Cedar bird houses

[allen levine]

I made 9 bird feeders total
My daughter sold 6 today at 50 dollars each
She bragged to me hey dad I didn't even start to set up for auction
I wanted to explain that yeah when things are free it's easy to generate money
She also has 2 bird houses on hold till she gets paid tomorrow

For me it's not really woodworking that I feel any deep satisfaction of any accomplishment
It's fun easy projects that someone with a good back and legs could knock out a few a day but people seem to want these even though anyone can walk into any garden center and see a wide variety of similar items
Snoopy needs some touching up on the white but this one was super fast to make and I hardly put in any time

The only thing is people have to know how to mount some of these

Snoopy will have a removable sliding base made out of lucite to clean out if occupied

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

I really like your Snoopy design.

 

[allen levine]

It's not snoopy it's his cousin
Just took it off picture off internet


This one was going to be last one but with my plans getting squashed for weekend I'll probably make another one

This one will be very colorful at least if it isn't appealing

I hung snoops cousin on my garage and my daughter told me why I have 3 people that want it
She's killing me

 

[Ryan Mooney]

I dunno, I have a bit of a sneaking suspicion you're having to much fun with these to stop

Maybe you need to sell a couple full price to finance the wood for some more charity options

 

[allen levine]

My daughter wants more but I'm done with that
She wanted a few and managed to squeeze 10 out of me
I still have to make 2 more old man houses and one feeder for the ones I took back for her

I was working in shop skipped lunch and I started getting a bit antsy light headed due to quick drop in blood sugar
I'm diabetic and 69 glucose level is not good for me
I sat down and had some juice
Ready to go again
Unfortunately I thought I was done with this one but the right side of green roof was 1/2 inch short
Careless but once I get low blood sugar I seem to not think straight
Will recut now and paint

This is a great use of shorts and scraps

 

[allen levine]

My favorite part of this one was the teddy bear eye I pulled out of stuffed animal tossed out with an eye hanging out
I took the loose eye pulled it out and sprayed it red and used it for door handle

 

[allen levine]

I dunno, I have a bit of a sneaking suspicion you're having to much fun with these to stop

Maybe you need to sell a couple full price to finance the wood for some more charity options

She's going to get more then I could sell them for
50 for feeders is what we saw them for in shady maple goods store in Lancaster
Anyone who's visited Lancaster knows the store
The houses she thinks will get more then 75 each is what I think they should bring in
I've seen them for 89 online

 

[allen levine]

Elen got texted an hour ago
One of the school districts employee wanted a feeder and asked her if I would make one and sell it to her
My daughter sold them all
Just what I didnt want

Elen worked in this district for 21 or so years and everyone knows her

 

[allen levine]

I went to give something to my daughter at school and walked in the main entrance
There was a table with some of my work and lots of snacks
They sell snacks to raise money also

Here's the flyer they were handing out

I saw the bowl in her classroom she already sold a bunch of raffles

She sold all the red bird feeders and has requests for 4 of the Elmo cousin birdhouse
I was greeted by a lot of teachers and administrators and others who complimented me and asked when I will be selling my products

While it felt nice to be complimented I wanted to get out of there
Too much pressure for so many requests
And it seems everyone is willing to pay top dollar

Maybe in another life

I really feel good that the products are making money not only for student council but another charity for a sick child
I've done work for the sick kids charity over the years
It amazes me how much money they raise with 3 dollar raffles

Here's the sheet everyone is getting

I told my daughter I just don't want her to oversell and even though they are raising money there's no reason to oversell raffle tickets

She's in charge
I took back as many as I could from friends and relatives but I will not be able to accommodate all the requests
And now I have to replace the ones I took back

 

[Robert Horky]

Enjoy that you are loved and appreciated. Your work is top notch. Make a few more ... and a few more.

 

[allen levine]

I'm making 3 to replace the ones I took back but I'm making a bit more colorful
I need one small piece of cedar to make a third one
Not sure when I'll get over there but no one is in a rush
My daughter showed me 2 pics of bird feeders already hung in someone's yard
She did ok last night but raised approx 50 per unit
She will wait till Friday so they will generate a bit more
I'm ok with all of it
These 2 every part is painted so a bit more time consuming

 

[allen levine]

Finished them even though some parts were a bit tacky
I might hang one in my yard people will have to wait for theirs
It's a bit bigger then I should have made it
But it's only a couple of inches so I wouldn't have saved much

I made an error in order of assembly
I should have attached the wings before I assembled box so I used pocket screws to attach them

That's me in the mirror glad I had clothes on

 

[Rennie Heuer]

That's me in the mirror glad I had clothes on

So are we.

 

[allen levine]

All the bird feeders I made and most of them didn't make it to my daughters school raffle as most just sold outright the first day at 50 bucks each
I'm getting Thankyous and pictures as all the teachers and school employees know who made them
This one i laughed maybe the cardinal thought the feeder was his mother

They are still selling raffles decided to extend till next week but I'm not donating anymore
The only one that didn't sell is the orange Baltimore but generated plenty of raffle entries

 

[David Johnson]

Allen, your great post "almost" makes me want to make a few of those bird houses. Those are super neat. To bad I don't like to paint.
David

 

[Ryan Mooney]

I hate to say it but I need to replace about 30 birdhouses and Allens work here may have vastly complicated my design process . I need to think a bit about how committed I am to this whole thing (needs a lot of batching either way).

 

[allen levine]

I had company today so no shop time
Julietta totally approves my children's Adirondack chair design

 

[allen levine]

i caved in last night and went against my woodworking rules. theres been too many requests, all paying customers, that want snoopy and elmo birdhouses. I told my daughter, as long as she gets 50 bucks a pop I will make her 2 more of each, and the customers were happy. shouldnt take me long, although in this heat and humidity Im lucky gettihng in a couple of hours a day out there. both elmo houses are assembled and all pieces cut, snoopys will be assembled tom9orrow hopefully....I will paint them next week and just leave them for 2 week still I get back from north carolina. my outdoor table project is cut and i will make it with my son, he is looking foward to that as we will finally work together on something. that date is mid august. sometime after that I will finally get to the plastic melting and try to get going on the electric guitar just laying on a shelf in the shop. more projects are in the works, mostly cabinets and boxes....so I should be busy for a bit. in between when I have down time, I will cut bandsaw reindeer and some other bandsaw statues. just trying to keep myself busy, maybe I should join a gym and keep busy like that.

ive had at least 3 requests for the cardinal birdfeeders but have no more interest in making those. they missed the boat and should have spoke up sooner.

 

[allen levine]

The bird house factory
Building more than one at a time is a tremendous time saver
2 of each and I'm done
All parts except for lucitebottoms are cut and first coat of paint

I will assemble all and attach snoopy monday

I did get some good news this morning
The rheumatoid arthritis blood tests came back negative
When I get home from North Carolina my doc is going to send me to physical therapy
Not sure if it will do much but I'll go for a few visits

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

...my doc is going to send me to physical therapy
Not sure if it will do much but I'll go for a few visits

There have been several points of my life where physical therapy worked wonders. Not necessarily fun at the time, but well worth it. Go in with a positive attitude, stick it out, and you might be surprised.