From Grapevine Pieces to a Pretty Bird Feeder

I have been on a quest this month to clean out my spare room.  It has become my “dumping” ground for project pieces that I pick up on my dump trips and had become quite full.

While I was attempting to clean it out last week, I came across some grapevine pieces that I had found a couple of years ago.  Never having made anything out of them, it was now or never!

The pieces are bundled together beautifully and I didn’t want to break them apart, so I wanted to think of a way to use them as they were.  I thought the four straight ones, when put together, made a pretty cool looking frame and the bird feeder idea was hatched. Running with the bird feeder idea, I used a little paint to dry brush some colour onto the straight bundles.  The paint doesn’t serve any functional purpose other than to make them look pretty 🙂  I didn’t add any to the circle though as I didn’t want the birds to eat it!

Making the frame

It was fairly easy to turn the straight bundles into a frame.  A few dabs of hot glue helped the corners stay put while I wrapped the jute twine in and out creating a binding to hold them together.  I did this to each corner until the frame was formed.

Changing the circle to an oval

The grapevine that was shaped into a circle was too big to fit into the middle of the frame now.  Grapevine is easily moldable when wet through so I soaked it in a sink full of water overnight and the next morning tied it tightly into an oval shape.  After a day of drying, the twine got snipped off and it fit perfectly.

Finishing the bird feeder

To finish off the new bird feeder, I hung the oval with a piece of hemp ribbon…and used a twig to add a perch. I added a good amount of peanut butter around the oval grapevine and then sprinkled on some wild bird seed and it was ready to hang. The new grapevine bird feeder looks so pretty with the snow and is just the perfect size to hang from one of my railings. Even though its intended purpose was to feed my feathery friends who hang around in the winter… someone else who visits daily, beat them to it 🙂 I can’t say I mind though as she has been fun to watch and has thoroughly enjoyed the peanut butter and seeds.

I guess it will just be a grapevine squirrel feeder now – or – I will just add some more peanut butter and seeds later and tie it up in a different spot 🙂
Either way, someone is enjoying the treats!

If you love checking out local thrift stores, grab my handy cheat sheet “10 Things to NEVER Pass Up at the Thrift Store” here… 

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