I would never pass up an opportunity to create a table centerpiece, so when the Prima Design Team was tasked with creating a project around a Garden Party theme, I set to work altering this birdcage.  

This small gold birdcage is one that I bough from Michael's a while back and have just been waiting for the perfect opportunity to alter it for a project! And because it already had a rustic gold finish, I didn't have to do anything to the birdcage other than decorate it--my favorite part! (You can find a list of available supplies at the bottom of this article.)

I started out by deciding what to put inside. I love the Redesign Bridgeport Irongate Mould and it reminds me of the pretty swirled flourishes of the Regency era, so I cast it twice out of resin. Once the resin was cured, I glued the two casts back-to-back. This mould is perfectly symmetrical so it lines up like a breeze. 

Once the mould was glued together, I painted it with Finn's White Gesso, then added a wash of the Dusty Rose Impasto Paint to both sides. After that wash of paint was dry, I highlighted texture of the mould using the Celestial Metallique Wax, which reminds me of vintage pearls.

And speaking of pearls, I added quite a few Memory Hardware Pearls to this project. But more on that it a minute. First, I die cut a circle of gold cardstock that fit inside the bottom of the birdcage. I then used hot glue to add moss to this circle and placed it inside the birdcage. I added the Bridgeport Irongate Mould to the middle, holding it in place with a bit of hot glue as well. 

Then I placed some of the In Full Bloom Spring Breeze and Petite Petals flowers around the front of the mould in the moss, including some of the green leaves. I shaped the bunny ephemera from the In Full Bloom collection with my fingers to give her a more 3D appearance, then nestled her amongst the flowers. Then I added a little chipboard sticker and some of the flower vellum ephemera. 

Then I worked up the side of the birdcage by twisting the Sharon Ziv Spring Breeze branch around the lower half of the birdcage. I want to make sure I can still open and close this birdcage, so I don't cover the opening with this wired branch. These branches of flowers are perfect for this type of application as the wire helps hold the flowers in place, but I also added a little hot glue in some strategic places. 

Don't worry about the backside of this--I'll hide this later! I nestled one of he purple Meadow Walk flowers from In Full Bloom amongst the white flower branch and then added one of the vellum bee ephemera pieces. 

For the top part of the birdcage, I added several of the larger flowers from Meadow Walk and Sunday Afternoon flower packs.  I also tucked in some of the buds, twisting the wire ends on a paintbrush to curl them. I also added some of the leaves from the Spring Breeze set to the large pink flower from Sunday Afternoon. I also popped on a butterfly from the Elegant Wings set and some white pearl ribbon strands. 

Once I was done adding flowers to the outside, I covered up the glue by adding flowers to the inside of the cage. You can see them from the backside of the cage in the photo above. I used some of the Meadow Walk, Petite Petals and Garden Whispers flowers for this. 

Now let's talk Memory Hardware Pearls! I found this stick outside in my own garden and wanted to add it to the birdcage, but I wanted to dress it up. So I took some of the Priam Wire Thread that I've had in my stash for a while and cut a good long length of it. 

I used a lighter to melt the thread on the cut ends of the wire, which helps it from fraying and helps with adding the pearls! I strung on some of the Memory Hardware Pearls 2 on the wire thread and as I went, I wrapped the thread around the stick. Once I got to the top, I curled the end of the wire around the handle of a paintbrush. 

Then I added a charm from the Nature Lover collection to the top of the stick, along with a faceted faux chandelier crystal. I glued a butterfly and some of the Petite Petals daisies onto the stick. Then I added 2 vellum butterfly ephemera pieces to the top spiral, glueing them back to back. 

After closing the birdcage, I carefully inserted the stick through the ribs of the birdcage. Once that was in place, I added some flowers and leaves, a vellum bee and chipboard sticker to the back side of the birdcage. 

To add a little shabby chic touch, I dry brushed white gesso onto the flower centers, petals, leaves and the stick. Then I glued more pearls to the flowers and added some crystals and well as a few more of the faux chandelier crystals. The finishing touch was adding the pink chiffon ribbon from the In Full Bloom collection! 

I hope that you loved this project and that it inspires you to create a Bridgerton inspired table centerpiece and to pull out your good china for a little garden party this summer! Until next time, happy crafting!

Adrienne

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Below are products that I used for this project.

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Below are products that I used for this project.