Restless Spirits
It all began with an idea and a rough little sketch on a piece of scrap lumber.
I had been kicking around the idea of doing a haunted house themed birdhouse for a while.
I’d fiddle with designs here and there, but could come up with an idea that I actually liked. Most of my ideas involved revamping the Cozy Cottage design, thinking that with a few color changes and the addition of cut-out ghosts and bats, I could make it into something convincingly Halloween(ish).
The more I thought about it, and played with design ideas, the more I realized that I wasn’t going to be satisfied with another cutesy little birdhouse. I’d been itching to sink my teeth into something a bit more – artistic – and if I was going to build a haunted house I wanted it to look like an actual HAUNTED house! I wanted to build a sculpture of the sort of shambling victorian manor that are the staple of so many classic horror films.
And, clutching desperately onto the threads of my original concept, if birds could comfortably nest in it, that would be a bonus.
And then randomly, one day while I was working on another project in the workshop, the design came to me, just all at once. Lacking any handy note paper, I grabbed a scrap of wood and drew a rough little sketch, just so the idea wouldn’t be lost again.
I had the shape. Now, I need only bring it to life.
So here and there over the months that followed, I started to build the first one. The more I worked on it, the more I fussed over all the details, both large and small, frequently inventing new way to do things that I had never done before. I frequently found myself testing the limits of what the wood would allow me to do, but usually, we (the wood and I) found a nice compromise.
The final product contains every bit of detail I could think of that screams HAUNTED HOUSE! There’s the rotted siding exposed to the elements by peeling paint, the planks used to haphazardly board up the empty windows, the tarnished copper roof dripping with patina, and the weed littered grounds which include a small private cemetery at the rear of the structure.
And also, it really is a fully functional birdhouse, ventilated for air movement, interior space sufficient for any number of songbird species, and with a removable floor that makes cleaning it a snap.
The original was finished and promptly added to my personal collection – sometimes the work seeps into our blood, and we simply cannot let it go.
But I have been building more!
Bwa-ha-ha-haaa!
‘The Haunting of Bird House‘ is the first in what I hope will be a series of limited edition, deluxe birdhouses. I’ve built only a handful of the ‘Hauntings’ so far, and I’ve decided that there will never be more than 13 of these, total. There’s just SO much work that goes into them, and I refuse to skimp on the quality.
I am signing each, and numbering them. They will all be the same design, and yet, each will have a spirit all its own. They look fantastic hanging outside, or resting on a patio shelf. But there is SO much detail here, you couldn’t be blamed for putting it on display indoors.
Once those I have built are sold, I will begin working on more, here and there between other projects, until I have reached that final thirteenth Haunted House. The link at the end of this post will take you to the Etsy listing. If it shows as sold out, take heart, more will eventually be on the way. Feel free to drop me a comment in my Etsy shop. The more interest I see in these, the sooner they are likely to rise again from the grave!
And remember…,
“You were warned not to venture into the old woods or the old ruined victorian mansion that lurks there! The paint peels, the old copper roof has given way to corrosion, the floorboards groan with your every step, and all of the windows have been securely boarded up. ‘But why?’ you wonder, ‘was it to keep intruders out, or perhaps to trap something else inside?'”
