It’s easy to make a bird feeder yourself; even a small child can handle this task. However, most of the homemade products usually do not look very aesthetically pleasing and are not at all interesting. If you thoroughly understand the possibilities of decor, you will be able to create not only useful, but also very beautiful crafts.
What size should the birdhouse be?
Choosing the right birdhouse sizes
- the diameter of the hole in the birdhouse should be about 50 mm;
- the height of the structure varies between 30-35 cm;
- the length from the hole to the bottom must be at least 20 cm;
- the bottom must be at least 15*15 cm.
Interesting materials:
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What are decorations for?
It’s worth decorating a bird feeder, if only just to create a good mood. The idea of creating a craft in itself carries an extremely positive charge - to help those who are not able to do it themselves. If you decorate it, the result will be a wonderful piece of street design, delighting those who glance at it. In addition, it is also worth decorating the feeder in order to provide it with additional protection and extend its possible service life . Drawings created using varnish or drying oil not only visually refresh the craft, but also make it more durable.
Finally, we should not forget that a properly designed feeder attracts birds, and this is precisely the goal.
Interesting examples
If the creators of the feeder want to move away from the usual houses and try out some new design, then you can purchase two painted cups made of durable material and attach them in a slightly inclined position to a wooden plank. The latter, in turn, is already attached to the tree. By the way, the elements of the dishes themselves can be purchased without any patterns, and decorated with whatever you want - ornaments, images of birds or forest motifs.
The decoupage technique looks good on classic wood crafts. It is not necessary to decorate the entire feeder in this way - just add brightness to the roof and slightly enliven the entrance holes.
At home, the easiest way to create feeders is from a plastic bottle. Painted with laconic berry patterns, decorated with images of birds and a welcome inscription, they immediately attract the attention of both the birds themselves and the people around them.
How to make and decorate a bird feeder, see the following video.
Unusual ways to decorate
In general, a wooden feeder gives more room for experimentation, especially if the master knows how to work with this material. Using planks, branches, plywood of different shapes and sizes , you can assemble a truly unusual structure. Alternatively, the feeder can be designed in the form of a mill, a beehive, a house in a certain style, or another real building. Stylish work doesn’t even need to be painted: it will be enough to cover it with some durable product that does not hide the beauty of the natural texture of the wood, and add laconic patterns along the edges of the roof.
In finishing it is worth using twine, birch bark and other natural materials.
From small sticks and twigs you can create an unusual but useful decorative element, for example, to assemble a woodpile. Durable bars can easily be transformed into perches on which the birds can rest. To decorate such a filled wooden house, figurines of chicks placed on the roof or “porch” of the feeder are suitable.
The main rules for decorating feeders
So, what can you use as a decoration for your feeder? A good solution would be to create a “delicious” garland of chopped delicacies that will not leave any feathered visitor to the feeder indifferent. Thus, wild berries strung on a rope, fishing line or wire, chopped pieces of lard, crackers and dried fruits will play the role of not only a delicacy, but also an original decoration.
Not every decoration you like is suitable for feeders. The decorative component can scare away birds or make their stay in the bird “dining room” uncomfortable. These elements include:
- Rustling or ringing objects that can frighten birds;
- A large number of shiny objects;
- Elements with sharp corners that can injure the feet of birds;
- Use of toxic paints and varnishes;
- Objects blocking the entrance to the feeder;
- Fragile and moisture-resistant components.
In order to successfully decorate a feeder and turn it into a work of art, you don’t have to spend money at all: the materials can simply be at your fingertips! Let's look further at how to decorate feeders.
What to feed the birds
If in nature the bird diet in winter becomes extremely meager and clearly insufficient for a decent existence, then a person can not only feed disadvantaged birds, but give them the most varied diet.
Tits, sparrows, waxwings, bullfinches - these birds more often than others become visitors to canteens for birds. Therefore, you can offer them their most favorite dish - unroasted sunflower seeds. Birds will not refuse other grains: millet, oats, split peas and corn, pumpkin seeds, melon and watermelon. You can also offer seeds of wild plants for food, for example, burdock, which is indestructible in summer cottages, common quinoa or nettle.
In cold weather, energy expenditure in birds increases sharply, so high-calorie food such as pieces of unsalted lard, animal fat or margarine will not be superfluous in the feeder. A mixture of fat with seeds, crumbs, crackers or other nutritious filler is doubly useful.
Crushed eggshells will help birds replenish calcium deficiency. Birds will not refuse chopped boiled eggs or potatoes, dry pet food and slices of dried wheat bread. It is better not to give rye bread to birds, since this food is difficult for birds to digest and can even sour in the crop. It is not recommended to give birds foods that are unusual for their natural diet, as well as salty, sour or spicy foods. Fried grains and seeds will also harm birds.
How not to decorate?
When creating a design for a feeder, it is not recommended to use a large amount of sparkles, rustling and ringing elements . An excess of “aggressive” elements can simply scare away birds. In addition, decorative elements should not interfere not only with the birds, but also with the people themselves. This means that the feeder should be decorated in such a way that the decorations do not interfere with pouring food inside, and the birds can easily get inside, consume food and fly back. It is believed that birds enjoy the winter or New Year theme used to decorate the feeder.
