Whimsical Birdhouse with Faux Bark for Helmar

Hi everyone!! It's Tracey here with my final project as a Helmar designer.

I would like to thank Helmar for allowing me to design with their amazing adhesives over the past two years. I was a huge fan of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesives before I joined the team because it adheres so well to all of my mixed media projects. Once I received my first generous package of Helmar adhesives I began to realize just how wonderful all their products are. It's been so much fun creating projects for all you Helmar fans out there!

Today I'm sharing a fun and whimsical home decor project with you. Earlier this summer I discovered that my mom has developed a fondness for decorative birdhouses so I started to look for ideas. I found a faux bark technique used for fairy houses and thought I'd give it a try on this birdhouse featuring Helmar Craft & Hobby PVA Glue.

Tips and Techniques

I found a roll of Viva Paper towels that only has ridges in the design (no swirls) that I thought would work well for the tree bark. I mixed together a solution of about half water and half Helmar Craft & Hobby PVA Glue. I poured some onto a paper plate that had a slick finish that wouldn't absorb the glue mixture.

Lay one sheet of paper towel into the glue mixture at a time, squeezing out the excess glue. Place the wet towel on a craft mat and scrunch it with your fingers to form vertical folds. Lay the wet, scrunched towed on the surface where you want to create the faux bark. Continue to apply the scrunched towel sections until you've worked your way all around the base with one layer. Additional layers can be added if desired to build up gnarls and roots.

Here's a close-up for a better view of the texture. It doesn't look like much, but the paint brings it to life. 

Place your project on waxed paper or a non-stick craft mat to dry completely before painting. I left mine overnight, but depending on how wet the toweling is, it might take longer to dry. 

Start by painting the background black. You can spray paint this part. I had a couple old bottles of black craft glue I wanted to use up, so I watered it down and brushed it on. Be sure to get into all the crevices. Allow the paint to dry. I used a heat tool to speed up the process. Then use a foam brush to lightly apply brown paint to bring out the textures. The color and amount of paint are up to personal preference.

Isn't this texture so life-like and wonderful?

My mom adores cardinals and rabbits, so I embellished the tree with both.

Moss is adhered to the roof using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.

I cut out small pieces of kraft cardstock to fit between the roots for a place to put the rabbits. I adhered the paper with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, along with the rabbit. Then I used Helmar Super-Tac EVA Glue to adhere moss, bits of bark, and twigs here and there around the base of the tree.

I created hanging vines from the roof by adhering strings of moss with Helmar Premium Craft Glue.

I hope you've been inspired to grab your Helmar glue and some paper towels to create a faux bark project of your own.

Helmar Products

Craft & Hobby PVA Glue

450 Quick Dry Adhesive

Premium Craft Glue

Super-Tac EVA Glue

Other products

Round Wooden Bird House ~ Michaels

Moss ~ Craft store floral department

Viva Paper Towels

Acrylic Craft Paint ~ Stash - black, brown

Darice ~ Yard & Garden - Resin Mini Rabbits

Darice ~ Nature’s Friends - Mini Cardinal Feathered

Darice ~ Heat Tool

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~