How to Make a Mason Jar Bird Feeder With Simple Materials
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.
This weekend I put together 2 birdfeeders from mason jars and a few other simple materials. (Wow is there anything mason jars can’t become?) It seems like its hard to find a really cute birdfeeder that doesn’t look cheap or boring.
So I wanted to make one. My first requirement is that it used glass. My second was a unique design.
Follow along with this tutorial and you can too! 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)
Mason Jar Birdfeeder Craft – Materials Needed
- A Ball/Mason jar, although other types of jars may work fine
- Waterproof glue or adhesive (like Gorilla Glue or E6000
)
- A chick feeder base (farm supply stores carry these)
- A plate or pot lid
- Cabinet door handle if you’re using a plate
Let’s Get Started!
This below will explain further why you should keep as many mason jars as you can. For this bird feeder, the quart size is ideal but a little smaller would work too. 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.
You’ll need one of those chick feeder bases
I ended up paying a visit to one of those farm product supply stores that is family-run. I got a plastic base and an aluminum base-thought I may as well make 2:)
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 something that just might work… the rubber stoppers that came in my lamp kit that I’d hung onto. One of them could work…and so, what the hey. Something else…I picked up one of those cabinet door handles from Lowe’s.
Using Gorilla Glue
Then I added more glue to the rubber stopper and the handle and secured them to the plate with the side exposed (being careful to get it in the middle centered)
The handle was almost a perfect fit save that the saucer bottom kind of slopes a little and so the ends kind of slant up a little.
And now we wait, For awhile I second-guessed the stopper, door handles like I got made of metal i felt would be stronger.
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….Then will come the fun part of hanging them up!
Hanging My Finished Birdfeeders!
Next I filled the jars with birdseed and screwed them back onto the chicken feeder bases (which is what you’ll have to do every time it gets low on seed)
Those bases must be pretty deep because after I turned them upside down, almost all of the birdseed landed into it from the jar.
I used about a yard of wire apiece to thread through the opening of the stopper and the door handle before hanging.
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. Or it shouldn’t depending on how wide the pot lid or plate you choose is 🙂
Here is the other feeder with the aluminum base hanging from the gutter between a few other ornaments 🙂 Pretty dope right?
When you need to refill it with more seed all you need to do is turn the jar/base upside down and twist off the base. After you replenish it with new birdseed just replace the base and flip it over again.
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? And feeders? Don’t forget to check out these posts for more ideas!
My First Ever DIY Birdhouse Project
Leave a Reply