Bird Feeders- Bubble Gum Machine Bird Feeder

The first time I used a power drill was when I was about fourteen. My dad had decided to turn our garage into an extension of our living room, and I offered to help. It was so cool. I was mostly there to hold parts still while he secured them in place, but I also got a crash course on power tools. It’s empowering being able to put stuff together by yourself when you need to use the bigger tools like that, and I sometimes find myself gravitating towards projects that give me the opportunity to use them. I wanted to make a hanging bird feeder that was different and maybe a little fun too, so when I saw this, I was inspired. My first thought when reading the basic instructions was yay because I'd finally get to use the power drill, but my eagerness quickly disappeared when I saw that I would have to drill through glass. One of my biggest fears is broken glass, and whenever glass breaks in the house I panic. After a whole day of debating whether or not I would make my husband do it for me, I decided to suck it up and drill everything myself. I am adding a link to a guide I used to drill through glass here, which I found super helpful.

Supplies:

-Terracotta saucers, 4" and 8"

-Terra cotta pot, 4.5"

-Glass globe, 4" rim

-1/8" drill bit

-1/2" glass tile drill bit

-1" spade bit

-Thin wire

-Spray paint

-Gorilla glue

The drilling is the most problematic part of this project, obviously. The easiest way to drill through the terracotta is to fully submerge it in water for a few hours before you start, but that still doesn’t guarantee that it won't break. Using the ⅛” drill bit, cut a hole in the center of both of the saucers. If you need to, you can put them back in the water for a few minutes to soften the clay. It is a lengthy process, but not too difficult.

The pot was where I had trouble. I had an idea after I first saw the original, to make a half circle hole on the side of the pot, which would look like the hole where the gumball comes out of the machine. I used the 1” spade bit to cut a hole in the bottom of the pot, but when I tried to use it to cu the half circle in the side, it broke. My husband reminded me that our drill is an impact drill, and that it might not work so well with something that precise. Oh well, it would have been cute, but I’ll try something else. So I went back to the original instructions and tried drilling ½” holes in the sides of the pot for the bird seed. Nope, that one shattered too. Well what the hell am I gonna do? Then I remembered those wooden dowels that I used for my last bird feeder. So I ended up just drilling the 1” hole in the bottom of the pot and set it aside. I had plans.

The glass bowl was a test of patience as well as my nerves. Despite my guide, the first bowl shattered on me as soon as the bit went all the way through, and I realized that I was going too fast. It feels more like slowly shaving layers out of the glass rather than cutting a hole. I also took regular breaks because the bit would get too hot, which can also cause it to crack. During these breaks, I would paint the terra cotta. It took a whole day to finally get a decent sized hole in that glass, but luckily I was able to multitask. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get my drill all the way through before the edges started to crack, and didn’t get quite as big of a hole as I would have liked. I had been drilling ALL DAY and I really didn’t want to start over again. My seed mix is mostly smaller seeds but it does have sunflower seeds which I’m not sure will fit. I sifted them out, and plan to just put them at the bottom.

All of the terracotta got two coats of spray paint, which I decided to make bubble gum pink. After drying, I got to work rigging the bottom so the seeds would come down to the bottom. I cut two wooden dowels in half and used a very small amount of gorilla glue to set them inside the bottom of the large saucer. I also used the gorilla glue to secure the glass bowl to the bottom of the pot. All of the rest of it is just held together by gravity.

While the glue set, I prepared my wire. I tied a washer to the end, making sure that it was secure. I tied it twice and twisted the remainder. Add each piece one at a time, starting with the saucer, checking to make sure that the washer will support the weight. Before adding the small saucer, fill the bowl with bird seed, and put my extra sunflower seeds in the large saucer. Once the lid was on, I tied the end of the wire to make a loop at the end from which it can hang.

I still can’t believe that I cut a hole in glass all by myself. My family can’t either, btw. I was super tense the entire time, but I did it. And it was so worth it. I have a cute little bubble gum machine in my backyard and I know I can do this as a candy jar for inside too, and probably without the power tools. I almost thought I wasn’t going to finish when the pot kept breaking, but there’s always a way to work around that kind of stuff.

Starting Thanksgiving stuff next week!