It’s bird watching time!
Look what fun and easy things flea market gardeners are doing to celebrate birds. These projects can be made in a snap. Most are easy enough for children to do—a few are best with adult supervision. Of course, junk recycling is at the heart of all of these whimsical creations.
Fun weekend bird crafts –
a. Vintage, galvanized, trashcan lid tied to a railing is sturdy and handsome bird feeder
b. Candy dish joined with a candlestick holder, photographed by Jacqui Rogers, holds water or seeds for birds (GE Silicon II is available from our store for projects like these). Embellish with a hanging wire and colorful beads.
c. You’re invited to a house painting party! With your favorite palette of paint colors in acrylic, and whimsical wood bird houses from a hobby shop, an instant collection and garden memories can be yours for a few hours with a paintbrush. When dry, varnish, antique, and mount as a group in your garden for visual impact—a great idea photographed by Sue Langley.
d. A fun birdhouse from a vintage a copper teakettle was made super-quick with tin snips, photographed by Jennifer MacNeill Traylor. Be sure to provide shade for metal bird houses so that they will stay cool in summer.
e. Collect bright glass objects, marbles, and pebbles to decorate your water features, and you will be sure to attract new feathered friends—photographed by Sue Langley
More easy bird-themed decorations –
a. Make a realistic bird nest ornament: twine wet honeysuckle or grapevines into a nest shape, and tuck inside a bowl. Place 2nd, smaller bowl on top to hold twines in place until dry. Decorate with ferny leaves, herbs, dried flowers, and flea market trinkets.
b. Plant a birdcage with trailing plants, flowers, and moss—created and photographed by Jeanne Sammons.
c. Large Queen Anne’s lace flowers dried naturally into the shape of a bird’s nest can be used to line a nest ornament.
d. Mount or hang a colorful teakettle sideways. Provide the shade of leafy plants so that house doesn’t get hot in the sun. Notice that the spout points down to drain away rainwater, and the handle makes a great perch. This cute and super-fast birdhouse was created and photographed by Lark Kulikowski.
Western blue birds -Sue Langley
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GE II Silicone for Windows, Exterior in Clear, our favorite glue. Click link to buy from Amazon or find it at hardware stores.
Steller’s jay -Sue Langley
12 Comments
Lots of cute and easy ideas here, and good tips too. Loved it.
I loved the article,lots of great ideas for our birds who love the garden as much as we do !
Nell, when we can’t garden,..we watch birds!
Love the idea of dried ‘Queen Anne’s Lace’ for the birdnest! Great ideas here, Stephie! Love those old aqua colored insulators sitting in Sue Langley’s birdbath! …and the birds give back so much pleasure!! Thanks, Stephie!
Thanks, Jeanne, I love Stephie’s idea for a bird next…
You always publish wonderful ideas. I have that copper teakettle, and would have a hard time poking holes in it like that. Much prefer the blue teakettle birdhouse, made without any apparent damage. If I had the lid, I would affix it to the top end of the handle, creating shade for the occupants. Blue glass and those wonderful insulators are always welcome in my garden. Thanks to all who contributed. Happy gardening!
Thanks, so much for your lovely compliment, Elaine. You have a great idea for the ‘birdhouse’ lid… ~~ Sue
Thanks for your very kind compliments, Elaine..I love blue glass….
I love the teapot ideas, I have a couple. I’m wondering, what do people do to keep wasps out of their containers, birdhouses, and such? That’s a problem in my area.
Wasps are scary, aren’t they! I always get rid of their nests if they are up close to my house. Birds know how to defend themselves against wasps. I’ve heard that lots of birds eat wasps! I think once the wasps know that their nests will be taken down anywhere in your territory, they will move back into different areas. Stand your ground!
Is there something I can spray in a birdhouse to keep wasp from making hives in them
Wild bird food preferences vary with bird species. While birds like pigeons and doves will readily eat any bird food given to them, more specialist feeders like Robins prefer small grubs such as mealworms. You can buy bird food from various outlets that have large stocks of bird food available in various weights depending on your requirement. Guides to feeding garden birds can be researched online or from various gardening bird books that give details about wild bird feeding habits. The autumn season can attract a large number of wild birds to your garden with the right food including siskins, goldfinches, great tits, blue tits, wrens, woodpeckers and many more. Each one of them has a different feeding habit and accordingly people can make use of different bird feeders and feeding locations within their garden to encourage them. ‘
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