Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Roosters and Hens - Wooden Poultry!




 I bought these yard roosters and hens from an estate sale months ago.  I promised the daughter of the man who had made stacks of various wooden animals and people I would treat them with dignity.  I ended up taking home seven chickens and several little Dutch garden girls.  I wish now I had taken the little skunks, too.

So now they are art pieces to be displayed inside.  It did not take much.











 The man was a pretty good wood worker, but the paint job was a bit garish for me.

In the photo you can see the the left ones have been sanded and the right ones are in the original paint job.









 This is dunnage.  It is scrap wood in various lengths used for home improvement stores to stack the lumber shipments.  

You can find it in the back of the store - usually in the free pile.  One of the big boxes makes you pay $1 for a length of it.  

It has been routed down the middle of one side.  It makes for perfect bases if you are not picky about appearance.  

Chucks cut up three lengths, and I have this whole pile plus a few more pieces.






 I measured my chickens and made sure the bases were long enough for support.  The chickens already had metal stakes.

Notice I did sand these wood pieces smooth.  Then I painted them with Kelly Green Folkart paint. 

It looked grassy.












Out came the stamps and the Archival ink to stamp "poultry" on one side of the bases.













 My favorite number is nine - just because.

So I stamped "NO. 9" on the opposite side.

Then holding each chicken to its base I marked where the stake would need a hole.

Then drilled the hole.

Some chickens needed two holes for two stakes.

A liitle more tricky as one of the holes had to drill at an angle.



 Once I had used E6000 to adhere the metal stakes to the bases, I realized that the kelly green was too bright and some distressing was in order.

As it has rained over five inches here in the last several days, sanding was out of the question.

My house is already full of mud and sand from the animals running in and out.  I do not need sawdust, too!

I took out some Folkart linen paint and faked it.

Yes, I faked it.  Even my husband was fooled and said it looked just like I sanded it!

(Please no jokes about my husband!)

(I am just kidding - make all the jokes you want!)







 The roosters and the hens make a cute display in the dining room, but they have made the trip over to the booth.

There was a lot of clucking about them as they rode in the cart from car to booth.

I know at least one hen has found a new home.















There seems to be some gossiping going on between the roosters and the hens.

I guess it involves faking it.

The distressing!













See y'all!





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I'll be at Jennifer Rizzo's Fabulously Creative Friday Linky Party

I'll be at Donna's Funky Junk Link Party!   
























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22 comments:

  1. I'm sure the original craftsman would be proud of what you did. And they'll probably sell quickly since they are one of a kind! Great job, Donna!

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  2. Good Afternoon Donna, Thank you for letting me know I was a "no reply blogger" it has all been fixed.
    Your chickens are very sweet.... how do you manage to part with things which you have worked so hard on. I think I would want to hold on to those lovely chickens.
    Have a lovely day.
    Best Wishes
    Daphne

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  3. Girl, You are so creative. Good thing Chucks likes to help out. Great job...Connie

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  4. Hi, thank you so much for coming to leave me a comment. Your creations are great! Hugs Cristina

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  5. Your hens turned out great and the distressing looks really good! I bet they will fly out of your booth! You have such a good eye and are so very creative...:) Love it!

    Blessings, Vicky
    Life On Willie Mae Lane

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  6. I'm a chicken gal so love your chicks/roosters. What a lucky find. Love the way you modified them, very cute with the bases stamped. We need to make some so maybe we'll be making a few like yours, you've really inspired me. Then if they don't sell I get to keep them on top my kitchen cupboards. I already have a few ceramic critter up there.
    Love how you distressed them all, bases included. Hope you don't mind if we borrow your ideas? Happy Days

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  7. Hey Donna; Your Chickens turned out so well. I Love the paint colors and what you added to them makes them look so much better!! The way in which you added the distressing is just Perfect.
    I bet the whole bunch of Chickens will fly quickly out of your booth. Too bad they cant lay a few eggs for you for extras!!
    Take Care Donna :-) I enjoy your Blog so much.

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  8. Great idea, so sweet Roosters and Hens:) Hugs, Biljana

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  9. I love these! You did a great job! So much fun!
    Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof

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  10. Hardy, har, har! So cute. I was a believer as well. I have a feeling more than one of these has probably left the shelves by now. You sure give your customers a reason to come back to see what's on the shelves of your booths!
    Liz

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  11. You absolutely find the best stuff...and then make it even better! These are adorable girl!!

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  12. I love your cute chickens and featured them today on Friday Finds. Thanks, Donna!

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  13. They are charming Donna. No more dust? Surely you need more. Are you well? I have been offline and in outer space as it were. xo, olive

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  14. I love this cute wooden poultry!! You did a terrific job! Thanks for dropping by, you made my day! Have a great weekend.
    FABBY

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  15. these are charming! I am not much on bright colors either and would have done exactly what you did....sand sand sand. Actually did some distressing today. :) Have a wonderful and fun weekend.

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  16. They are so cute!! :) Have a great weekend! xo Holly

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  17. Hi Donna! I really do love your roosters/hens!

    I'm commenting to make sure I'm not a no-reply blogger anymore! Thank you for your help!

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  18. Love your roosters and hens. So cute you did a wonderful job. I hope that I got my blogger fixed where it doesn't say I'm a no-reply blogger. Hope you have a great week.

    Linda @ http://mixedkreations.com/blog

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  19. What a cute idea! I love the wood blocks with the sayings on them! Great idea! Thank you for sharing this at Rustic Restorations Weekend!

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  20. How DO you fix the "No Reply" dealie????? You can reply to me at---jmloebel (at) gmail (dot) com if possible Thanks! Least tech person on the planet here!

    Adorable chicks---I have some live "Rescue Chickens" who look disturbingly just like these wooden ones---hmmmm----

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  21. Your posts ALWAYS make me smile!!!! Sending hugs!!!

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  22. LOVE LOVE LOVE

    Just wanted to let you know our 6th Circle of Faith Link party is up and running and you were featured on my blog. Come on over and grab a featured button, and link anything you want :)
    http://www.heatherlyloves.com/2013/05/circle-of-faith-link-party-6.html
    xoxo - Heather

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I enjoy reading all of your comments and will always answer with email. I will try to track you down if you show up as a "no reply" commenter to let you know. Friends are like that!