When the nice folks at Lowe’s told us that our challenge for the month was a “bird retreat”, I was not excited. See, I DETEST birds. They’re basically just rats with feathers, right?
My first idea was to take a picture of my dryer vent, because heaven knows there’s a bird in there every. single. morning. And you can totally buy dryer vents at Lowe’s, right? While this idea was a terrible one, it got the wheels turning and got me started thinking about other things that could become a bird retreat…like this mailbox:
(The how to on the polka dots will be in a separate post, probably tomorrow.)
I went to Lowe’s and picked up some supplies:
I got a mailbox (it’s the oversized kind), birdseed, chain, some little locking link things (close up picture later in the post), eye bolts, washers, nuts (which led to an exchange that embarrassed Macy so badly she hid on another aisle, but that’s a story for another time), drawer pulls, and machine screws.
The other 2 items in the picture are a vintage bottle hummingbird feeder and pre-mixed nectar. Once the snow stops, I’ll hang it near the mailbox birdhouse for the ultimate bird retreat. The vintage bottle feeders are about $15 at Lowe’s and frickin’ cute. They also come in clear.
The first thing you’re going to want to do is mark where your eye bolts will be mounted (one at the front, one at the back). A dry erase marker works fabulously for this. I marked the center of the mailbox ends and then moved in about an inch from that mark when I made my holes.
Next, take a hammer and nail and tap the nail on your mark just enough to make a dent. The dent keeps your drill bit from bouncing around once you start drilling.
Using a drill bit just bigger than your eye bolt, drill a hole in the mailbox.
Once your holes are drilled, put an eye bold through each one and fasten it securely on the inside with a washer and a nut. You might need a wrench to get it really tight.
(Obviously not tightened, but I wanted to show you what I meant.)
Next, I decided where I wanted my drawer pulls turned bird perches mounted. I marked the door of the mailbox
and then followed the same hammer and nail/drilling procedure that I used for the eye bolts.
Put the drawer pulls on using 1/2” machine screws. The ones that come with the pulls are meant to accommodate a cabinet door, not a mailbox (strange, right?), so they’re too long.
Using these locking links (not the real name…you find them by the chain)
attach chains to your eye bolts.
I cut a piece of 2 X 4 the width of the mailbox and pounded it into the gap between the box and the door. It keeps the seed from falling out and keeps the door open. It fit in so tightly that I didn’t need to screw it in place, but you could for sure do that if yours doesn’t fit as tightly. Somehow I missed photographing this step, but you can see it in the finished product pictures.
Keep in mind that I woke up to this:
So, it’s not hanging in an actual tree. And I’m a wuss whose neighbors were staring, so some of the pictures were taken indoors.
(There’s a good shot of the piece of 2 X 4)
The birdseed goes here:
It holds quite a bit more than you’d think.
Don’t have a tree or a covered porch to hang it from? You can buy pre-assembled mailbox posts (Lowe’s carries them for about $25) and could stick it in a flower bed or a garden.
Fun, right?
I’m glad Lowe’s got me to stretch a bit this month. It felt good to get creative.
Don’t forget to pick up a FREE Subscription to Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine:
You can also find Lowe’s Creative Ideas on Facebook. (They’ve moved, so if you “liked” them before, you should “like” them again!)
And, now there’s a Lowe’s Creative Ideas blog. Go have a look around. You might recognize a face or two.
Disclosure: Lowe’s provided me with a gift card for supplies for my bird retreat.
I so want to make this for our balcony! (We are in an apartment). My kids would love watching the birds come. Thanks! SO Cute!
Super cute idea! I’m not the biggest fan of birds, either, but this project is surely tempting to make!
brilliant! Polka dots make anything look fab! I love this Char!
Well, “regular” birds are better than pigeons!! But this is adorable, I love it!
I’m ROFL “rats with feathers”! I agree! You sure made a super cute place for those feathery rats to hang out! LOL! Awesome project!
You are so clever! This is definitely the perfect retreat for them. I love how this looks!
Using a mailbox as a bird ‘house’ was so creative! I love the bright blue color and the polka dots! Definitely a fun SPRING project! Even if there’s snow on the ground at your house…
Genius! Very cool, and I so love the Polka Dots. Way to lure the birds away from your dryer vent! I think I’ll have the kids make something like this soon.
love it!
xoxo
You’re cool! Won’t you be my neighbor? The polka dots are too cute. I actually need a new mailbox… mine is nice and faded… but maybe I’ll just paint it and add polka dots…. no bird seed though. My cat eats all the birds when they land on the neighbors bird feeder…. ummm, oops, wait! He’s not my cat, I swear!
Very clever
That’s awesome! My son has been asking for a birdhouse. Now this is more my style!
You can’t get any more sweeter then this.Tthanks for posting.
The birdhouse you fixed up is neat, Im going to try and make one too. But Im thinking of cutting out pieces of plywood into shapes of a bird. And fixing them with screws to the mailbox. Like a piece shaped like the head of a bird, another piece shaped like wings and some feet .Then painting it all. Thanks
This is so precious! Love the polka dots. The color on it is so Springy and cute. What a great idea, thanks for sharing!!
did birds ever nest in it?? would love to make it but only if i am sure birds would set up house in it. super cute btw
I only hung it for about 15 minutes yesterday to take pictures. It’s still freezing and snowy here. They do, however, nest in my dryer vent. :/
This is very cute. I kind of agree with you about birds but they give a pretty song in the spring time.
Very cute! Love your post and I am going to repost on my blog later this week. I invite you to swing by and check it out.
LOVE this! Such a fun idea.
Featured you on my blog today, stop by & check it out:
http://www.artsyfartsymama.com/2012/03/pinteresting-features-n-shtuff-27.html
The dots are so cute! It’s so good to know I’m not the only heartless soul who hates birds..
What a cute idea!
I absolutely adore this!! If I can find an old mailbox I just may try to do this. It probably won’t look remotely this good.
Love it! I’m going to try to make it for my mom for Mother’s Day. I don’t know about the dots though. I have no way to make vinyl dots. I love polka dots, too! I might make one for me as well! Thanks for sharing!
ベンジャミン・フルフォードとサチン・チョードリーの顔が一致するのでインド・ヨーロッパ語族は同祖です。
呉善花 まずはソウルを漢城に戻して北京語を公用語にしなければいけません。 もうこのスレこっそりどっか移動しようぜ ここはこの連投やろうにあげちゃっていいよ
スピリチュアリストの役立たずどもは自分は特別で幽霊・宇宙人と交流できるけど読者は幽霊・宇宙人と交流できないと言っているのです。 ってかもう切りないから辞めたらw
This page truly has all the information I needed about this subject and
didn’t know who to ask.