However, a structure made of plastic or wood, completely decorated with bright colors, can scare away birds. Colors should be calm, and the number of color accents should be minimal. Experts believe that shades of wood and natural design look most attractive to animals. Under no circumstances should you use objects with sharp or cutting edges, which can easily injure the bird. Paints should be chosen that are environmentally friendly and do not emit toxic fumes , which again can harm the bird.
It is better to create all parts from moisture-resistant materials. There is no point in specifically purchasing any expensive elements to decorate a craft - everything you need, as a rule, is already at hand.
How to paint a bird feeder: made of wood, plastic, cardboard and branches
Decorating a bird feeder is quite simple. Usually paints, branches, cones and other available materials are used for this. However, only non-toxic products are allowed to be used in the work. In addition, it is advisable not to use too bright colors, which can scare away birds.
- Design features of bird feeders
- How to decorate a bird feeder with your own hands
- How to decorate a wooden bird feeder
- How to beautifully decorate a plastic bird feeder
- How to decorate a cardboard bird feeder
- How to decorate a bird feeder from branches
- Photos of decorated bird feeders
- Conclusion
Jewelry made from plastic bottles
To decorate feeders made from plastic bottles, you need to use other elements made of plastic. Thus, the cut out bottoms of plastic bottles can be painted in different colors and glued to the base, thus creating a bright and original design.
Using acrylic paints, you can paint a bottle in such a way that a simple plastic feeder turns into a work of fine art.
You can wrap the feeder with ropes, but you will first have to apply PVA glue to them. Garlands made from natural materials, such as pine cones, bunches of dried rowan berries, bouquets of leaves and others will appeal to both birds and random visitors to your yard or parks.
Tips for Decorating Feeders
- Avoid using paints that have a toxic effect: this risks harming the birds due to the evaporation of harmful substances under the influence of temperature.
- The feeder (especially cardboard) must be well protected from moisture. Do not forget to coat the product with a protective varnish.
- Of course, a feeder with a bell looks attractive, and the pleasant ringing of the bell cannot leave anyone indifferent. However, objects such as a bell or rustling foil can only scare away the birds.
- To make your feeder look elegant, try to stick to the basic material: a wooden feeder should contain natural decorative materials, while a plastic feeder should contain artificial ones.
- When designing a bird canteen, design the entrance to the feeder so that the opening can accommodate a bird of any size.
Making a feeder is a fun and rewarding activity. Decorating this beautiful design will delight both children and adults: the activity provides wide scope for imagination and the use of various materials, combining and improving various technologies and methods of painting. Of course, it is important to create an excellent design, but you should not get carried away with the number of decorations, otherwise they can disturb the inhabitants of the miniature house and even scare them away. We hope that our article has expanded your ideas about what materials and methods can be used to decorate crafts.
Simple decor
There are a huge number of ways to decorate a feeder with your own hands. Even at the initial stage, you can choose an unusual shape for it, and then paint it with bright gouache, paste it with colored paper, and paint it with unusual figures and inscriptions. Of course, the easiest way is to paint the feeder with permanent paint and cover it with an additional layer of varnish .
Although the color scheme, plot or pattern are determined depending on the wishes of the artist, most often some natural motifs are used: elements of the landscape, images of animals and plants. A wooden feeder of a classic shape, painted entirely, makes the homemade product look like a real fairy-tale house .
The hut, in which the emphasis is on the roof, also looks stylish. For example, first the entire house is covered with one paint, then the roof is painted in a contrasting color and additionally decorated with painting. The latter, by the way, can be easily decorated using a stencil. The easiest way is to draw individual elements at the feeder: circle the windows, add a few patterns or a couple of images. You will be especially pleased with this simple plastic design made from an ordinary bottle.
If we talk about plastic containers , then it is quite difficult to significantly transform them, except perhaps make them multi-colored. However, some craftsmen additionally cut out the bottoms of several caps and turn a banal bottle into a flower with round petals. It is customary to decorate the design with ready-made drawings, ornaments and stickers; this option is most suitable for the youngest craftsmen.
Together with the children, it would be nice to decorate the bottle with markers , writing funny or pleasant phrases, decorate it with hairpins or old toys from Kinder Surprises. If the size and density of the material allow, then even voluminous decorative elements made of the same plastic or even thin plywood can be glued on.
An interesting solution would be to wrap a plastic container with twine treated with glue.
Coniferous tree branches, small cones, berries and other natural materials will fit perfectly on top of such a bottle Instead of regular rope, you can also use threads woven using the macrame technique.
The easiest way to decorate cardboard boxes is with bright colors, realizing the artist’s ideas. You can also print out a selected picture from the Internet, stick it on the wall of the feeder, add a background or some kind of ornament yourself, and, finally, “laminate” everything using colorless adhesive tape. It is convenient to use ready-made stencils .
