Outdoors - The Idea Room

Flower pot bird house

This month as part of the Lowe’s Creative Challenge of which I am a team member of, we were challenged to make a DIY Bird Retreat. I personally did not want a “normal” birdhouse and needed something a bit more practical and realistic for my own personal preferences. So I decide to make a Flower Planter Bird House…sort of a two in one combo.

I had a few different designs floating around in my head and headed to Lowe’s to see just what I could actually turn into a reality. I knew I wanted a WHITE planter but was looking for just the right style.

I picked up this almond colored flower plantar, some plastic moldings, potting soil, white silicon, bird seed and some flowers.

We used some scrap wood from previous projects at home to build the square base which became our birdhouse. Then we added some moldings at the top and bottom to give it a little bit of a customized look. We drilled a hole for the birds and added a little tray to hold some bird seed for our feathered friends to enjoy.

We painted the birdhouse box with some exterior paint and spray painted the plantar box white to match. I am really pleased with how it turned out and love having a nice pop of color out on the back porch. I think I may make a matching set so that they can be on either side of the stairs that you can see to the left of the photo.

Be sure to stop back by if you would like to see how we made this. I will be sharing the full tutorial later.

Thanks to Lowe’s for helping us get motivated to get this project done! You can find Lowe’s Creative Ideas on FB for more great ideas. They also have a Lowe’s Creative Ideas blog…and you might recognize one or more faces there now… Smile

And…just in case you missed last month’s Lowes Challenge…you can find it here.

Disclosure: Lowe’s provided me with a gift card to showcase this project this month as part of their Lowe’s Creative ideas Bloggers team.

March 26, 2012 · Filed under: DIY Tutorials, Home Decor, Home Remodeling, Outdoors, Sponsors, Tutorials Tagged with bird house, DIY birdhouse, flower pot bird house, Lowes creative blogger, lowes creative challenge, unique bird houses

Snow Paint

37 Comments

We are in full blown winter over here…are you? Here is a super simple activity that you could make right now to entertain the kids with…Snow Paint!

Simply take some water bottles and fill with water and food coloring. The more food coloring, the darker the paint. Super simple concept and idea. My kids were able to play with some this past weekend after church and actually spent quite a bit of time outside painting their “masterpieces”.

The only thing I would caution you on is that I am not sure if the food coloring will stain the kids clothing. So with that said, make sure you don’t send them out in that cute white coat they just got for Christmas!

*edit–One reader Stephanie has done this with her kids and cautioned to keep the spray away from vinyl fences! Thanks for the tip Stephanie!

Anyone else out there enjoying the snowy weather?

★Amy

January 4, 2011 · Filed under: Activities, Kids, Outdoors, Winter Tagged with

Make Some Bird Feeders

6 Comments

Make some easy bird feeders to invite birds into your yard this summer. We made one out of an old milk carton.

After washing it out thoroughly and letting it dry, we cut out two squares opposite from one another. Then we painted it and cut two small slices under the squares to allow for a perch. For the perch we used a small dowel that we had laying around. You could also use a small but sturdy tree branch. Then we poked two holes at the top of the milk carton and attached a wire to hang it from a tree branch. Then we filled it with wild bird seed. We hung ours in a tree so we could see it from a window inside. This way we can see the birds when they come to eat the bird seed.

Or if the above bird house is a bit too complicated you can always make this easier version. My kids have made one of these almost every year since my oldest made one with his pre-school class years ago.

All you do is take a pine cone and smother it with peanut butter. After it is completely covered (except for a small area on top), roll the cone in wild bird seed. Tie a string on the top of the pine cone and tie it in a tree. It can’t get any easier than that. The birds around our house love it and we are usually left with a small, shredded non-recognizable pine cone.