DIY Bird Feeder

Simple Clever Spring Garden Idea

Making a DIY bird feeder has been on my mind for a while. In our countryhouse we’ve always had cats. Typically, they would wonder into the garden and stay. Also, there’s always been that one friend who has a last kitten to give away or a cat that was an unwanted surprise present. Somehow, we’ve always had at least 4 or 5 cats running around. However, in the past couple of years the last two cats passed away and for the first time no none remained. And the birds returned!

Last summer, many birds visited the patio. So many different kinds! They became so comfortable that on several occassions some of the swallows decided to fly inside the house. Some to visit and some to make a nest. I admit that a large flock of starlings taking over our huge cherry tree and eating an entire harvest within minutes was not very welcome. However, the rest of the birds have been amazing to watch and learn about. We have many bushes that the birds can eat, hide or nest in. And we also leave food around in winter to help them to survive. And this is the DIY bird feeder we’ve made out of air dry clay!

DIY Bird Feeder

You’ll need:

a sheet of A4 size paper
pencil
an old plate
scissors
a pack of air dry clay
rolling pin (or the hard paper roll left off a kitchen towel)
a skewer
bird food mix
twine

Instructions

Firstly, take an old dessert plate and trace the circle onto a sheet of paper. You will need two clay plates to make the feeder. If you like, you can divide the circle on the paper into 8 equal paths and create a scalloped edge that looks like petal leaves. Cut this paper template out.

Cut away a small piece of the air dry clay and roll out a pizza like shape approx. 0.5 – 1 cm thick. The clay isn’t food-friendly so if you don’t want to use a kitchen rolling pin, use a paper roll left over from the kitchen towels. Place the paper template onto the rolled out clay and trace with a blunt knife.

You will now have a flat scalloped ‘plate’. Make three small holes in it, equal distance away from each other. These will help you tie the bird feeder base and lid together. Place the scalloped plate onto an old dessert plate as shown and leave to dry for approx. 4 – 5 hrs. Repeat the same with the second piece, you will have two identical ones in total.

Decorate the DIY bird feeder

If you want to, you can embellish the base with a little clay bird. Also, remember to make a little hole in the middle of the base ‘plate’. This is to make sure that any water can drain away. Although – this clay damages easily in the rain because it is not a typical glazed and burned ceramics. For this reason hang the feeder somewhere dry.

Lastly, use twine to tie the two plates together, one for the base and one over it. There should be approx 10 – 15 cm in between them once you hang them up. Get some bird food mix, fill the base plate and hang the bird feeder outside where you’d like the birds to find it.

diy spring bird feeder