I’ve had a hummingbird feeder on the window by my couch for about a year now, and I love spending weekend mornings with my coffee, my knitting, and my hummingbird friends. There’s also a tree right outside my window that has tons of activity that I love to watch. I decided to bring the other birds a little closer too with this homemade bird feeder.
I love the natural appearance of the terra cotta clay I used, and I even stamped a little sentiment around the edge. The natural look of the feeder makes me so happy, and I’m sure the birds are happy with the stuff inside the bowl.
What You Need:
- Plastic Cereal Bowl
- Terra Cotta Clay
- Mod Podge Outdoor
- Craft Twine
- Paint Brush
- Optional: Rubber Stamps
How to Make It:
Thoroughly clean and dry your plastic bowl. flip it upside down onto a covered surface.
Take your terra cotta clay and gently smooth it over the surface of the bowl. You can wet your hands a little to make the clay easier to work with. Fill in cracks with little extra pieces of clay. Come as close to the edge of the bowl as you can without going over the rim.Once your whole bowl is covered, wet your hands again, and smooth out the whole surface of the bowl.
Stamp your design onto the bowl while the clay is still wet. I stamped “a little birdie told me” around my rim. You can also paint it once it’s dry. Let the bowl dry completely. I have a pretty humid house so mine took 2 days.
Once the clay is dry, give it a coat of Outdoor Mod Podge to protect it from the elements. Let Dry.
Cut 4 strands of twine that are about twice as long as the length you want the bird feeder to hang.
Double up the strands and lay them in a cross shape on a flat work surface.
Cross the sides over each other so there is a twist in the middle.
Knot together each strand about 1 inch from the center.
Take one strand from the bottom knotted section and the nearest strand to the right from the right hand knotted section and knot them together about 1 inch away from the first knot. Continue with the other strand from your right side section with the closest on the top and do the same. Continue counter-clockwise until all strands are knotted and look like the above photo.
Fill your bowl with some birdseed. Place the bowl in the center and pull each strand around it. Tie a knot at the top and secure with a weatherproof glue. Hang it up under a covered surface outside, and enjoy the birds!
Keep this away from trees and fences that squirrels can jump from. They will knock this bowl over if they can get to it. Since the birds can’t see the seeds, you might want to try spread some birdseed around on the ground below the feeder. Birds will likely check to see if that’s where the seeds came from.
