How to Make Birdfeeders Out of Plastic Jugs

Keep your old plastic jugs out of the landfill; instead of throwing them away, transform them into something that benefits nature, rather than something that harms it. Construct homemade bird feeders to hang up in your yard with old plastic milk jugs. You probably already have all the tools you need around your home and the rest of the materials you need out in your yard. The bird feeder can become a teaching opportunity as you learn about the different birds that visit the feeder right alongside your child.

Plastic milk jug
Warm soapy water
Craft knife
2 sticks, 12 inches long and approximately 3/8 inch in diameter
Bird seed
Hammer
Nail
22-gauge wire
Wire snips
Needle-nose pliers

Instructions

- 1
  Cut a 2-inch wide circular hole in all four sides of the milk jug with a craft knife. The holes don't have to be perfect. Place the holes so the bottom edge is roughly 1 1/2 inches up from the bottom of the jug.
- 2
  Cut a small "X" 1 inch up from the bottom of the jug, centered below each hole. Make the lines of the "X" about 1/2 an inch long. Again, you don't need to be exact; you can eyeball the length.
- 3
  Stick the 12-inch long sticks through the milk jug using the X's you cut. Push one stick through from front to back and the other from left to right. Adjust the sticks so the same length of stick sticks out each side of the jug. This gives the birds perches to stand on while they eat.
- 4
  Remove the lid from the jug and fill the feeder with seed until it reaches the bottom edge of the holes. Replace the lid.
- 5
  Use a hammer and nail to punch two holes in the top of the jug just below the lid on opposite sides. Thread a 24-inch length of 22-gauge craft wire through the holes. Twist the ends together to form a loop for hanging the bird feeder.

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