If the birds in your yard are looking for some new digs, drop by the birdhouse painting demonstration at the Octagon Shop Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m.

Sara Sheet, a painter and high school art teacher from Independence, will show how she uses paint and items from nature to transform ordinary birdhouses into unique homes for wrens.

Sheet paints two kinds of birdhouses, the realistic ones that look like miniature cottages, ski chalets and barns and the whimsical ones that use bright colors and geometric shapes.

“It depends on what people want or what hits my hot button,” Sheet said.

With her paint brush, Sheet paints brick walls and stone walkways on the realistic houses. She paints animals and bales of hay to make the barn birdhouses look like real Iowa barns. She even paints birdhouses on the birdhouses.

Sheet thinks the realistic houses are more popular right now for outdoor use because people want the birdhouse to match their homes and because they think birds will not like the brighter colors. However, Sheet said birds get used to the wild colors and shapes, and will nest in the whimsical houses.

During her summer break from teaching art at East Buchanan High School, Sheet paints murals on buildings around Independence. She would like to host a show of her work in the fall.

“If you enjoy being creative, you can paint on anything,” she said.

With Mother’s Day less than a month away, Sheet’s birdhouses make great gifts. In fact, Sheet started painting the birdhouses seven years ago as gifts for her friends and family.

“At first I wanted one for myself. Then I started giving them for gifts,” she said. Birdhouses are popular, not only as homes for airborne friends, but as decorations for the home, Sheet said.

If she knows the birdhouses will be used outside, Sheets treats the wood with weather-resistant finish. Indoor houses can be decorated with fragile natural decorations like moss, dried acorns and flowers because they will not face the elements of wind, rain and sun. The whimsical houses are favorites for indoor decorations, she said.

Sheet’s unique birdhouses will be on sale at the Saturday demonstration. Prices range from $22.50 to $50.00, depending on the size of the house and detail of decoration.

The Octagon Shop hosts artist demonstrations once a month on Saturdays as a way for customers to see how art works are created.

“It makes you appreciate [the art work] more when you see the work that went into it,” said Letitia Hansen, manager of the Octagon Shop. Past demonstrations have featured painters, drawers and jewelry makers. The Octagon Shop is located at 427 Douglas Ave. in Des Moines.