How to Make a Mason Jar Bird Feeder
I just love spring, what about you? Because spring means birds, and birds provide such great inspiration for outside yard art. Bird houses and feeders provide great fodder for creativity.
You can get as flamboyant as you want to as long as you make it easy to accommodate wild birds’ needs…make it easy to access, easy to perch on, and weather-proof so your feathered friends don’t have to contend with icky wet birdseed.
(Sorry, I can’t help you with squirrel problems….There aren’t that many trees nearby so I rarely have to deal with squirrels, LOL)
This below will explain further why you should keep as many mason jars as you can. For this bird feeder, you’re going to need a quart size. I am using one that is smaller than the one I used for my earlier mason jar lamp project which was probably half a gallon if I remember right.
In addition to the mason jar you’ll need one of those chick feeder bases
A little trial and error to find a jar that would fit the bases. With the aluminum base, you definitely have to stick to the traditional Mason/Ball jars (must be something to do with how the jar opening “threads” are lined up) I attempted to measure the jar openings’ diameters, but ultimately the threads have to fit too and they are different on them all.
The plastic base had more leeway and I found that I could use one smaller pickle jar for it.
Now comes the fun….Crating a sort of “shelter” for the bird feeder than keeps the rain out. I can’t take all the credit for this one. A genius idea is revealed here in which this crafter used pot lids….wow how many of us have thought of that one?
Unfortunately all my lids have respective pots, and I didn’t want to mess with that. Besides some of them have knobs instead of handles and if you want to be able to hang up your feeder (obviously) it needs a handle.
i have a considerable collection of plates and flatware and I ran into the next best thing….so I selected a flat saucer for the smaller feeder and a slightly bigger (probably about 9″ ) plate for the larger feeder.
OK…then what was I going to use for the “handle” ? Hardly anything I came across after a lot of digging would qualify…that is, something slightly heavy with a large enough opening that could be glued down. Until I came across the rubber stoppers that came in my lamp kit that I’d hung onto…and so, what the hey.
Using Gorilla Glue
Then I added more glue to the rubber stoppers and secured them to the plate with the side exposed (being careful to get it in the middle centered)
And now we wait, For awhile I second-guessed the stoppers, wondering if I shouldn’t have gone with something like one of those silvery or brass cabinet door handles like you can get at Lowe’s (and picked up a couple just in case…) But I always have total confidence in that strong bond glue will never let you down as long as you give it a long enough time to cure.
About 5 days later….
Filled the jars with birdseed and screw them back onto the chicken feeder bases (which is what you’ll have to do every time it gets low on seed) Used about a yard of wire apiece to thread through the opening of the stoppers.
I’ve got one hanging from the gutter next to another handmade thing (a perch) and the other off to itself. Did I mention they are hanging on like gangbusters?
Now attracting birds is the easy part….photographing them is tricky. They always seem to make a quick getaway by the time you got your camera or Smartphone in place.
But if you really want to do it yourself a bird feeder from a mason jar you’ll be hard pressed to find a better method than this one. It looks good, the seed stays dry and only dispenses so much at a time, and the seed won’t get wet if it should rain.
The only thing better would be to be able to locate some mismatched pot lids. You’ll slap yourself when you realize how simple this is! And the birds will thank you too.
Love birds? Don’t forget to check out these posts for more ideas!
My First Ever DIY Birdhouse Project
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