My DIY Mason Jar Bird Feeder Tutorial (And the Secret Hacks I Used!)

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DIY Mason Jar Bird Feeder With Simple Materials

This weekend I DIYed two mason jar birdfeeders along with a few other simple materials – which I’ll tell you all about in a minute! 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.

Is there anything mason jars can’t do or become? Most birdfeeders I see at the store are, well, boring. One Ball or Mason canning jar and you’ve got the making of a beautiful and rustic looking decoration in the making.

Follow along with this tutorial and you can too! This one will be attractive to look at, easy to accommodate wild birds AND weather-proof so your feathered friends don’t have to contend with icky wet birdseed. Plus I’m going to show you a special “hack” to make it easy as pie to hang!

(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)
Round Jar Galvanized Feeder Base for Birds, 1-Quart

Materials Needed

To get started you’re going to need at least one quart sized mason jar. You could use a pint sire but it won’t hold as much. I think a quart is the best size. Also you need some strong waterproof adhesive, wire, and one of those feeder bases like this one to the left.

They’re only carried at certain places; I found that out when I went to the most likely places but didn’t see them, I finally had to call one of my relatives who advised me to try the local feed store, in which – bingo.

I got an aluminum one and a plastic one, so I could make two birdfeeders. I would recommend the metal one, because it fits jars better.

Let’s Get Started!

Alright! If you’ve got everything, first thing you want to do is grab your mason jar and make sure the feeder base fits snugly into the jar. It may take a little trial and error to find a good fit, as the threads of the base have to work with the threads of the jar opening as well.

The aluminum base, I found out, will ONLY fit the traditional Mason/Ball jars (It has something to do with how the jar opening “threads” are lined up.)

The plastic base had more leeway and I found that I could use one smaller pickle jar for it.

Galvanized Feeder Base Jar, 1 quart Plastic Poultry Feeder Base, 1-Quart, Purple Early 1900’s Ball Perfect Mason Jar 1 Ball Mason Jar Wide Mouth 32 oz. (Quart)

Making the Hanger For Your Mason Jar Bird Feeder

Now comes the fun….We need to create a top for the bird feeder that will also double as a hanger too!

I’ve seen crafters advise drilling a hole in the top of the jar and threading a type of brace thingamabob through to hold it. This is the same approach taken with my mason jar lamp and it’s not for the faint of heart. At least not for me! So, I went to seek a better way. And I did find it – yay!

I can’t take all the credit for this one. A genius idea is revealed here in which this crafter used pot lids as birdfeeder hangers. Pure Genius!

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.

I picked up one of those cabinet door handles from Lowe’s. Perfect! Just needed a nice small, sturdy brass one for this.

So you may want to consider checking your nearest thrift store and see if you can find a “lid without a pot” that could be used for your bird feeder’s handle? If you should come up empty handed, don’t worry, my approach with the plate and cabinet handle will definitely work!

Attaching and Hanging Your Birdfeeders

Use some of your strong bond adhesive and dispense some of it around the top of the jar as it will be the part sticking to the plate. You may also want to put a dab of glue in the middle of the plate (or lid) for good measure.

Now bond them together. Then add some glue to the handle if you did the plate hack, and secure it to the plate center.’

Now we let them set up…About 5 days later….Then will come the fun part of hanging them up! To do so, you can use a good length of jute rope cord or some wide gauge wire.

Next ..time to fill them up with birdseed …You pretty much turn them upside down and fill away, then attach the feeder base back on. Make sure you fill it to the brim, as some of that seed is going to drop into the base which is at least 2″ deep.

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?

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.

If you really want to diy 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. You’ll slap yourself when you realize how simple this is! And the birds will thank you, too!