A Remembrance Birdhouse

This project came together very quickly, and it's a good thing! I only had one day to put it together, from the concept to finishing it.

My Secret Sister at church just recently had her mother pass away suddenly. They knew she was dying, but they thought they would have at least a few days with her. As it turns out, they only had that one day. Needless to say, it has been traumatic for her.

I found out last Friday that her mother's birthday would have been last Sunday. Since it has been less than a month since her mother died, I wanted to give her something to acknowledge the date.

I had saved a white dove pick from her mother's funeral arrangements that were given to the church. (Actually, my son discovered it after the flowers had died and they were disposing of them. He knew Mommy could make something special with it, so he brought it to me.) I wanted to make something with it, and I wanted it to be along the lines of a keepsake.

I thought for a little bit and finally remembered this birdhouse I had picked up in the reduced bin at Michaels for $1.25 since the roof peak had fallen off and one of the doors' hinges had come off. Everything was packaged inside the birdhouse, so it was just a matter of reattaching the roof peak and taking the other door off.

Here it is before I began:



And here it is after I added decorative paper, the bird with a nest, and one of my favorite quotes, "When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure."



I did it in blues because her bedroom is decorated in blue and white. I was thrilled with how it turned out, and my husband was impressed, too. Here is a picture of it straight on:



And finally, a closeup of the bird and quote:



I made sure to tell her the significance of the bird in the card I included with it. Unless I miss my guess, she'll probably keep this forever. Mission accomplished!