good is good enough.

Published on by Quandie

You may remember the brass bird cage that my neighbor nnK gave me a while back.

I’ve used it to stage a few photos here and there.

But otherwise it just sits on a shelf in our living room.

Last year I dressed up a similar birdcage for Christmas and I really loved how it turned out.

I ended up selling that one, so now I want to do something similar with the round birdcage to keep for myself.

I started out by lining the bottom of the cage with a sheet of moss.  This way I’m hot gluing my decor onto the moss rather than onto the cage itself.  I plan to just remove the whole shebang after the holidays.

I knew I wanted to use bottle brush trees in the cage, and I wanted gold ones.  So I ordered a set of 24 bottle brush trees in gold, cream and green from Amazon.

And once again I fell victim to not reading the fine print.  I really need to get better about that!

When 24 trees arrived in a box that was smaller than a shoe box, I knew I was in trouble.

Let’s be honest, the price should have been my first clue.  At a little less than $15 for 24 trees … well, duh.  The trees range in size from 2.5″ to 4.5″ tall.  That aqua tree in the background is the size that I thought I was getting.  Silly me.

Well, not to worry.  I’ll find a use for the smaller trees.  Some of them have already found a home in my little wooden village.

But I still needed some gold trees for my birdcage, so I went looking for them in the shops.  I went to Hobby Lobby and Michaels, with no luck.

Then I thought, why not just spray paint some of the bottle brush trees that are already in my stash?  So I pulled my gold spray paint back out and got to painting.

Luckily I was able to get that spray painting done outdoors while it was in still in the 40’s outside.  I’m not sure what would happen if I tried to spray paint outside today when it’s in the single digits.

I achieved a much more subtle look with the gold spray, my trees are definitely less glittery than the small trees from Amazon.  But I rather like that.

After using hot glue to tack in my trees and a little golden reindeer (purchased at Target last year, but they still have them this year), I added fairy lights and a sprinkling of snow.

I also added a few bits of lichen covered bark to the ground.

I did forget to take one minor detail into consideration when working with this bird cage …

and that’s the metal mesh that surrounds the bottom half of the cage.

It’s a little hard to see the reindeer through that mesh, and I didn’t really think about that until I put the top of the cage back on the base.

But that’s OK.  I’m placing the cage on an end table in the living room, so it will mostly be viewed from slightly above.

So I think it still works.  I’m trying to embrace the Dutch idea that striving for perfection isn’t necessary, and fussing over unimportant details isn’t worth the effort.  As they say, goed is goed genoeg, or ‘good is good enough’.

What do you think?  Is it good enough for you?  Leave a comment and let me know.

22 thoughts on “good is good enough.”

  1. The cage looks wonderful! The brass of the cage is so beautiful. Must have been a fancy bird who lived there. What a unique holiday decoration…I love it!

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  3. Love this! I found really nice gold bottle brush trees at Dollartree of all places! Amazon has stung me more than once, always my lack of research!

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  4. Both of them are/were gorgeous and now I have to find a birdcage, lol. I never thought to spray paint my “tiny trees”. I bleached some, a few years ago, and never really loved them, but I do love the sprayed result. The end result of everything is so lovely!!

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    1. Well, that would be a great idea, but this door is spring loaded to keep it shut. I suppose so that the fancy bird couldn’t escape if the door were left open 🙂

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  6. I love what you did with the birdcage. When I first looked at the picture I was taken with all the interesting color combinations. That is what worked for me. Kinda non traditional but traditional enough. Nice job.

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    1. Thanks Teri! I am enjoying a subtle, metallic-ish sort of look this year. I do sort of miss the more traditional red and green, but I can always go back to that next year!

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  7. It is a lovely addition to your Christmas decor. I have adopted the good is good enough. I had shouder surgery last spring. With not being able to do much, for so long. I had to relax my perfectionism. Now I go with it. I wondered if the mesh is removable? Or, is the deer in front of the door and that coud be left open? I will say the view from above is what I’d go with. I love your ideas. You inspire me to do something out of the box with all the stuff I own.

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    1. I couldn’t get the mesh off without damaging it, it’s sort of riveted into place. As for the door, it is spring loaded, so I can’t leave it open. So I’m still going with viewing it from the top 😉

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  9. Beautiful! What string lights do you use? I’m hoping to find a short strand (3’ or so?) with a timer. Call me lazy, but I ♥️ not turning them on/off! Thanks.

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    1. Most of my battery operated fairy light strings have a timer, and I ordered a box of them from Amazon a couple of years ago. You can also opt for waterproof ones, if you’re going to use them outside. There are a bazillion options on Amazon, although I’m not sure you’ll find one that short.

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  10. I love this and I agree with that saying too… it is so good.. why not leave the little door open to “frame” the view. Just a thought 😊

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