“The Weekly Bleat: Teacup Bird Feeders”

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I grew up in an environment of “old stuff”–old houses and barns, antique furniture, and heirloom quilts and china.  My grandparents lived next door in the family’s ancestral home, and Grandma Rieley loved antiques.  Almost every Saturday morning she was either at an estate sale, yard sale, or antiques store.  All of this influenced my appreciation and love of antiques and “old stuff” in general.  So, when I ran across this craft idea for making a bird feeder from a vintage teacup and saucer, I loved it!

This would be a fun craft activity to do with older children (with adult supervision), a charming homemade gift for Mother’s Day, or even a hostess gift for a bird lover or gardener.  It’s fairly straightforward, only requiring a few items.

Gather:

1.  Teacup and saucer–This can be anything you have on hand, mismatched or otherwise.  I found a few individual vintage teacups and saucers at a local antiques store for $10.00 or less.

2.  Sandpaper

3.  Super adhesive glue–I used E6000.

4.  Twine, string, or yarn

5.  Birdseed–My birds seem to like a sunflower and safflower seed mix.

Directions:

1.  Thoroughly wash and dry teacup and saucer.

2.  Use sandpaper to scratch teacup and saucer where the two surfaces meet.  This helps them to adhere together once glued.

3.  Squeeze a small amount of glue onto the surface of the saucer.  Next, tip teacup onto its side and place on top of the glue.  Allow 24-48 hours before hanging outside.  *Please see special note at bottom of page.

4.  Pour birdseed into teacup bird feeder and hang in your garden.

*Special Note:  Achieving the correct angle of the teacup while gluing it to the saucer may be challenging.  Make sure the teacup is in the most vertical position possible; you may want to place an object under the cup to hold it in place while the glue is drying.  My first attempt produced a teacup that was too slanted for my taste.  So, I tried again with better results the second time.

Categories: Gardening, The Weekly Bleat

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34 Comments »

  4. Thanks for the lesson…this will be such a fun thing to do not only for myself but would also make wonderful gifts for all the bird lovers I know. Thanks again!!

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    • Hey Susie! I just made the feeder last weekend, and it’s been a bit windy here lately. I brought it inside after the wind blew over my patio heater. I’ll put it back outside when it’s not quite as windy. Sometimes it takes the birds a few days to find something new. Thank you for your compliment about the yard. We just spent the last few weekends cleaning out the flower beds and mulching! 🙂

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    • Thank you! You could glue teacup and saucer together–bottom of teacup glued to center of saucer. Next, glue a wooden rod to the bottom of the saucer. Once it’s all together, place in the ground. Add water to the teacup and birdseed to the saucer. You could even glue a spoon to the saucer as a little perch for the birds.

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  12. That Is Darling. I’m sure if I made one (I have kept my broken Fiesta) my squirrels would be happy to take the whole thing 😛 Might make one as a gift tho, for someone with a low squirrel population 🙂

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