Making a Clay Birdhouse

Series Summary

Birds need houses, just like we need houses. Although birds don't need houses like ours, they do have certain preferences such as a dry house that shields them from the wind, rain, and predators. With these basic needs taken care of, little else is necessary. Bird houses made of clay keep birds dry, safe from predators, and protected from the elements. Clay bird houses can be hand built or thrown on the pottery wheel. Learn how to make a clay birdhouse on the potter's wheel in this free ceramics video series featuring artist Emily Owen. Emily will demonstrate how to center clay on a potter's wheel, how to pull a clay dome on the wheel, how to close the clay dome, how to dry pottery clay with a propane torch, how to cut holes in a clay birdhouse, how to throw a birdhouse lid, how to trim clay pots using a chuck ring, and how to make and attach a clay hanger to a clay birdhouse.

Video Transcript

" Another great project to do on the wheel is a birdhouse. This one as you can see is not completely finished yet but it gives you an idea of what it is going to look like in the end. It has got a lid here to cover if any rain might come and then a hole just big enough for a wren. It has also got another hole here that we will put a stick in in the end to give a little perch for the bird to get into the home. Now this style of knob has a hole going all the way through. It will be connected to this lid so it will be holding it securely and that is where you will be putting whatever you are going to hang it from, a rope or cord or whatever you are going to use to hang this birdhouse. Now these two pieces are separate and they will be fired separately as well so we are going to have to use a really strong epoxy to put these two together so they will be able to hang and the birds will be able to live in them."