Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » diy wednesdays: birdie snack shack

we’ve been wanting to get a bird feeder to hang outside our living room window for some time now. (hopefully it won’t drive our cats nuts!) this little feeder was inexpensive and easy to make, and we were able to customize it with paint to look like a little snack stand at an amusement park! click here for the full post and instructions or just click “read more” below.

happy crafting!
derek & lauren

Birdie Snack Shack

here’s what you’ll need:

-2 plates (we used 11″ bamboo dinner plates from bambu)
-drill with 5/8″ drill bit
-ruler
-pencil
-blue painters’ tape
-water-based acrylic paint (non-toxic)
-water-based polyurethane (optional)
-paintbrush
-12″ piece of 1/4″ all-thread (available at hardware stores)
-four 1/2″ nuts and washers
-monofilament
-pinecone (optional)
-bird seed

1. drill a hole through the center of each plate.

2. mark, tape off and paint a design on the bottom of one plate and the top of another. we also painted the all-thread with orange paint. you may choose to put a clear coat of polyurethane on the plates to help protect them from the elements.

3. once the paint is dry, sandwich the two plates with washers and nuts, and attach to the top and bottom of the all-thread.

4. tie a piece of monofilament or twine to the top of the bird feeder for hanging. if you live somewhere particularly wet or snowy, hang it under and eave or awning.

5. you can also attach a pine cone to the bottom of the bird feeder with monofilament. roll it in peanut butter and bird seed for an extra special treat!

Wonderful idea and it would be a great project to do with kids. Just one thing I wanted to mention since I run a birding/nature store. Be sure to check if the birds start sitting in the seed while they’re feeding. It’s important to clean out the bird poop so the birds don’t become ill and spread disease to each other. Thanks!

I had the same thought — about putting a bird feeder near the window — but it’s apparently not a good idea. Birds are confused by the glass and fly into it. According to the articles I read, that is one of the leading causes of bird deaths every year.

Considering Roberta’s comment–it would take a little more work/skills, but a shallow bowl with a circumference that is an inch or so smaller than the plate’s with several triangles cut into it would work as a little shelter for the seed, blocking both poop and the elements (damp seed = rotten seed).

what a fantastic idea. the best part is the colorful stripes, which not only look striking and cheerful and bright–those colors might even help to attract more birds. and if it’s raining, they’ve got a little “shield” overhead.

Would this idea work with melamine plastic plates? If you got some that were already decorated, you wouldn’t have to paint and the plastic would be a bit more weather proof. Maybe that would take all the fun out of it for some people, but I’m all about “How can I make it easy?’

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