Category: Crafting

What do you do when you want to have a hummingbird feeder for every hummingbird, but you’re a little bit cheap? You get out your glue gun and DIY some feeders!

I’ve had my hummingbird feeders out since early April because I was determined to not miss their arrival like I have every other year. They showed up on May 1st and have been busy sipping nectar and chasing each other away ever since. I have 3 feeders out already plus the oriole feeder, but I wanted a couple more to really spread them around the yard. This is how I made my DIY spice jar hummingbird feeder.

Materials for Hummingbird Feeder:

• Spice Jars – I got mine at the dollar store, three for $2.00
• Twine
• Silk Flowers – Try for red or deep pink
• Ribbon Trim
• Yellow paint
• Glue Gun
• Drill & Drill Bit – I used a 3/16 bit
• Hole Punch

Make the Hummingbird Feeder

Step One:

Tighten the lids onto the jars and mark the location for the holes. I placed mine so that when the jar is tilted it would be towards the bottom. Next drill the holes in the lids. The center part is a brittle clear plastic, so go slow or it will crack.

Step Two:

Pull your silk flowers apart, removing the plastic centers. Glue all the layers together with your hot glue gun.

Step Three:

Glue your ribbon trim around the lid.

Step Four:

Punch a hole through the silk flowers.

Then glue the flower to the lid, lining up the hole in the flower with the hole in the lid.

Step Five:

Paint the center of the flower yellow.

And there’s your Hummingbird Feeder finished! Now to make the macrame hanger.

Make the hanger for your Hummingbird Feeder

Step One:

To start you will need 8 lengths of twine 72″ or 6′ long.

Fold them in half to find the center.

Make a knot as shown. This is the top of your hanger. You should now have 16 strands of twine.

Step Two:

Section out 4 strands of twine. We will only be using square knots for this hanger.

Cross the left strand over the center two strands and under the right strand.

Then cross the right strand under the center two, and pull it up through the loop you made with the first strand.

Next pass the left strand under the center two and over the right strand.

Bring the right strand over the center two, and through the loop on the left. That’s your first square knot.

Repeat until you have 6 knots on this section of 4 strands. Do the same for the remaining 3 sections.

Step Three

For the next step, you will take a center and an outside from two adjacent sections.

Using those 4 strands, make a single square knot 6″ down. Repeat for the remaining 3 sets.

These instructions will make a hanger that measures approximately 12″ from the hanging loop to the bottom of the hummingbird feeder and an 8″ tassel at the bottom. If you prefer a longer hanger, you would add the length in this step. For each inch you add to the length, you will need to add 2″ to the length you cut your twine at.

Step Four:

It is easier to work the rest of the hanger if you can hang it on something while you are working. Then next knots are 2″ below the last ones. You will need to use a center strand and outside strand from 2 adjacent groups again.

Repeat for the remaining 3 groups. You should start to see the netting form.

Step Five:

The last set of knots are 1″ down. Switch up your groups again as you did in the previous steps.

Step Six:

Gather all the strands together and knot. Test fit your Spice Jar Hummingbird Feeder to make sure it’s secure. Once everything is good, trim your tassel to the length you want and you’re done.

Fill your Hummingbird feeder!

Fill your feeder with nectar to the rim as shown. You can make your own nectar with 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water. Use only white sugar, anything else can make hummingbirds sick. There’s no need to add color, the flower should catch their attention – hopefully.

Vintage Metal Cart – The Before!

Earlier this summer I came across this vintage metal cart at Picker’s Pig Pen. I’ve mentioned Picker’s Pig Pen before in this space. It’s a place I can go when I’m looking for inspiration or a new project. I had spotted one of these shelves there last year, but I didn’t take it at the time and the next time I went it was gone.

So when I spotted this one I was thrilled. The shelves were a little rough, but the casters and chrome were in great shape.

I have no idea what the spill on the bottom shelf was, but it ate into the paint.

On the top shelf, someone had repainted it with a brown that did not match the original.

The Makeover!

I gave it a good scrubbing to remove all the dead bugs and spider egg casings, then I stripped the paint off. Then I got stuck, how was I going to make-over this cart.

There’s a certain pressure that comes from having a blog and following a lot of truly creative blogs. The pressure to do more and be more so ‘your’ project will stand out in the crowd. I kept thinking of the vintage metal cart makeover Marie at Interior Frugalista (I’ll add the link as soon as I find it) had done and wondering how I could make mine as lovely.

And then I stopped, because at the end of the day, I’m not selling or giving away the things I make. They have to live in my home, not on my blog. So knowing my vintage cart was most likely going in my bedroom it needed to be either blue or gray. Since gray felt too much like commercial filing cabinets, blue it was.

Forgive the lack of after photos, it spent a little over a month out beside my BBQ – very handy in its own way.

Then I started sewing again, and after 2 weeks of my sewing living in my kitchen, I decided it was time to move it out of shared living spaces and set up a dedicated area.

And this is where it lives now, keeping my sewing supplies contained and somewhat organized.