And I had all of the materials at home which was sweet because I hate going out to buy just one thing for a project.
You will need:
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an unused jar lid (perhaps a candle lid like I used)
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string or twine
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sugar & water (& red food coloring if desired)
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a hot-glue gun
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hammer & nail or small screw driver
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= hummingbird feeder!
First, punch a hole or two (I did three) in the cap that belongs to the bottle or jar. I hammered a tiny, tiny screwdriver through the cap to make holes.
Next, put hot glue around the edges of the top of the cap--but not all the way--leave a gap or two so that the liquid can escape. Unless the holes are large, the liquid from the bottle will not come out quickly anyway.
Place the cap with glue (still hot) in the center of the inside part of the candle lid. The candle lid will be the tray that catches the liquid for the bird to drink out of. Layer the hot glue around the seal holding down the cap allowing it to dry in-between. Also, make sure you still leave gaps for the liquid to be released from under the cap into the tray.
Once the cap is securely glued to the inside of the candle lid, you are nearly done!
Just mix sugar and water (1/4 amount of sugar to water) and add to the bottle. I heard that red food coloring (as well as honey) is not healthy for hummingbirds, but it is hard to attract them without something red, so I advise raspberry, cranberry, or cherry juice (at the advice of someone else) instead.
With the bottle full, I placed the cap/lid combo back on the bottle, screwing it on tight. *Note, the cap/lid combo is somewhat fragile, so never grab or hold the feeder by the lid (or tray) alone. All that remains is to hang it. I did not have wire, so I just made a net of strings, tying it in knots around the bottle so it would be held securely.
Last, I hot-glued a fake red flower to the tray for fun, and then hung it up outside, tying it carefully. I had to shake it a little to get the liquid flowing into the tray. But it works pretty great and it took like twenty minutes to do everything.
Have fun! And enjoy the company of the hummingbirds that will surely come! I was inspired to do this project when I was sitting on my porch next to a bouquet of drying red flowers and a hummingbird came right up next to them to check them out. I thought that it might be nice to feed the little guys.
Let me know if you have any follow-up advice!
Thanks,
I have a question about your directions. When you are placing the bottle top in the middle of the larger cap, how do you leave space under it so that it releases the water? Did you have to hold it up slightly above the cap until it dried? It was hard to see in the picture if you did this or not but I am assuming you need some space between the cap and the lid in order for the sugar water to come out.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I did not understand the layering of the glue after that either that you described. Do you have different pictures with closer up views? It appears you simply put more glue around the same areas you had put glue on the cap when you fastened it to the lid in order to give it more strength to hold to the lid. Is this correct?
Hi! When I put hot glue around the base of the cap, I left two small gaps so the liquid could escape. The sugar water came out very slowly but two holes was fine. It probably came out slowly because I didn't have the cap raised up much from the lid like you suggested--I didn't want it to flow out freely. (I gave the bottle a few shakes after it was all finished to get the sugar flowing into the lid).
DeleteAlso, after the first bit of hot glue dried, I added another layer on top of that one around the bottle cap (making sure the gaps were still accessible) and then another after that one. I was concerned that the lid would separate from the cap once the glue was surrounded by liquid, but adding multiple layers of glue worked well.
I love the aesthetics and the design of your feeder but the instruction and the photos are not very helpful. Most of us know what a glue gun, bottle, string, and sugar water look like. What we need to see are the details of attaching the cap, bottle and lid together. it is the most crucial part but no photos for this part, what the what? Or just a close up photo to see how all these parts connected would be helpful.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the pictures could definitely be better. If you click on the first picture of the finished product (the one with the flower a little more to the side) you can kind of see if you look carefully how I left a narrow gap in the layers of hot glue for the liquid to escape. I have two gaps for the liquid to escape--one on each side of the bottle cap. If you imagine this image: (O) The parentheses are the globs of hot glue, and the O is the bottle cap. There are two gaps where they don't connect. Weird analogy, but maybe that helps a little better? Let me know.
Deletehow do you refill the bottle with the liquid.
ReplyDeleteTo refill it, you just turn the bottle upright and carefully unscrew the cap, leaving the little tray attached to the cap. The only part that should be glued is the tray to the cap itself, so you should have no problem unscrewing the lid!
DeleteRon in Ohio:
ReplyDeleteNEVER - EVER - Add food coloring to your Hummingbird nectar! Unless you are trying to kill them. It's a slow, toxic poisonous addition that, by the end of Summer, will kill them. When needing color in a clear container to attract the Hummingbirds we add organic Cherry Juice. Also, always use Sugar to make the nectar, NEVER Honey!
Wow, I had no idea. Thank you for sharing this with me.
DeleteThank you for your information! Do you think a little bit of beet juice would be ok as well?
ReplyDeleteHello Marci, I was told that beet juice is not advised. Instead, try raspberry, cherry, or cranberry juice for coloration. Thank you for your question!
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