Tag: bird feeder

Recycled Bird Feeder

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Recycled Feeder (3)

With Earth Day coming up, it’s a great time to remind kids about the importance of recycling. Hands-on lessons always help drive a point home, as with this recycled bird feeder. So don’t toss that empty orange juice carton the next time your family finishes it up!

Starting with a cleaned and dried carton, cut a small doorway in the front (grown-up step).

Veronika helped cover the carton with duct tape. Any color will do, but she loved that we had a mix of green and orange for beautiful pops of color.

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Add stickers if desired!

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We then hot glued a clothespin to the bottom of the feeder as a perch (a jumbo craft stick would work, too).

Finally, tape a string to the top of the carton and hang from a branch. Veronika proudly poured in our first cup of bird seed! Make sure to check what birds are in your area, and buy the appropriate kind of food. We can’t wait to watch for feathered visitors from our window!

How to… Feed Feathered Friends

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Feed Feathered Friends (7)

Travis and I have loved hearing birdsong on recent walks to the bus stop, a sure sign that spring is near. So we loved that this month’s “How To” column in Highlights magazine was a bird feeder for our feathered friends, helping them out while the ground is still quite frozen.

I challenged Travis to think of how he could make a strong base for the feeder from craft sticks. Seven lined up in a row with two across the top and bottom for reinforcement did the trick.

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We repeated this arrangement for the roof. For the sides, glue 4 craft sticks together in a square.

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I hot-glued everything together (wood glue would also work), and then added a few extra craft sticks for reinforcement where needed.

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Note: If using wood glue, consider using binder clips to hold everything together until the glue dries.

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Next we gave our bird feeder a coat of paint.

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Travis chose black and yellow – oriole colors!

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We took a special trip the store for birdseed, following Highlights suggestions for who eats what in which part of the country. We opted for black-oil sunflower seeds, popular with titmice in our region.

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It was so warm outside that we didn’t even need our coats when we went to hang this in the sunshine. We can’t wait to watch the birds enjoy their meal.

Milk Jug Bird Feeder

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Milk Jug Feeder (8).JPG

It’s that time of year when we start thinking about our feathered friends, providing them with seeds for the colder weather ahead (even though it’s been unseasonably warm!). In the past we’ve made everything from pinecone feeders to a little cafe. I wanted to try this version because it looked nice and roomy for the birds, but it posed a bit of a vegan challenge: the base of the feeder calls for a gallon milk jug. I briefly considered reusing a relative’s milk gallon, but had a hunch the non-dairy milk bottle from Califia Farms would work. It does, but grown-ups, do take care in the step below that calls for an Xacto knife and scissors!

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First, cut a window in the front of the jug for birds to fly into. I started this with a knife, and finished the cut-out with scissors.

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You’ll also need to make a hole near the top of the bottle to thread through yarn.

Travis took great pride in painting this project, everything from selecting the color blue…

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…to mixing shades of blue…

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…to making sure every last bit was covered.

Once the paint had dried, I tied yarn through the hole in the top and we headed outside.

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Travis loved scooping in the bird seed.

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Find the perfect spot to hang your feeder, then wait for your feathered friends to arrive!

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Bird Cafe

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Bird Cafe (7)

Our latest project (from High Five magazine) wasn’t as big a hit as past crafts, perhaps because Travis and I have made bird feeders before and it felt a bit ho-hum to him. But there’s never anything wrong with learning a new way to feed our feathered friends, and this one is easy to put together!

Save any clear plastic food container; shallow is better, like the kind used for nuts or dried fruit. Rinse and dry.

Cut a rectangle from the center of an 8×5-inch piece of craft foam. This step was a bit tricky for Travis, but he loved cutting separate pieces of craft foam into free-form shapes while I worked.

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Tape the foam around your container, then wrap the top of the craft foam around the lid and tape in place. The craft foam now acts as the “wall” connecting the bottom and the lid roof.

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Hole punch the foam near the lid on each side, and thread through yarn or string to hang your feeder.

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As the final touch, tape on a second sheet of craft foam bent into a “roof”.

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We’re hoping to get many a summer visitor!