How to Make a Birdhouse Out of Concrete

A wicker basket can provide a mold for an attractive concrete birdhouse that can sit on a pedestal under a tree in your garden. The pattern of the wicker will add detail to the finished birdhouse. Concrete, peat moss and vermiculite in a mixture called hypertufa will create a lightweight structure that can stand up to any weather. Your basket will be destroyed during the unmolding, but inexpensive wicker baskets can be found at thrift shops.

Wicker basket
Garden pruners
5 pounds Portland cement
5 pounds peat moss
5 pounds vermiculite
Wheelbarrow
Trowel
Rubber gloves
Wooden dowel, 1-inch diameter, 4-inches long

Instructions

- 1
  Cut a small 2-inch diameter hole with the garden pruners halfway down the side of the wicker basket .
- 2
  Mix the cement, peat moss and vermiculite in the wheelbarrow with the trowel. Add enough water, 1 cup at a time, and stir until the mixture is the consistency of oatmeal.
- 3
  Put on the rubber gloves and coat the insides of the wicker basket with the cement mixture, creating walls that are 2-inches thick.
- 4
  Poke the dowel into the cement from the outside of the basket through the hole you made with the pruners. This will be a birdhouse perch.
- 5
  Create a 3-inch diameter round hole in the wall of cement with your hands, directly below the perch for the birdhouse opening. Smooth the edges of the cement at the top of the basket with your hands so the edges will lie flat on a surface when dry.
- 6
  Allow the cement to dry for 48 hours. Cut away the wicker basket from the cement to reveal the completed cement birdhouse, which must be turned over and placed on a flat pedestal.

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