Ahhhh, love is in the air - literally!! This cute little bird couple wanted to have a special getaway to celebrate Valentine’s -WITHOUT- the kiddos. 🤭 So they have been building to make the perfect little Treehouse Hideaway. And doesn’t it look comfy and cozy? I would love a little getaway nook like this. Until I am able to build my own in real life, I’ll just make a paper version of theirs… and you can too! I created these SVG files to share, just for you being you. 💕 So let’s get to building!!
Supplies
- Cardstock Warehouse cardstock paper:
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Adhesives:
- Barely Art® Liquid Precision Glue
- Hot Glue Gun + Glue Sticks
- Foam Tape (optional)
- SVG Cutting Files (free for personal use)
Per usual, I started out by uploading and prepping all of my SVG files. You can find them linked in the supplies above. I tried to color coordinate the files to what I cut so you can decide on what colors you want to choose for your birdhouse.
Don’t forget to format your score lines for your particular machine. Every electronic die cutting machine brand handles score lines differently. If you need help with that, consult YouTube for your specific machine.
Then I cut all my pieces. I’m using the Wood Veneer cardstock for most of mine because I love that my birdhouse will look like a real birdhouse. The Wood Veneer cardstock is made of super thin sheets of REAL wood adhered to a cardstock backing and works just like regular cardstock in your papercrafting projects. It is one of my favorite papers to work with. I’m using both the Cherry and White Birch for this project to have some variation in color.
The vines and flowers I cut out are an old file I have, but I have included something similar for you to use on yours. You can also find other vines, flowers, or decorations that you like in your die stash or your machine’s software.
I began assembly by attaching my striped “siding” to the front panels of my house. I used the same color for the stripes and the panels to make it look like real wood siding. In order to keep all the stripes together, I put them on some transfer tape first and then applied it to the top of the front of the house. I attached them with wet glue.
After attaching my siding, I attached the frames to my windows and the outer frames. First, attach your acetate around the open areas with wet glue or thin double-sided tape. Then attach your gold glitter pieces with wet glue.
Now it’s time to attach the body of the house. Grab your front and back pieces and these two weird long strips with all the tabs. I know they look funny, but I had to make them thin so that they could meet the small curves of the birdhouse.
Very carefully and slowly start to attach the side pieces. You want to make sure that the piece with the hole in the center is where you want your birdhouse post to be. That is the opening for the post. I have mine right in the middle dip. I started at the bottom right corner leaving a little bit at the bottom of the birdhouse to attach to the other side panel. Two or three at a time, I use wet glue/hot glue to attach the tabs to the front of the birdhouse. When you get around the window curve, clip the strips a little shorter so they don’t show through the window. Attach the second panel the same way and secure at the bottom connection. Cut off the excess.
Before securing the back we have a couple steps in between. The short rectangle strip is to provide stability for the bottom of the birdhouse. Slather that with hot glue and attach it to the bottom on the inside. Be careful not to glue in the attachment tabs that secure the back of the birdhouse.
I used my mini paper shredder to shred some Red Rose Lessebo 83 lb. paper for the bird's nest. This is optional, but I thought it would be cool to have something to look into when people look through the window! I swirled, squished, and curmpled the bundles together so that it created a little nest. I placed it in the bottom using hot glue and pressed down until everything was stable. If you have any rouge pieces sticking out, just tuck them in and glue them.
Now we’re going to grab the little rectangular glitter piece with the triangular tabs on one side. This is our chimney. If you have a pencil/pen or some type of device that you can roll or curve this with, that is super helpful. Roll it into a tube and stick it through the hole, allowing it to expand open once you’ve put it inside. This ensures you won’t have a gap around your chimney on your side panel. Once you see how big the tube needs to be, secure the side seams. I used hot glue for this as my paper is heavy and glittery. This can be a little tricky and a little messy, but it gets the job done. And no one will see the iside of it, so don’t worry about how it looks.
Once you’ve secured the side seams of the tube, fold up the tabs at the bottom and secure those on the underside of the side panel. This should be your end result.
Now we’re ready to attach our center trunk. These are the next two pieces. Following the same steps as before, roll your piece into a circle and push it through the hole of the rectangular piece. I secured mine with clips because they made it easier to hold it all in the right place. Once you let it loose and see that it fills the hole, glue the side seam closed, and then attach the tabs on the underside of the rectangle with hot glue. Once you have done that, secure the entire rectangular panel to the bottom of the birdhouse using hot glue.
To make the trunk even sturdier, I squirted two hot glue sticks all over the inside of the tube and let it dry hard. I love this little trick for adding stability to 3d paper crafts!
The base of the treehouse is just a rectangular box with a hole for the post. Put the two halves of the box base together separately by folding on the perforated lines and gluing the tabs on the sides. The box half with the hole belongs at the top. Put the trunk of the treehouse through this hole and secure underneath by hot gluing the tabs to the inside of the top half of the box.
Before securing the two halves of the box together, I added two hot glue sticks worth of glue to the bottom piece of the base. Again, this helps make a sturdier decor piece. Then, I sealed my top and bottom lids together with hot glue, ensuring that it stands up straight before letting it all dry.
Next, I decided to add a small amount of siding on the sides of my house. I didn’t go all the way to the top, just this little 2-inch space on the sides, as the top/roof will cover the rest. Simply glue strips of the wood veneer paper to the side and trim the edges.
I ran my roof piece through a wood embossing folder. I am using the Cherry Wood Veneer for this piece to give it some color contrast. Since the paper is already wood, you don’t need to emboss it, I just wanted to add some nice 3d texture.
I glued it on the top of the house, making sure that I wiggled my chimney through the hole provided.
Because this is a supposed to give the idea of a hidden and secluded area, I knew I had to have tree vines growing all around the house. I absolutely love this effect! It seems so one with nature! I cut some vines in all one color of green, but you can use whatever vines, leaves, or other foliage/nature dies you have to personalize yours.
I also punched out some flowers using some small punches I had in my stash. I put tiny yellow pearls in the center of the flowers. I sporadically placed them throughout the front and top of the house. I also added my “love shack” sign. I attached it using an eyelet and some twine around one of the vines to make it look like a hanging sign.
To finish everything off, I added my cute little pink and glitter lovebirds to the bottom I adhered the pink birds to the glitter background with foam tape to give them a bit more dimension. 💕
Voilà! We are done! This project is a little more time consuming, but the end result is totally worth it! As an afterthought, I thought I should’ve maybe added some lights on the inside? I don’t know… Maybe they did want to keep their privacy, lol! What do you think? Don’t forget to tag us if you create this birdhouse, too!!
As always, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you! If you are super fancy, tag us in your creations on Facebook or Instagram. You can use the hashtag #cardstockwarehouse to be featured on our page!
Looking for other 3D Paper Crafts? Find more inspiration HERE!