Turn A Few Dollar Tree Items Into An Upcycled Bird Feeder And Bath Combo

Who doesn't love watching birds splashing around in a bird bath or enjoying some delectable seed in a feeder? It's one of those simple pleasures that can be enjoyed every time you take a stroll outside. While there are birdscaping tips to turn your own yard into a bird haven, not everyone has the property footage for all of them. Thankfully, even if you're a bit limited on space, you can still enjoy watching birds come to your yard when you follow a simple DIY from YouTuber Patti J. Good. With this project, you'll be making an upcycled bird feeder and bath combo using just a few inexpensive items from Dollar Tree.

So, let's go shopping! Head to Dollar Tree and grab a Floral Garden 14.25-inch metal wreath and a Garden Collection hanging wire planter. Just make sure that the planter will fit nicely in the middle of the wreath form. Now head to the kitchenware section and pick up one of these Baker Eze round cake pans. Or you could save yourself $5 if you already have a suitable cake pan or pie dish at home that you could use. You also want to look for a small plastic plate that will fit nicely inside the base of the wire planter. Finally, you'll need some zip ties, a heavy-duty hole punch, like this Crop-A-Dile one from We R Memory Keepers, and some E6000 glue.

Assembling this very useful bird feeder and bath combo is fairly easy once you have all the supplies and follow these steps. Lay the wreath form on a table and put the wire planter in the middle. You want to line up the outer ring of the basket with the inner ring of the wreath so that the hooks that are attaching the hanging chains can clip onto the wreath. For additional security, grab two or three zip ties and tie both pieces together before cutting off the excess.

Next, grab your cake pan and your hole punch and make four holes around the rim at equal distances. These will be used to tie the pan to the wreath and planter combo using some more zip ties. If you don't have a hole punch suitable for the job, you could just drill some holes or use your solder iron, if you have one, to burn the holes through the pan. Place the pan on top of the combined wreath and planter and use zip ties to connect it securely, ensuring you're tying them through both the wire rings of the planter and the wreath. Don't forget that there's a simple trick that allows you to reuse zip ties, just in case you run out and have to "borrow" one from elsewhere.

Now, grab your small plastic plate and position it inside the base of the wire basket. Turn the whole thing over and glue the plate onto the basket firmly using the E6000 glue. Once the glue is dry, it's time to take your creation outside.

You can hang your upcycled bird feeder anywhere you want out in your garden. The birds will love it if it's hung from a tree to give them a bit of shelter. But there are plenty of unique alternatives for hanging a bird feeder without having a tree outdoors, such as placing a shepherd hook pole in an area of your lawn or even in the middle of a garden bed. If you only have a small outdoor space like a balcony or patio, just hang your feeder from a ceiling hook or one you've screwed into the fascia.

Once it's hanging, fill the small plate at the base with your choice of bird seed. Then, grab a plastic bowl from the kitchen and fill it with water. Place this on the cake pan to form the birdbath. Consider adding clean rocks into the birdbath to reduce the risk of birds drowning. Or simply use the 1.4-inch deep cake pan as the bath since the ideal depth for birdbaths is actually 1 to 2 inches. 

Of course, you can customize this project any way you like by painting the various components. You can stick with just one color or use a combination to make a rainbow-colored feeder and water station. Paint the individual components before assembly and ensure to use bird-safe paint. You could also glue on a few faux flowers around the basket to beautify it and use the bright colors to attract more birds. You can find different varieties of flowers at Dollar Tree that you can use.