bird feeder – Our Beautifully Messy House

DIY Tin Can Bird Feeder #2

February 26, 2015December 3, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

To celebrate the last week of National Bird Feeding Month, L and I made these adorable TIN CAN BIRD FEEDERS! They are really easy to make, look beautiful and cost nothing…just go digging through your recyclables! Not only will the birds love this winter treat, this bird feeder would make a fantastic gift for your children to make for a friend, parent or grandparent!

Materials needed:

tin can w/ lid
wooden paint stirrer
pliers
acrylic paints
hot glue gun
string
glossy sealant (optional)
church key can and bottle opener (optional)
bird seed

First, make sure your can is clean and remove the label.

Using your hands, carefully bend the lid of the can in half. Using pliers, squeeze it flat.

Using the hot glue gun, glue the paint stirrer inside the can. You can break the stirrer if it’s too long. This will be the birds’ perch.

Next, glue the bent lid back into the can as pictured. Try not to make a huge mess with the hot glue gun, but if the glue shows it is no big deal…you will paint over it next.

Paint the can any way you like.

After the paint dries, you can use the can opener to make holes in the can from where you’ll hang it on a string. On one of our cans I placed two holes on the top…this bird feeder will hang from an old clothes line end.

On our second can I made holes in the back of the bird feeder…this one we will tie onto a fence. I was careful to put the holes in the can after we painted it, because I wanted to avoid any sharp edges while L was handling the bird feeder.

If you’d like your bird feeder to have a shiny, glossy finish, spray the can with a glossy sealant. It only takes 15-30 min to dry and will help protect the paint as well!

Thread string through the holes of the bird feeder and fill with bird seed!

Now, find the perfect spot to hang your TIN CAN BIRD FEEDER! We placed one of ours right outside our kitchen window…the girls will love watching their little wildlife friends snack throughout the day! Enjoy!

In case you missed it, here’s the first DIY TIN CAN BIRD FEEDER we made! Another fun nature craft!

Bird Feeder Garland and Bird Feeder Ornaments

February 10, 2015November 23, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

The BIRD FEEDER GARLAND is one of my favorite Winter crafts. It’s fun to make and even more fun to watch the wildlife activity that arises in our backyard after we hang it up! This week we’ve watched birds nibbling, followed by squirrels chasing the birds, then snacking themselves, and lastly, we observed four neighborhood cats stalk the squirrels for two days straight. Easy Winter entertainment…the girls and I have been glued to our kitchen window! The BIRD FEEDER GARLAND itself looks beautiful hanging in a tree, around a bush, or along a fence!

Materials needed:

dental floss
unsalted peanuts in their shells
old apples, oranges, cranberries and/or raisins
embroidery needle
cardboard

Thread the dental floss into the needle. I use dental floss for lots of projects, because it’s always on hand and is super-sturdy! Using the needle, string the peanuts onto the dental floss. Having cardboard under the peanuts, makes it easier to push the needle through. Tie a knot after you string the first peanut to hold the rest on!

You can cut an apple into small pieces to string as well. If you have dried fruit, you can string that along with the peanuts too.

My helper squirreling away some apple bits…

Once the peanuts are all strung, find the perfect place to hang your BIRD FEEDER GARLAND!

The BIRD FEEDER GARLAND looks great on it’s own, but to really give the birds a treat, add some BIRD FEEDER ORNAMENTS as well! Kids love helping with this part!

Materials needed:

dental floss
pinecones
peanut butter
bird seed
butter knife
2 plates

First, tie the dental floss in a knot or two around the top of the pinecone.

Using a butter knife, slather on some peanut butter.

Pour some bird seed out on a plate and let your little one roll the peanut butter-covered pinecone through the bird seed.

Hang the pinecones from your BIRD FEEDER GARLAND!

You can also slice some apples and/or oranges to hang from the garland. And if you make these DIY Cereal Bird Feeders, you can add them as well! Enjoy!!!

DIY Cereal Bird Feeder

February 4, 2015September 26, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

Being that February is National Bird-Feeding Month, I thought we’d make and share a few homemade, bird feeders with you over the next few weeks! This DIY CEREAL BIRD FEEDER may be the quickest and easiest one to make! I remember making similar ones when I was in grade school. So cute!

Materials needed:

pipe cleaners (or other thin wire)
O-shaped cereal (non-sugary)
ribbon

First, bend the wire in half gently, making a V-shape.

Have your little ones string the cereal onto the wire, as you would with beads. Leave about 1/2 – 1 inch of the wire showing at the ends.

Twist the ends together and shape into a heart.

Tie some ribbon in the middle of your bird feeders and hang them outside for the birds!

Notice the hearts are rather light, so hang them up in a bush or against a tree trunk…someplace protected from the wind. Enjoy!

Check out our DIY TIN CAN BIRD FEEDER as well!

DIY Tin Can Bird Feeder

August 6, 2014September 29, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

I think what I love most about the Tin Can Bird Feeder is that you’re essentially making something from nothing! It’s also such a fun way to teach kids how to reuse and recycle! We just made the bird feeder on a whimsy for our own backyard, but it would make a terrific gift too.

Materials needed:

tin can and its lid
pliers
hot glue gun and glue
sticks
string
a few small rocks

First, make sure your can has been thoroughly cleaned and remove the paper label.

Next, being careful not to cut yourself, fold the lid in half using your pliers. Our lid was one of the pull-top ones, which made it a little tricky, but we were still able to make it work!

Now, using the hot glue gun, put a little bit of glue around half of the rim of the can and set the lid inside. Try your best to hide the glue, so it’s not so visible from the outside.

While you’re folding and gluing the top, go ahead and send the little ones off to find sticks in the backyard.

Find one or two thicker, sturdier sticks and glue them to the bottom of the bird feeder…this is where the birds can perch while they snack.

Now, go around the can gluing sticks side-by-side until the entire can has been covered. We broke the sticks so they were all roughly the same length, but by no means perfect. If one stick is curved and leaves a substantial gap, go ahead and glue a small stick in to fill the hole.

On the bottom of the can, glue a few rocks in place…these probably won’t be seen, but will help balance out the bird feeder so it doesn’t tip too far forward.

Lastly, tie a string around the bird feeder and fill with bird seed. Hang it up where you and the kids can see it from a window…maybe on a nearby branch or off of your porch. Now, sit back and wait for the birds!

We decorated our bird feeder with sticks from the yard, but you can certainly get creative and mix things up a bit. Your kids can paint the tin can, wrap string around the can, or glue buttons on it…anything you all are inspired to do to make it unique!