Repurposing Birdcage Ideas

Plant Life

• Remove the bottom, stick the cage in the ground and thread climbing plants through it as they start to grow. In your vegetable garden, use it with tomato plants and pole beans—it’s especially good for tendril plants such as peas, which need both vertical and horizontal supports in order to climb. In your flower garden, use large birdcages or wire two small ones together to use with wisteria, black-eyed susan, jasmine, honeysuckle, morning glory, pole beans, nasturtium and clematis.

Avian Applications

• One very original use for a birdcage is using it to house fake birds. Make a pair of parrots out of paper mâché or several origami finches and place them in the cage to add a creative splash of color to a room. Another idea is using it as a bird feeder. Wire the door so it stays open, place food inside the cage and hang it from a fencepost or the branch of a tree to attract birds into your yard or garden.

Cute Décor

• Use a birdcage as a decorative room accent. Fill it with items such as gourds, spools of ribbon, seashells, real or fake fruit or plain or painted pine cones. Give it an outdoorsy theme by weaving grape vines, greenery and real or fake flowers between the bars. Use a cage as party decoration by filling it with ornamental glass or plastic globes that are the color of the party theme: pink and red for Valentine’s Day or red and green for Christmas.

Birdcage Lamp

• A birdcage can be illuminating when transformed into a lamp. Weave a string of lights onto the bars and plug them in. Or, purchase an inexpensive lamp kit and a bulb and turn a discarded cage into a fun and funky source of light. A very striking option if you happen to have several birdcages is to place a bulb in each and hang them from tree branches or the top of a tent to light up an outdoor area at night.