Week 4: Peanut Butter Jar Bird Feeder

 Okay.  So, I stopped at the store to pick up a few things on my way home from work.  I had already picked up the toilet paper and dish washing liquid, and I was happily on my way to the checkout, when I noticed the shelf of wild bird seed.  Ah yes, I had been planning on buying some for the birds, but we didn't have something important for the purpose: a bird feeder.  As I picked up the bag of seed, I decided that it was a good excuse to go next door to the hardware store, where I was sure they would carry bird feeders.  A plan was hatched.  I had seen bird feeders at Big Lots just last week for $3.  I could certainly afford that.  So if I didn't find an affordable option at the hardware store, I knew I had another option.  I made my purchases and headed out the door, originally planning to just drop off my bags in the car before continuing on my shopping adventure.  But between the time that I stepped outside the store and actually placed the bags in the back seat (about 10 seconds), my plan had suddenly changed. 
I found a Pin on Pinterest a few weeks ago for a beautiful DIY bird feeder.  Oh, it was lovely.  Here's the link to that:

http://pinterest.com/pin/159174168051944371/

The problem with this idea is that I didn't feel I had the proper materials for the job.  I'd like to make a fancy bird feeder, but I didn't have a pretty candy dish on hand.  If I did, I would probably be averse to turning it into a bird feeder.  Well...unless I purchased it second-hand for that specific purpose.  But I can't buy things for these crafts.

I then thought of some of the other bird feeder crafts I had seen on Pinterest.  Surely I could find something at home that would work.  Maybe not for a decorative feeder, but certainly for a functional one.  

So I did a bit of searching, and found one I liked.  The idea originally came from the following site:

http://q-made.blogspot.com/2011/05/diy-bird-feeder.html

 I liked the design.  She made a feeder that was very practical.  I decided to make one that  used her idea, with a few personal tweaks.  

The supplies I used:
*Exacto Knife
*Empty, clean plastic peanut butter jar with lid
*E-6000 glue
*Lid from a disposable plastic food storage container
*Craft wire (I used 20 or 22 gauge, I think) 

You'll notice in the picture that there is a clear glass plate instead of a plastic lid.  I originally had planned to use that for this project.  So, the photo is not totally accurate.  You CAN use a glass or ceramic plate if you choose.  I ultimately decided that it would be less disastrous if a fully plastic bird feeder fell to the ground.  And I'm sure at some point it WILL fall to the ground.   

I began by cutting off the bottom of the jar.  I chose this rather than the top of the jar from the original craft, for practicality's sake.  The harder it is for me to refill the bird feeder, the less likely it is to happen in a timely fashion.  Unscrewing a lid and dumping it in?  I can do that.  Getting seed from a bag into a cork hole?  I'll put it off because it's a pain.

So I cut the bottom off of the jar with an Exacto knife, trying to keep it as straight as possible, using an indentation already in the plastic as a guide.

You'll want to use 2 hands, one to steady the top. My other hand was taking the photo.

 I then used the knife to cut triangular notches out of the open bottom of the jar.  This gives a place for the seed to come out.  I made four at equal intervals around the jar.  How big?  Eh, big enough to fit a finger tip through, maybe.  I wasn't precise.  

To hang the bird feeder, I wrapped craft wire around the base of the top of the jar (does that even make sense?).  In other words, at the bottom of the threads where the lid screws on.

 
 I used two separate wires of the same length, about 2 ft each.  I wrapped it around the jar then twisted it several times to secure it.  Then I did the same with the second piece of wire on the other side. 

Once that was done, I glued along the open bottom of the jar. I didn't glue over the notches, just the flat parts between.  Then I attached the lid to the bottom and let it dry.  Note: E-6000 glue is very toxic stuff.  I made sure I used it in a well-ventilated area, and let it dry completely before using the feeder.

It was harder to see on a black background.

 
 Voila! Bird feeder.  I filled it with bird seed and hung it outside. 

So how did this craft turn out?  Well, I am currently watching the birds come to the feeder.  So it does work!  However, I don't think they really like it.  The Cardinals look a little cramped when they perch, because there's not quite enough room between the edge of the feeder and the jar.  I've seen mainly Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse visitors, with other birds preferring to land on the ground to find stray seeds that have fallen.  It's not terribly stable, so when a bird flies away, the feeder rocks back & forth quite a bit.  They're still trying to figure the thing out, I think, but they're hungry, so they decide to deal with it.  

What will I do with this information?  I'm probably going to work on the design.  Make the base larger and heavier, perhaps by using the glass plate I planned to initially.  I may add two more wire pieces, so that there are four perpendicular wires instead of two, and/or add a roof to thread the wires through, to stabilize it.  I'll probably look at more ideas online to figure this all out.  In the meantime, the birds are at least marginally happy and eating at their makeshift buffet.