Decorate your home with DIY bird-themed accessories and art

Feather your nest

Add a little of the outdoors to your decor with these beautiful bird-themed decorations. Whether you're a novice crafter or a seasoned hobbyist, we've got six do-it-yourself projects you can choose from. Bonus: We even have design templates that you can download!

Novice

Parakeet Appliqué

Dress up a plain table with custom decals. Scan a favourite piece of fabric, then send the image to Posterjack.ca, which will turn it into a removable decal. Tip: There’s no limit to what you can use to create personalized embellishments. Try it with photographs, notecards or even treasured children’s drawings.

Get the look: Lamp, drapes, Invudraperyco.com. Picture frame, Cobistyle.com, Available from Canfloyd, 1-800-263-3551. Decal, Posterjack.ca. Paint, Taking the plunge, Cil.ca.

Sewing dynamo

Stuffed chicken

Use fabric and ribbon scraps to make a quirky toy. Print the pattern and instructions here. Enlarge it to desired size, using a photocopier and follow each step. Tip: Bigger pieces are easier to work with if you’re new to sewing.

Have fun with the details! Raid your sewing kit for extra ribbon, twine, fabric ends and buttons to give this toy a personal touch. (Forgo the buttons if you are giving it to a small child).

Get the look: All fabrics, Designerfabrics.ca. Ribbon, Mokuba, 416-504-5358. Rug, Ikea.ca.

Serious crafter

Pigeons in flight

Fashion a chic '60s-inspired mobile out of paper:

1. Start with a wire frame, twigs or Popsicle sticks glued together to form the top of your mobile. (We used a circular piece from a computer store for this one.)

2. Cut 50 to 80 birds from our template (use card stock for a sturdier mobile), depending on how big you want it to be.

3. Punch a hole in each bird, or use a small grommet for added detail.

4. Attach fishing line to the centre of the top and knot birds onto the line.

5. Working out from the middle in circles, attach additional lines, making them shorter (with fewer birds) as you move outward.

Get the look: Bag, hat, Onigo.com. Blue dresser, birdcage, Homesense.ca. Art, chair, Invudraperyco.com. Pink tray, Cobistyle.com, Available from Canfloyd, 1-800-263-3551. Flooring, Homedepot.ca. Crafting supplies, Michaels.com.

Weekend hobbyist

Iron-on chickadee

Embellish a pillow without a single stitch:

1. Get our bird template here. Enlarge it to desired size, then print it on iron-on transfer paper.

2. Cut around the image and iron it onto your pillow (or bedspread, sheets or chair seat) according to package instructions.

Get the look: Amy Butler fabric, Macfabfabrics.com. Iron-on transfer paper, Michaels.com.

Art lover

Nesting robins

Add whimsy to your decor with a papier-mâché bird:

1. Begin with Styrofoam balls, one small and one medium, joined together with a toothpick.

2. Use modelling clay (like Crayola Air-Dry Clay) to smooth out the joint between the body and the head. Create a small beak, wings and a tail with the clay.

3. Once these are dry, glue to the Styrofoam body using a glue gun. Then use Mod Podge or white glue to cover the entire bird with strips of paper. To give ours a modern look, we chose newsprint.

Get the look: Orange-patterned box, Homesense.ca. Crafting supplies, Michaels.com. Bird prints, Pier1.ca.

Frequent host

Standing sparrows

Dress up a summer table with these crafty place cards:

1. Print the bird template here.

2. Trace the outline onto thick paper, and cut two birds for each place card, flipping template over if your paper has a good side and a bad side.

3. Use a hole punch to make the eye.

4. Glue birds together, sandwiching a bamboo skewer and a small piece of foam core in between for spacing.

5. Plant skewers in sprouted grass or wheat grass and use as a place setting, or on a buffet to label dishes.

Get the look: Cloche, teacups and teapot, Homesense.ca. Paper, Michaels.ca. Soda bottle, Ikea.ca. Wheat grass, Unclegeorgessprouts.com.