Hand-Stamped Copper Roof Birdhouse

So it’s no secret that my metal stamping has become a bit of an obsession.  I hope you’re all still enjoying the projects.  I’m loving putting hammers to metal.  Today’s project takes metal stamping beyond jewelry with a copper sheet to embellish a craft staple: the wooden birdhouse.

Before we get started, I’ve got a beginner’s metal stamping tutorial for you to take a look at if you’ve never done it before.  If you’ve tried it already (even once or twice) then I’ll be talking about how to apply those skills to a new medium.

What you will need:

• A birdhouse!  I painted mine copper and blue.  That step isn’t shown, but I’m sure you can get creative and paint yours however you like.
• A sheet of craft copper.  I found this big sheet at Hobby Lobby, it’s designed for punch art.  (Bring your coupon, because copper isn’t cheap.  I was able to get it for $14 after my 40% coupon, but I’ll be able to use it for lots of projects.)
• Tin snips
• Chasing hammer
• Brass tacks
• Small metal hole punch
• Your metal stamping supplies, including a fun design stamp for the roof, and your favorite font to make a little welcome plaque.
• Dark acrylic paint, a damp paper towel, and a metal polishing cloth

First, I measured and cut my copper to fit the roof.  I cut it about 1/8 inch smaller all the way around.  I also stamped my welcome plaque.  This little plaque (and the birds) are from Beaducation.  (In fact – I was inspired to make this project as part of their “Be an Original” contest they’ve got going on, and I’d love your vote if you like the project! Just click here to visit their Facebook contest page and see what I’m up against!)

Here’s a close-up of how the plaque came out!  Fun, right?

Next, I stamped the roof with rows of hearts.  I added masking tape and marked out lines for myself as a general guide so that I could get the hearts somewhat even.  I didn’t want them perfect, but I do like a bit of uniformity.

Then, I used my chasing hammer to hammer the edges of the roof shingle.  This flattened and covered any sharp edges from where I cut.  Then, I sponged a thin layer of black acrylic paint over the whole sheet, and wiped it with a damp (but not wet) paper towel.  I used a polishing cloth to remove any last bits of paint leftover.  I often use a sharpie marker to darken my impressions, but in this case that’s a LOT of stamping to darken, so paint made much more sense for this project.

Finally, I punched holes in the sheet, and used brass tacks to attach them to the roof of the birdhouse.  I did the same with the welcome plaque.

I can tell I’ve been doing a lot of stamping lately, because my daughter informed me she had some work to do.  I was able to snap this action photo:

She told me she was making a friendship bracelet.  Clearly, I have some teaching to do, but I’ve got a pint-sized jewelry artist on my hands, I think. :)

But what do you think?  Do you think I’ll attract some fancy birds?  Haha – I just love how it turned out!