cuckoo for cuckoos!

Thank you for your nice words about my gift for Andrea. I don't really have a how-to, step-by-step guide for making it. But I can tell you a little bit about how I made it...how's that?

First of all, I couldn't have made it at all without my friend Kim. I emailed the idea, a rough sketch, and a few specs. She made the wooden clock base and even outfitted the back with a box to house the clock mechanism. I wish I'd had her cut the molding too for the roof pitch because it was really, really hard for me to do.

I bought the clock insert from here.

First I thought I would paint it but it wasn't turning out as well as I'd hoped. Then I remembered the really, really beautiful vintage wallpaper Karla gave me. It was hard to part with it but I knew it would be perfect. I cut out extra flowers from the scraps and glued them in place. And then I covered it all with a few coats of polyurethane.

I cut the shutters out of an old book cover and then covered them with striped wallpaper.

And the bird? Isn't she sweet? I made her from Air Dry Clay...nothing fancy. Just the Crayola kind for kids. And I coated her with clear glass glitter. I made the little hat out of a little scrap of wallpaper too.

Oh, and Jen asked about the polka dot heart in the background. Isn't it wonderful? It's made by my friends The Chapmans.

Are you ready to make one too? Kim is thinking about adding the cuckoo-inspired clock kit to her etsy shop. If you want one, let her know.