Cutting Holes in a Clay Birdhouse

Video Transcript

"Now there are several important places that you need to make holes for a birdhouse. The first is in what will be the base of the birdhouse. You want to put just a few little holes and what I am using is a cylindrical hole cutting tool. It is a pipe cut at an angle and it gives you a nice sharp point but it makes a perfectly round hole. I want to put these three holes in the bottom just so that no moisture will accumulate and be retained in the nest. It is just a nice way to make sure that the birds don't get a soggy nest. Now the next most important thing that you need to add is a hole for the birds to get in. You need something circular, I like this candle holder ring, it is about the right size for a wren. You want to put the hole high enough, which I mean low enough, since this is upside down, that there will be enough room under the hole for the nest. I just trace around my circular template and you can use a circular piece of paper or anything just so long as it is a couple of inches wide and then you can take an exacto blade and trace that circle and pull that right out and that gives the birds a way in. Now there is two more places you need to make holes. One is directly underneath the entrance and this is where we are going to make a hole for a stick that you will glue in later for a perch and then you will also put a few holes near the very top just so that they have some ventilation in there to make the nest really comfortable for the birds. Once we have done that we are ready to throw the lid."