Brown Paperbag Birdcage Tutorial

Hello everyone! I just finished a DT challenge for Pages in Time, where we had to use a birdcage. Even though I have quite a few birdcages on some of my Cricut cartridges, I kept picturing this woodsy, twiggy birdcage. So I decided to make one myself. Here's my page. I chose this photo of me, my dad, and brother from last Father's day.I did a lot of water distressing and machine stitching on here. I masked 2 of the birds and the barbed wire.Now for the tutorial!

Here's what you'll need.
Brown paper bag
Decoupage glue
Fast Grab Tacky Glue or Glue Gun
Distress ink (Walnut Stain)
Beige embroidery floss

First tear strips from your paper bag measuring about 4-5" long and 1/2-1" wide. You'll need 8 of them.Then ink both sides with Walnut Stain distress ink.

Now drench your strip into the decoupage glue and starting on one long end, start rolling your twig together. Do this for all your pieces.

As it starts to dry, it's still pliable which helps to shape your twigs.To make the outside frame, start with your longest pieces and curve them inward towards the top. Glue at the top.I used Fast Grab Tacky Glue, but I'm sure a glue gun would work great too.

Slightly curve your next two pieces and glue at the top.

 For the middle, I start with a straight long piece, and slightly curve in two more  pieces gluing on each side on the top.

Now glue the center into the frame of your birdcage.

Glue your bottom twig, cutting 2 small pieces for your opening.

Now you can trim the excess twigs with scissors. Take your embroidery floss and secure the bottom end pieces in a X. On top I just wrapped and glued the floss around the cage.

Now add your small twigs on the bottom in between 2 twigs to make your opening. Then wrap your embroidery floss making more X's.

Now you can leave it as it is, or decorate how you want. I added some green fiber, but little flowers would look great too. I also think painting your twigs white would give it a completely different look. So experiment and have fun! Here's a close-up on my LO.