Inexpensive Coffee Container Winter Birdhouses

Here in Wisconsin, we have a lot of winter birds. In order to make them more comfy, I've opted to upcycle my husbands many, many plastic coffee containers. Being black, they should warm up well in the winter sun. I had all the materials already laying around, but, this project should cost less than $5, even if you have to purchase a couple of the materials.

• 3 empty plastic coffee containers (I used two different brands, so they are different heights)
• 7-10 small screws (whatever you have laying around, about 1/2 inch in size)
• 3 pieces of wire, about 3 inches long (again, whatever you have around)
• 1 wall shelf, at least 18 inches wide
• 1 old towel
• super glue
• paint (optional)
• 2 bread ties (optional)
• craft knife
• drill or screwdriver
• plyers to bend the wire
• spray paint (can use whatever you have leftover from other projects)

For this project, you can use a lot of materials you have around the house. An old, stained towel can be used for the lining (the birds don't care, right?), and I used small screws that were leftover from other things. For the wire, you can use craft wire, or wire hanger pieces.

Make sure your towel and coffee cans are cleaned well.

If you don't have a shelf, you can usually find them at any thrift store for a couple of bucks, or make one out of scrap wood.

You can also use any spray paint you have leftover from other projects to paint the shelf.

In order to make it a little more weather-proof, I lightly sanded and spray painted the shelf with leftover spray paint. Because it needs to be secured well, the L-brackets were screwed below the shelf in order to attach it. We don't want the birdies flying off the wall.

I made the holes about 1 1/2 inches across by tracing a roll of washi tape with my white chalk pencil (used for sewing). If you don't have one, you can use anything that makes a mark, or score it with your craft knife.

Cutting the holes is a little difficult, as the plastic used for these containers is actually pretty thick.

I opted to paint around the holes, just because I wanted the birds to find them, which could be difficult with all the black. If you opt to paint, make sure you seal the paint with a clearcoat, or it comes RIGHT off.

To make the perches, use a drill or a nail to make a hole about a 1/2 inch below the door opening, then another hole about an inch below that. Bend your wire into a "7", and inser the short portion into the top hole, then the long portion into the bottom hole (you may have to mess with it a bit to get it sitting straight). I secured the short end inside the container with a drop of glue.

To line the birdhouse, cut up your old towel into 6 circles and 3 long rectangles. I traced the lids of the containers to make the circles, and cut them about 1/4 inch to the inside of my lines.

Many of these coffee containers are slightly different in size, so measure the height and circumference of the one you are using. Cut a long rectangle to fit the walls of your container for the lining. To make a hole for the door, I simply folded my rectangle in half, and cut a 1 1/2 inch square to fit over the door hole.

Glue 3 of the cut circles onto the insides of the lids, making sure you leave room for the lids to attach to the containers (I had to trim mine a bit).

Glue the rectangle to the inside lip of the container, just below where the lid attaches. Make sure you line up your towel with your door.

Drill holes in the bottoms of the containers. You only need one to make it pretty secure.

Mark the center of the shelf and line up the back seam of your middle container.

Screw the middle container so it is centered, and then attach the containers on either side.

Optional: For added strength, I made holes inside the containers where they faced each other and used the bread twisty ties to hold them together for more security. That may not have been necessary, but it can't hurt right?

Finally, I used the remaining 3 towel circles and put them in the bottom. I didn't bother to glue them, so I can remove them later and put in new, clean ones when the houses are not in use. I don't recommend gluing down the lids, for this same reason.

The houses have been up for a few hours, and I've already had some interested birds.