How to Build Recyled Birdhouses

You can use recycled materials to make a birdhouse.

Whether you are a bird enthusiast or just looking for a craft to complete with your kids, building birdhouses is an inexpensive project. Although traditional birdhouses, which you can purchase at your local garden supply stores, are made from dried gourds or wood, using recycled materials such as an empty coffee can or milk carton is a way to make birdhouses at home.

Things You'll Need

• Coffee can and lid
• Hammer
• Nail
• Craft knife
• Dowel rod
• Fishing line
• Half gallon paper milk carton
• Stapler
• Sharpened pencil
• Hole punch

Instructions

Coffee Can Birdhouse

1. Rinse the inside of an empty coffee can using soap and water. Turn the can upside and allow it to dry thoroughly.

2. Hammer a nail through the side of the coffee can to make a hole. Remove the nail and repeat to make a second hole. The holes should be located in the center of the side of the can and about 1-1/2 inches apart from one another.

3. Use a craft knife or utility knife to cut out a circle from the plastic lid of the coffee can. The hole should be near the edge of the lid and 2 inches in diameter. Discard the cut out circle. This is the doorway to your birdhouse.

4. Insert a nail 1/2 inch below the hole you cut in Step 3. Remove the nail to leave a hole. Insert a 6 inch dowel rod through the hole so that 4 inches will inside the lid once the lid is placed on the can and 2 inches will be outside. This will be your bird perch.

5. Feed a 2 foot piece of fishing line through the two holes you made in the side of the can in Step 2. Tie the loose ends of the fishing line together.

6. Place the lid on the coffee can so that the perch is parallel to the holes with the fishing line. Use your fishing line to hang your completed birdhouse.

Milk Carton Birdhouse

1. Clean a half gallon, paper milk carton using soap and water. Turn the carton upside down and allow it to dry completely. Once dried, staple the top of the milk carton closed.

2. Use a craft knife or utility knife to make a 1-1/2 inch hole in the side of the milk carton. The hole should be located about a third of the way from the bottom of the carton. Discard the cut out circle. This is the doorway into the house.

3. Insert a sharpened pencil into the side of the milk carton 1/2 inch below the hole you made in the previous step. Push the pencil all the way through and out the other side of the carton. Remove the pencil. Insert a 10-inch dowel rod through these two holes so that you have a perch for your birdhouse.

4. Use a hole punch to make two holes on the top of the milk carton, along where you stapled it. Feed a 2 foot piece of fishing line through each hole and tie the loose ends off. You can use the fishing line to hang your completed birdhouse.

Tips & Warnings

• If you desire, you can paint the coffee can or milk carton using acrylic paints to add decoration.

References

• Ziggity Zoom: Make a Bird House from a Milk Carton
• All Free Crafts: How to Make a Birdhouse from a Recycled Coffee Can