If you’re looking for a way to make a DIY birdhouse out of mostly natural materials, this TikTok hack is perfect. The video, posted by @thesophisticatedcaveman, shows how to easily craft a gorgeous, unique birdhouse out of a dried bottleneck gourd. For this DIY, you’ll need your gourd, a drill with a coring bit, rubbing alcohol, and polyurethane. Because gourds can take several months to dry, this is a great project to start in the winter, and by the time spring rolls around and the weather warms up, you’ll be able to make your birdhouse. For a more organic look, you can leave your gourd its natural color, or if you’d like, you can decorate it with paint.
Depending on what type of feathered friends you’d like to visit your birdhouse, you might want to consider the size of the entrance hole. Different varieties of birds prefer different conditions, such as how bluebirds like their home’s entrance to be about 1½ inches, while purple martins prefer it to be about 2 inches.
Drying out a gourd
@thesophisticatedcaveman
Making birdhouses from gourds! #fyp #foryoupage #garden #diy #bird #outdoor #birdhouse #countrylife #country
♬ original sound – The Sophisticated Caveman
Whether you’ve grown your own gourds or you’ve purchased one, it will need to be totally dried out before you begin making holes in it. To start, take your fresh gourd and gently clean it with soap and water. Allow it to dry completely before wiping the entire surface with rubbing alcohol. For a week, leave your gourd in an area with good ventilation and some sunlight to dry the outside. Make sure your gourd isn’t exposed to any moisture, as this could cause it to rot.
Now, hang your gourd in your garage or another area of your home that is cool, dry, and dark. If you don’t have anywhere to hang it up, you can sit your gourd on a drying rack so that air still flows beneath it, and turn it over every few weeks. It will take several months for your bottleneck gourd to completely dry and cure. When it’s ready, your fruit will weigh less, be harder, and the seeds inside will clink against the skin when you shake it.
Making a DIY gourd birdhouse
Ono Kosuki/Pexels
Once your gourd is dried, clean off any dirt or mold that has developed with water or lightly scrape it with sandpaper. Now, you can begin making holes. Take your drill and a coring bit of your preferred size to cut the circular entrance to your birdhouse before emptying the seeds from the inside. If you want to ensure the gourd is totally empty, use a brush attachment with your drill to scrape out your gourd. With a smaller drill bit, make two holes in the top of the gourd to hang it later, and a few holes in the bottom for drainage in your birdhouse.
Once you’ve cleaned out the inside and made all your holes, use the brush attachment or a scrubber to clean the outside of the gourd before rubbing isopropyl alcohol over it. If you’d like, you can coat your birdhouse with polyurethane to help seal and protect it from outdoor conditions or paint it for a different aesthetic. When it’s completed, hang your birdhouse outside for your feathered friends to enjoy.
