Mason Jar/Bird Feeder Crafts

Make a Cat

• Trace the shape of a cat's face onto a 1-inch board, adding two front paws below the face. It is easiest to cut the cat face out with a jigsaw. Cut a 1 1/2-inch hole in the wooden cat face where the mouth would be. You will need a second piece of wood shaped like a cat's back end and don't forget the tail. Gauge the size of the second piece of wood to make sure it's large enough to cut a hole to fit the bottom of the Mason jar. The lid of the jar will be nailed to the cat's face after cutting the hole out to allow the birds access to the seed. Simply screw in the jar filled with birdseed, slip the cat's backside over the back of the jar and set your feeder on a stump, wall or table. You can paint on a cat face and color the tail.

Net Hanger

• Another way to hang a Mason jar horizontally is to use some garden netting around the jar to hang it. Peanuts are less likely to fall between the netting, but you can use striped or oiled sunflower seeds in the Mason jar. Wrap the Mason jar in the garden netting and secure it with large S hooks. Hang the feeder from a tree limb by attaching the S hooks to a chain. Birds will be able to pull the peanuts through the netting but don't be surprised if squirrels and raccoons also visit your peanut feeder.

Copper Wrapped

• Wrap the Mason jar with 1/4-inch copper tubing several times, starting with a loop around the neck of the jar. Tie a piece of twine to the tubing at both ends of the Mason jar to hang the feeder horizontally from a planter hook. Fill the Mason jar with a small amount of sunflower seeds and watch the songbirds fly into the jar to retrieve the seeds.

Upside Down Thistle Feeder

• The Mason jar lid can be punctured with small holes or slits with an awl to turn the jar into a thistle feeder. Fill the jar with thistle and shake it to ensure that some seed will come out. If the thistle doesn't come out, enlarge the holes slightly but not too much or the seeds will pour out when you turn the jar upside down. This feeder can be hung in a net with the lid facing down, and tree trunk-clinging birds, like chickadees and nuthatches, will be able to get the seeds. You can also use window screening to cover the top of the jar and then secure it by screwing the ring back on if you want to hang the jar upside down with copper tubing or another method. You may need to enlarge some of the holes in the screen to help the birds access the thistle.