If you build it, the birds will come

No, this is not some blend of Hitchcock and an Iowa cornfield-turned-ball field. Rather, it is one of the more ambitious Christmas gifts that we received this year: a make-it-yourself birdhouse and kid-friendly paint set. Over the last couple of nights, Sam and Dave tackled this project, with artistic and (hopefully!) avian-friendly results.
Here we are, getting ready to start construction. Sam has wisely requested a bowl of peppernuts to fortify him for the task.
When we started, Sam was full of enthusiasm, and eager to help screw the tiny screws into the pre-drilled holes. Thank goodness for kid-friendly (and thus parent-friendly) woodworking!
As the construction process dragged on, Sam became... somewhat less enthusiastic, shall we say. Progress on the birdhouse marched on, nonetheless.
And finally, we were done! Sam returns to pose with the finished birdhouse.
Then, the next evening, it was time to paint! At first, the paint job was a pretty conservative affair -- one colour for the roof, another for the walls...
... but then Sam discovered the joy of layering and mixing colours, and things got a lot more creative!
Sam hard at work. Note that, by this time, he has also given himself a nice paint job, as well as the birdhouse!

Sam continuing to work hard at painting... umm... himself, it would seem!
Here we are with the finished product! Note the "SAM" written on the side wall (and corner), and the "D" on the bottom of the back wall.
The front of the finished bird house. Sam was particularly insistent on/excited about the inclusion of a bird (it ended up looking like some kind of blue seagull) on the front of the birdhouse.

All in all, it was a really fun project for both Sam and Dave, and hopefully the birds will find it welcoming -- or at least intriguing -- come spring-time. Thanks to Erin, Jay, Liam and Ainsley for the great gift!