As a homeowner, a big part of customizing your space is setting up your yard so that it’s attractive for you and your neighbors. While vegetable gardens and trees are a surefire way to add some flavor to your immediate environment, you can make your yard even more exciting by encouraging birds to visit. If you’re running low on funds but still want to set up a bird feeder or two, you don’t have to fret. TikTok creator @jesseandthemunchkins discovered a genius way that you can make a DIY bird feeder by cutting a few holes into an empty old gallon milk jug, puncturing it with sticks, filling it up with bird feed, and hanging it in your yard.
If you love arts and crafts projects, then forming a feeder out of a gallon milk jug will be a fun activity. Having a bird feeder in your yard is beneficial for your garden because the birds that show up can also remove insect pests and weeds.. Further, this hack is great for the environment as well because it allows you to upcycle plastic instead of sending it to the landfill. Not wanting to spend money on a feeder shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the sight of birds fluttering in and out of your yard. Lucky for you, these feathered friends don’t care how expensive the feeder is as long as there’s enough yummy food waiting for them inside of it.
Cut holes in the gallon milk jug and pour seed in
According to the TikTok video, you’ll need a clean and dry milk jug, a couple of thin, sturdy sticks of equal length and girth, a cutting blade, a marker, and a strong, lengthy piece of twine or rope. Draw out four sizable circles on each side of the milk carton with the marker and carve them out with the blade. These will be the feeding holes, so make sure they’re big enough for birds to enter through. Then, puncture a hole just below one of the openings and push the stick into it until you hit the other side of the carton. Mark the spot where it hit and puncture another hole so the stick can pass through. Do this for the other side of the gallon as well so that you have the two sticks running perpendicular to each other and sticking out from all sides. These will make perfect perches for all your bird friends and provide support for the feeder.
To give the DIY bird feeder a place to hang, puncture two holes near the lid of the gallon milk jug and pass the rope through it, tying a knot at the top. Lastly, you can fill the jug with your desired birdseed and hang it up on a tree or a post. You can even go the extra mile and paint the carton red and yellow to attract more birds.
