This year, I was committed. We were finally going to do it.
A couple of the existing birdhouses fell from their spots during the winter season. One was completely rotted wood. The other was one of the PVC tubes – it seemed to have held up to the fall, but wasn’t in the best overall condition. I felt fine making the decision to let them retire while also making a promise to myself that we’d replace them.
I found a couple of preassembled wooden birdhouses while picking up odds and ends the other day. The kids are totally into crafts and painting right now – and I have absolutely no business attempting to build birdhouses alongside the bajillion other things we have going on. I decided the pre-built ones would perfectly execute my ultimate plan. When we inevitably reached that stir-crazy time of the weekend that was too cold and wet to go outside, I was ready. I whipped out the kids’ craft paints, every paint brush I could find and the birdhouses.
They were thrilled. Elin and Isai both spent an hour (this is a major win at this stage of life!) smothering the houses in random paint smears. Every once in awhile, I would hit the houses with a blow dryer – a half-hearted attempt to dry some of the colors before they managed to smush them all into another weirdly brown art piece. Somehow, with plenty of chaos, we succeeded.
Both kids were wildly proud of their creations. The houses are wild. And gorgeous. I am so in love with the bright colors and creativity these babes poured into them. Of all the things we’ve created together lately – the birdhouses may very well be my most favorite.
Today, we took them outside for a clear coat to protect the paints. Then, I added each of their names and “2023” to the bottoms. Hanging low on the Magnolia to dry – I can see everything coming together.
As Spring begins to peek into the farm each year, I hope we can continue this new tradition of adding more homes for the birds. I would love nothing more than to look up from a sunny spot on the deck to see the time capsule of our lives vibrantly painted in the trees.
The birdhouses were ultra easy to put together. If you’d like to try your own, supplies like these will get the job done!
