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Birdwatcher's Cup of Tea
Settle down with your favorite beverage and peek through the window
to watch feathered friends enjoy a treat from colorful cup-and-saucer
bird feeders. Whimsical cup-and-saucer bird feeders with exuberant
painted designs enliven the garden and serve as feeding stations for
freewheeling birds.
Bird Feeder
What You Need:
Patterns
China teacup and saucer
Ruler
Marking pen
Drill and 1/4-inch masonry drill bit
Sandpaper (fine-grit)
Acrylic paints in colors of your choice
Artist's brushes: 1/2-inch flat, #0 liner
Flat sponge (to make stamp, if desired)
Buttons (if desired)
36-inch-long 1/4-inch threaded metal rod
33-inch-long copper tubing with a 1/4-inch-wide opening
3 stainless-steel nuts with 1/4-inch-wide hole
3 stainless-steel washers with 1/4-inch-wide hole
Crafts foam (for spacer)
Hole punch
Polyurethane clear exterior spray finish
Aleene's Platinum Bond Patio & Garden Adhesive
Birdseed
Instructions:
1. Download the free patterns for this project. (Downloading requires
Adobe Acrobat, see link at end of the article)
2. Prepare the cup and saucer. Using the ruler and the marking pen,
measure and mark the center of the cup and saucer. Carefully drill a
hole in the center of both pieces. Sand the surfaces of the cup and
saucer to roughen the finish, and wipe or wash off all the dust (this
will help the paint adhere). Using the 1/2-inch flat brush, base-coat
each piece with acrylic paint; let the paint dry. Repeat with a
second coat, if necessary.
3. Paint the designs.
Rose and Swirl: Using the patterns and the photographs as a guide,
paint free-form shapes in the colors of your choice with the 1/2-inch
flat brush. Add details or outline each flower with a contrasting
color and the #0 liner brush. Paint the leaves as above; let the
paint dry. Spray all surfaces with two coats of clear spray finish.
Button Flower: Cut a flower shape from a flat kitchen sponge to make
repetitive flower shapes. Wet the sponge and squeeze it dry; and then
brush one surface with paint. Press the sponge onto the base-coated
surfaces of the cup and saucer to create the design. Add outlines and
details with the #0 liner brush; let the paint dry. Paint the leaves
as above.
4. Glue buttons to the centers of the flowers. Spray all surfaces
with two coats of polyurethane clear finish.
5. Assemble the bird feeder. Note: Make spacers by cutting circles
from crafts foam and punching holes in the center (see photo). See
the Assembly Diagram on the pattern for the order in which to add the
individual parts. Insert the threaded metal rod through the copper
tubing. Place a nut at one end of the metal rod but do not tighten it
until all pieces are assembled. At the other end of the rod, place a
nut and a washer, then a foam spacer. Next, place the drilled saucer,
then a large circle of crafts foam cut to the same diameter as the
bottom of the cup. Place the teacup on the threaded rod, then a foam
spacer, a metal washer, and finally, the metal nut. Carefully tighten
the nuts on the end to create a firm fit. Push the rod into the soil
and fill the teacup with birdseed.
Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds. And don't hate nobody.
- Eubie Blake
Female chickens, or hens, need about 24 to 26 hours to produce one egg. Thirty minutes later they start the process all over again. In addition to the half-hour rests, some hens rest every three to five days and others rest every 10 days.
