Make Your Own Birdfeeders

Birdhouses are a pretty addition to the yard, but birds aren't just looking for a place to live. They are looking for food, too. Make your own DIY bird feeders to bring more birds to your yard. They’ll also be more likely to come populate your lovely birdhouse.

Bottles for Humming Birds

Attract hummingbirds to your yard with a simple craft that adds an artistic touch to your outdoor space. Start with a clean glass bottle. The food inside will add its own color, so you don’t need to worry about the color. You will need ¼-inch copper tubing, available at hardware stores. You’ll also need a cork or cap with a ¼-inch hole in it to cover the mouth of the bottle.

Bend your tube or wire around the bottle in any sort of design you like, but leave a hook extending from the bottom. This is to hang the bottle, so make this sturdy. Add embellishments and charms if you like, using the tubing as an anchor.

Boil four cups of water and add one cup of sugar. Add food coloring of your choice. Once this mixture cools overnight, pour it into the bottle. This sugar water will serve as your hummingbird nectar.

Cut a piece of tubing long enough to go through the cork or cap and extend at least two inches from the bottle. Push the tubing through the hole and bend it so it curves away from the bottle. If you want, embellish the feeder tube with an artificial flower made from a spigot. Hang the bottle upside down and simple physics keeps the nectar from just spilling out of the nozzle, like when you hold a finger over one end of a straw. Now the hummingbirds can brighten your yard.

Wreaths for Wrens

Attract small birds to your yard with a simple wreath that looks decorative while it attracts avian friends.

Get a bundt pan, or a similar mold, and set this aside. Mix gelatin with warm water. Mix in corn syrup and flour to form a sticky paste. Add about four cups of bird seed to the mixture and stir it together thoroughly. Spread your mixture in your mold and tamp it down. Let it stand for 24 to 48 hours and remove it from the mold.

Once you take the wreath out of the pan, hang it from a ribbon anywhere in the yard. Low-hanging tree limbs and birdhouses are perfect for this. After you master the wreath mixture, you can make your seed wreaths in just about any size.

DIY Tip: Instead of using a mold, make your own like you see in the picture below.

Paint Cans for Plovers

Paint cans make perfect bird feeders because they're already sturdy and leak-proof. Get small paint cans that are empty and unused from the hardware store. Cut a 14-inch wooden dowel into sections long enough to reach the bottom of the can and stick out about four inches. You'll need one for each of your cans. You can spray paint the dowels and the exterior of the cans to add some color.

Drill a ¼-inch hole through the inner rim of each can and insert the dowel to create a little stand for the birds to rest upon. Secure the perch with a little hot glue where it goes through the hole. Tie ribbon around each can, or twine if you want a more rustic look, and hang them sideways from tree branches. Place bird seed inside the cans and you’ll start attracting neighborhood birds.

Any of these options will attract your feathered friends.Best of all, they are fun for the whole family!