Doll Size Bird Bath

Watch the video here.

Okay, I admit (and I did in the video too) I was figuring this project out as I went along. I had a basic idea in my head but until I was finished I wasn't really sure how it was going to work.

I have been noticing on some of the doll groups I am on how many of you are making some really nice dollhouses for your 18” dolls. And some of you are including patios and yards. Since my background is actually dollhouse miniatures (1/12^th scale) and the exterior decorating projects were always so much fun this is giving me some ideas for projects for our larger scale.

I had bird baths on my mind because that was also my project for my mini tutorial this week. I started by wondering what I could use to make a bird bath in 1/3^rd scale. I had to stop at Dollar Tree for a couple of other items anyway so I started my search there. Going into the store I really had no preconceived idea of what I would be purchasing to make this project. I wandered the aisles just looking at the options. I saw a handful of things that would have worked but I had decided I wanted to make this out of things that were plastic. I thought this would be safer if kids are going to be using them. If you aren't going to let the kids play with it you will have even more options to make these. I first saw some Margarita glasses that I thought would make a wonderful base but they would be very fragile (even in the plastic version) I decided to with a plastic tumbler (drinking glass) I think one of them makes a good height but if you want your bird bath to be taller stack a shorter glass with it.

Now that I had the upright part I needed a base and a top basin. For the base I knew I had a couple of the packages of the small clear plates at home so I decided to go with one of those. You don't have to add the base but it does make the entire bird bath much more stable. I would be worried about keeping it standing up without it.

Next thing we needed was the top basin. I couldn't find anything at the dollar store so I decided to look in the garden center of my local store that I get my groceries at. I found some plastic plant saucers that would work wonderfully. Again if you aren't worried about breakage I think the clay saucers would be fantastic too.

So the cost of all three parts I used for the basic construction came to under $4. Now off to the paint department. I knew that I had in the past gotten some spray paint that looks like stone so that was what I was looking for. I found one I liked in the color Black Granite (by Krylon) that was just about what I was looking for. Of course you don't have to use this type of paint look at real bird baths and get some inspiration for yours. I should have picked up a can of gray primer spray paint also but I was sure I had some at home. When I did get home I found that my gray primer was empty so I tried a couple of the various colors of paint I have on hand and settled for the one in Pebble. I really like how the two colors look together. The only problem is that the Pebble one is not meant to go on plastic so I have a feeling it would chip if handled a lot (as in being played with by a child) for my purposes it should be fine though.

Our first step in making our bird bath is to put the parts together. For this you will need a glue that holds plastic. I had a new package of Epoxy glue so I used that. Any glue that holds plastic will work for this so use what you have. I am afraid that a regular white glue or tacky glue would not work but a hot glue gun might be fine.

After the glue dried it was time to spray paint our project. Use enough coats of you base color to cover up the different colors of you pieces. I think I needed 2 coats. Now we will coat with the stone texture paint. This stuff is much more messy than regular spray paint so be sure you have a large clear area around you when you use it. And of course it goes without saying that we always spray paint outside. The biggest drawback to the stone paint is that it takes 5 to 6 hours to dry enough to touch it.

Once your paint is dry you can add some “water” if you want to. I used Easy Cast two part resin. I really enjoy using this product and the smell is not too horrid. Just be sure to follow the directions and allow plenty of time for the resin to cure before you touch it. Also remember that resin heats up as it cures and should be poured in shallow layers not thick ones.

So after the resin cures I think we have a really cute bird bath for the dolls to put in their gardens or on the patio. Just in time for the hot summer weather.