Create A Simple Hanging Bird Feeder From A Dollar Tree Staple

It takes more than just the right plants to attract birds to your garden so you can pollinate flowers or vegetables, combat insect infestations, and enjoy the natural splendor of a lively outdoor scene. Bird feeders are a great way to attract visitors if they need extra calories to burn during migratory seasons and times when natural plants are still dormant, but different types will draw unique species: tray, hopper, suet, and window feeders are just a few of the many options on offer depending on what native birds exist in your region. If you want to put up a hanging tray feeder to attract birds like finches, you don't have to break the bank. Grab some Garden Collection Hanging Wire Planters from Dollar Tree to kickstart an easy DIY project that will help brighten up the world outside your window. Put together this Dollar Tree DIY by combining the planters with a plastic plate, a wooden dowel, bread tie wires, and some extra weights to keep the upcycled planter from bowling over in the breeze.

These hanging planters cost just $1.50 each and come in black or white-colored iron plating — though comments on Dollar Tree's website report they may no longer be available in stores, so you'll need to buy them in bulk online. Luckily you won't need much more to follow in the footsteps of the home hobbyists behind Robbie and Gary Gardening Easy. This budget-friendly DIY bird feeder can keep birds flocking to your yard year-round, so don't be afraid to make a couple if you nab your Dollar Tree planters in bulk.

The first thing you'll want to do when creating Robbie and Gary Gardening Easy's simple hanging bird feeder is take the liner out of your Dollar Tree planter so it's just the metal frame. Weigh it down from the bottom (the original DIY recommends inserting a small ceramic plate to fit the planter's rounded shape), and then set your Plastic Plate — another $1.50 purchase from Dollar Tree — inside the planter. Run the dowel between two holes in the planter so it's set over the plate, and then tie the dowel to metal wire on either side. This will ensure the plastic plate is held firmly in place, and has the added bonus of giving your avian friends a perch to stand on after you pour feed onto the plate itself. The food you use should change depending on what species you're attracting, but there are plenty of DIY seed recipes that offer a lot of variety for the birds in your yard.

The nice thing about this quick, easy, and cheap DIY hanging bird feeder is that you can easily customize every piece. You can buy particular kinds of plates while painting both the dowel and planter to decorate your feeder in a range of cool, natural colors that won't attract predators. There's plenty of room to experiment with designs if you're already repurposing wooden dowel rods around the house. Meanwhile, other fun accessories could be attached to help weigh the planter down, as items like wind chimes won't scare off the birds you're hoping to gather in your yard. Just keep in mind that it will need to support the weight of birds on top of every addition, so you may need a stronger hook at the top.