Octopode Factory Parakeet Bird Cage

I have been in the studio working non stop!  Without further ado I bring you my latest creation for the Octopode Factory!  This week at TOFF our challenge is “Things with Wings”.  I have a bit of a bird fetish so naturally I had to do something involving feathered friends.  I apologize in advance for my shoddy photography….*curse you daylight savings time!!  and November rain!!*

In all the excitement I forgot to take a before photo of the cage before I altered it but I can assure you it’s retro at the very least.  I’ve had it since I was twelve.  It even used to have a parakeet in it (poor Jordie didn’t last too long…that’s what you get for buying a pet at Woolworth’s…am I dating myself yet?).

I found it in the basement when we had a tag sale a few summers ago.  Needless to say it was NOT a hot seller (although mostly everything else was…we cleared almost $3,000 at that sale.  Not bad eh?)  When Goodwill wouldn’t even take the cage I decided to hold onto it…for a rainy day.  Well that rainy day was today

I never attempted bird ownership again after Jordie’s untimely demise plus I have cats now which I’m sure would not end well.  The original cage was a gaudy brass with a brown base.  I spray painted  the metal with Krylon Champagne metallic and gave it a coat of Krylon Glitterblast in Diamond Dust (again I LOVE Glitterblast I want to shout it from the rooftops!!).  Be sure to grab the Glitterblast sealer if you are going to use it.  It is wonderful and works beautifully to seal any glittered project

It’s hard to tell in the photo but the bird toy and swing were altered as well (they are the originals that came with the cage).  The toy was painted with Valspar Pearl  as well as the swing.  I gave these a coat of Glitterblast diamond dust as well.

I added vintage buttons, alcohol ink dyed crystals, ball-chain-tinsel ribbon and a green parakeet from the Octopode Factory to the swing.

The base of the cage was Mod Podged with this fabby fab paper I had in my stash.  Mod Podge itself is one of my FAVORITE things but when combined with a Mod Podge roller and scraper we are “rolling” into favorite tools territory.

Before Mod Podging I stamped and embossed birds in the negative spaces.  The edges were trimmed with sheer black ribbon.  The base of the cage was given a touch of elegance with this gorgeous filigree piece I had hiding in the depths of my stash.

You see those feathered lovelies?  I will get to how I made those guys in a sec…but first let’s check out the Octopodes…

The Octopode factory birds were colored with Copic Markers and sealed and mounted on black chipboard with Mod Podge.  The green and blue birds were colored like the parakeets my Grandmother had when I was a kid (Mac and Petey…the blue ones are ALWAYS Petey)…I googled to get the coloring right.  The one on the left reminded me of Chilly Willy (Anybody?  “Ah-E-A-Choo!!??!).

I was so inspired by a recent tutorial I saw on feathers I went out and bought a pack of them specifically for this project.  To find out how to create feathers like these for your projects check out this fantastic tutorial from Kassi at Creative Inspirations paint!  Be sure to check out Kassi’s Blog for more inspiring creations and tutorials

While I was buying the feathers I was mesmerized by the beautiful craft birds they had for sale in the Christmas aisle.  I nearly had to slap my hand to keep it from making an unesscessary purchase.  I knew full well I had a shoebox FULL of vintage craft birds in need of some love (hopefully someday I’ll be able to upgrade from shoebox storage) .

I’ve saved them for…you know…a “Rainy Day”.   Thanks to Kassi’s feather tutorial and a fresh pack of feathers I was determined to save these discarded decorations…

This is a sad-looking group no?  Believe me these were the best of the bunch of what I was working with.  This was my first time “feathering” so I wanted my subjects to have at LEAST some semblance of feathers.

With a little shimmer paint, glitter,  new-found feather knowledge, and borrowed eyes from some of their less fortunate feathered friends, I was able to turn these cast aways into keepers!  Are you ready for extreme makeover…”Craft Bird Edition”?

If you were wondering…Yes, that is a Kung-Fu hamster in the background and he will dance again to “Kung Fu Fighting” if I ever get around to replacing his batteries.  I live for Kitsch…no shame in my game!!

I’m pretty proud of myself.  I think this may have been the greenest project I have ever created!  The only things I had to buy were a couple of cans of spray paint and wire so I could make it into a mobile for the latest challenge at LESSology “Hanging Mobile”.  Other than that I used up my stash and altered some items I’ve saved for a “Rainy Day”…I could get used to rainy days like these!!

Thanks for sticking with me through a long post…the devil’s in the details with me   Come “Fly” with us at TOFF!

Have a fabulous day!

Amy*

 

 

 

 

Tagged as: Alcohol Ink, altered art, Copic Marker, krylon, Krylon Glitterblast, Mod Podge, Up-cycle, vintage buttons