Thrifted Glass Bird Feeders ~ DIY Friday

Did you know that February is National Bird Feeding Month?  Well if you didn't, like me, now you know!  What a perfect time to show you a fun DIY project that you can put together quickly from thrift store or Dollar Tree finds.  Think candy dishes, vases and candle holders.  Look for pretty pieces of cut glass and you're ready for a shabby-chic bird feeder!

I first saw this idea when my sister-in-law invited me to join Pinterest (thanks Melanie ~ you changed my life!).  I love anything Colbalt.

photo source

Since that glorious day I have collected any glass piece at any thrift store or garage sale that I found.  At a good price of course.  I took my collection out and started to see what vases looked good inside the different candy dishes.

For instance the taller vases look more proportioned in the larger dishes and visa-versa.  Once you have established the best mates you'll need a good adhesive.  I recommend a clear silicone that you can pop into a caulking gun.  You get the most bang for your buck.  If you aren't comfortable using one look for a smaller tube in the same isle.

This particular kind is also dishwasher safe that I have used in other projects.  Clean and dry your glassware then simply add a line of silicone to the bottom of the vase.  Center in the middle of the dish, press down lightly while giving a little twist to help pop any air bubbles.

Don't worry if the top of the vase isn't flat.  You can see this one has pretty little ridges so I just went a little heavier on the silicone to make sure I had a good seal.  Center the top of the dish on the vase, press, twist and let the whole thing sit for a good 12 hours (or according to drying time on the package).

Don't get hung up on how to hang your bird feeder.  Each piece might need to be hung slightly different.  I had some copper wire on hand so I decided to find a way to hang my feeder with wire as opposed to drilling holes in the glass.  Waaaaaaaay to far above my pay grade. 

Steps:

1.  Wrap the end of the wire around a screwdriver several times using your hands or pliers.

2.  Twist the remaining wire around the candy dish knob until secure.

3.  Bend the wire up at a 90 Degree angle and loop it up and over the dish your desired length for hanging.

4.  Bring the end of the wire through the wire loops created in Step 1.

5.  Snip the wire a couple inches past the wire loops.  Bring this end in and around the wire loops a couple times to secure.

Now all you have to do is add bird seed, hang in a spot next to your window to watch the most classy of all birds come to eat in style!

This particular piece I made for MY SuperMom is made from a cut-crystal candy dish and two small candle holders silicon-ed together.  Because it's crystal it is very heavy so don't worry that the silicone won't hold up!

 And yes, those are Cheerio's filling in for bird seed during this photo shoot.  It just didn't look right taking pictures without bird seed!

Now if the knob on top of your dish is tapered, don't get your feathers all ruffled up.  With this feeder I just wrapped the wire centered around the vase and then bent it up and over the top of the dish.  When the hanging loop was the desired length I snipped both ends of the wire and twisted them together.

Hooray for National Bird Feeding Month!  A great excuse to go shopping for beautiful thrifted glass to up-cycle into a one-of-a-kind bird feeder.

photo source

Now that you know how easy and fun these handmade bird feeders are to make think of all the ways in which you can give them as gifts!  Mother's Day is just around the corner and so is the end of school (seriously, it's almost March!).  Any bird lover or gardener would sing your praises like a song bird.  Getting a new neighbor?  Secure yourself a cup of sugar anytime by giving her a bird feeder complete with seed (so she doesn't have to search out the Cheerio's).

Did you like this post?  I'd just LOVE it if you'd Tweet all about it and Follow me on Twitter!  Last bird reference, I swear  =)