How do I Build a Birdhouse Out of Popsicle Sticks?

Lay 11 craft sticks next to each other vertically on your work surface. Join the sticks together by hot gluing three craft sticks in a "Z" shape across the front. Repeat to make two more walls in this fashion, for a total of three walls made from 11 craft sticks. These will become the floor and the front and back of the house.

Make two more walls in the same way, only this time use 10 craft sticks. These will become the side walls of the house.

On the wall that will be the front of the house, draw a 2-inch square in the center with a pencil. Score along the lines with your craft knife to cut out the square and make a window.

Glue the four walls of the house together with the "Z" stick shapes on the inside. The 11-stick walls go in the front and back, and the 10-stick walls go on the sides. Glue one wall on at a time, running a bead of glue along the edge and holding the walls together with your fingers until the glue cools enough to hold on its own.

Glue the four walls to the floor.

Identify the center stick on the front wall. This should be stick number 6. With your pencil, draw a dot near the top of the stick on the inside of the house. Repeat with the center stick on the back wall.

Cut a craft stick in half. Put a dab of glue on the curved end of the craft stick and glue it to the dot you drew in the front wall. The stick should be glued to the inside of the house at the center stick, and the cut edge should be pointing upwards.

Place the other half of the stick on the dot on the back wall in the same way. Make sure the cut edges are even with each other.

Place a dab of glue on the cut end of each half of the craft stick. Place another craft stick across the top.

Put a bead of glue along the upper ridge of the roof you just built. Put another bead of glue along the upper edge of one side wall. Lay 11 craft sticks vertically into the glue to create one side of the roof.

Repeat on the other side of the house. Make sure that the tips of the craft sticks at the top of the roof line up evenly.

To fill in the empty triangular shapes in the front and back of the house, hold craft sticks up to the roof one at a time and trace the angle you need to cut off with a pencil. Cut the sticks with your craft knife and glue them on one at a time.

Cover up the rough edges on the front of the roof. Glue one craft stick horizontally across the border between the top of the front wall and the roof. Glue craft sticks diagonally along the roof line in the front.

Cover up the rough edges on the back of the roof in the same way.

Cover up the rough edges at the top of the roof. Glue one craft stick to the very top of the roof where the ends of the craft sticks meet. Glue two more craft sticks, one one each side, adjacent to the one across the top.

Glue the wooden dowel perpendicular to the front wall just under the window to create a perch.

Paint and decorate the birdhouse in the color or design of your choice.

Spray on the acrylic sealer according to the manufacturer's instructions.