You know how sometimes you’re looking for something specific at the thrift store or yard sales, and it’s impossible to find?
But other times, you just get super lucky and find exactly what you need. That’s what happened when I went shopping to make these diy hanging bird feeders. I found just what I wanted and at great prices.
These DIY hanging bird feeders are the project I’m sharing for this month’s Thrift Store Challenge.
You can see all my past thrifty projects HERE.
This post contains affiliate links
The Rules:
- Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
- There’s no monthly theme.
- There’s no budget to stick to.
Meet the Hosts:
Angela | Simply Beautiful By Angela – Gail | Purple Hues and Me – Carmen | Living Letter Home – Chas | Chas’ Crazy Creations – Jenny | Cookies Coffee and Crafts – Pili | My Sweet Things – Kathleen | Our Hopeful Home – Marie | DIY Adulation – Beverly | Across the Blvd – Michelle | Michelle James Designs – Molly | Just a Little Creativity
Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!
DIY Hanging Bird Feeders Video Tutorial
How to Make Your Hanging Bird Feeders
At my favorite local thrift store, I found these two white plates for 50¢ each (originally from Pier One). The hanging plant baskets were $1 for both, and they still had their tags on them from Dollar Tree, but I didn’t see them available online.
Here’s a similar set of metal baskets on Amazon, but you should definitely see if your local Dollar Tree has them first.
First, spray paint your basket if you don’t want it black (or whatever color you find yours in). I used Krylon Fusion for Plastics since these have a weird plastic coating on them.
As you can see, this is a super fancy spray paint set up, lol. A pole between two chairs to hang the baskets. Hey, it works.
Then, it started raining. Of course it did.
I was able to move everything inside our barn to dry overnight, and the baskets were just fine.
I knew ahead of time that I wanted them to have a little bling. Unfortunately, I didn’t find any affordable chandelier crystals when I was thrifting, so online I went.
Luckily, I found a great package of 20 crystal chandelier beads on Amazon. I’m pretty sure these are for things like jewelry making, but I had a hunch they’d be great for this too.
The chandelier beads were perfect. The metal tops bend easily, so I was able to hang one for each segment of the basket.
Next, simply add the thrift store plate into the hanging basket, level it, and add bird seed.
I hung one of them on my front porch, and the other from the beautiful magnolia tree in our front yard.
So many birds hang out close by already, I knew they’d be the perfect spots.
It didn’t take long before they found it!
Printable Instructions
DIY Hanging Bird Feeders
Invite birds to your yard by adding this super cute, and very easy to create hanging bird feeder. The supplies are easily found at thrift stores, Dollar stores, or big box stores. Your final project cost will vary depending where you purchase your supplies.
Materials
- plates
- hanging plant baskets
- crystal chandelier beads
Tools
- spray paint
- bird seed
Instructions
- Use your spray paint to make the baskets any color you'd like.
- Allow paint to dry overnight
- Add your crystal beads to hang from each segment of the basekts
- Insert your plates into the bottom of the basket, and add bird seed.
- Hang on a porch, in a tree, or on a hook and watch your birds enjoy their new favorite spot in your yard.
Recommended Products
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And now for more thrifty goodness –
Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!
If you like this project, you’ll probably like to see the other DIY other bird feeder ideas that I’ve shared over the years, so click HERE to see them.
Beverly says
Your bird feeders look great. Adding the crystals dressed them up nicely.
Chas Greener says
I have made one of these too – great minds think alike. I think yours turned out beautifully. Lovely work and thanks for sharing!
Marie | DIY Adulation says
I love this idea! It makes it easier to watch the birds feeding which is awesome and I bet those crystals are beautiful when they catch the light.
Pili says
I have been on the look for hanging plant baskets for so long without success… it seems Murphy’s law. Your bird feeders look awesome, those crystals are perfect for them
Liz says
Have you had any raccoons, doves or squirrels spoilng the fin of trying to feed the birds with an open feeder like this? Curious.
Jenny says
These are very pretty and great idea for your spray painting set up. I like the sparkle of the crystals.