From Funky Birdhouse to Fabulous DIY Bird Feeder
We had a funky birdhouse high on a pole in the back of our home left by the previous owners. I’ve looked at it for months now trying to figure out what to do with it. Since no birds were using it, I decided to make it into a DIY bird feeder that birds would use. Here’s what it looked like up in the air, a true trash to treasure project waiting to happen.
Crazy, huh! Little did I know how horrible it looked and how far gone it was until we took it down and assessed it. This is the old bird house laying on the ground. That crusty stuff is old paint and algae! Yuk! Only half the roof was left and when we touched the remaining half, it fell off!
At this point, many questioned my rationale in trying to fix it. A good friend said, and I quote, “Some stuff is better left as trash! Firewood? LOL!” Instead of agreeing, I dug my heels in and started the long road to redemption! 🙂
This is what is looked like while being stripped of paint and algae. The badly rotten wood had to be reinforced with wood glue and some pieces of new wood.
Once the skeleton of the bird feeder was ready, it was time to paint.
Next, the bird feeder was attached with a few screws to a newly painted base board.
The bird feeder needed a roof so I visited a local metal company to buy some scrap tin. I wanted blue tin to match our pigeon loft, but didn’t hold out much hope for this to happen. When I arrived at the metal company, Josiah, greeted me by the scrap hopper. He took a look at the feeder, measured it and cut a piece of blue tin (matching our roof – thank you!) for me. He gave me tin screws to attach it to the bird feeder. When I asked how much I owed him, he said, nothing! Wow, talk about southern hospitality! Here’s the tin being attached to the feeder.
The new bird feeder is attached to our backyard fence with wire. (Holes drilled through the base and then wire fed through and around the fencing.) I found an old tin heart to attach to the side to spruce it up for our feathered friends. The feeder is placed on a bit of an angle for rain run-off. To date, here in Chattanooga, we have had almost 34” of rain, so rain run-off was definitely a factor in the feeder placement. Cost of renovating the feeder – nothing, satisfaction with the end result – priceless!
So, if you have something ready for the firewood bin, take another look at it. There’s a high probability you will be able to make something beautiful out of it! Don’t listen to the nay-sayers, make something fabulous out of something funky!
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