a Homie and Safe Birdhouse and Birdbath!

Hello. I am a Student and I have been Instructed to build anything I want with my independent study question. I have chose to make a birdhouse that is affordable and is also homie for birds. So I chose for you to come along with me and maybe you would want to build this too!I am so excited because I love wild life and especially birds. I am going to attempt to build a bird house and a bird bath with affordable materials and it will also be homie for birds!

1. Wood
2.Cake pan

3. three 5 ft stakes

4. Hay/ dry grass and sticks for the bottom of the birdhouse

5. Hammer

6.Nail gun

7.spray paint or paint.

8. gorilla tape

9. Rope

10.drill

11. Hole bit. ( a attachment for a drill)

12. Saw

13.Clamps (optional)

14. 4 screws

15. 2 L brackets

16.If you are a kid, do this with a parent!

The first thing to building a birdhouse is to sketch your plans. For example look at the picture above. I have sketched the inside, outside, and the bird bath.So, sketch out what you want your design to look like and you could always make changes when you build. This is just so you get the idea what you want it to look like.

While you are sketching your birdhouse I recommend that you look up things for stuff to put in your birdhouse to make it homie for birds and so It is safe for birds.For example, I was looking up things to put in your birdhouse and I came across this website that had all of these things that you should put in your birdhouse. I am going to use some of those ideas and incorporate them into my birdhouse.

This is my favorite part because I LOVE to shop. So, most of the things I am going to be using is from my own home but I need so things to build my birdhouse.For example,you might need to get the wood chips for the bottom of the bird house, maybe you need to get the wood glue, stuff that you don't already have for your project.If you already have all of your stuff at your house that you need to build your birdhouse, that's great and you can get to building faster!

Lets start of easy! Lets start with our bird bath!To start to build your bird bath you are going to need some materials first. For the stand of the bird bath you are going to need a 5 feet stakes and a cake pan.( I used a 9 in cake pan ). Once you have the materials you are going to want to drill a hole in the cake pan right in the middle. Then drill a hole in the stake right in the middle and drill them together.Then with the hammer, put it in the ground. Once you have it in the ground, you are going to want to spray paint or paint with water proof paint or you can use regular paint then put a water proof glaze over top of it. We are making sure it is water proof because the metal cake pan will rust.

The first step to building a birdhouse it to cut the wood. Cut a three 8 by 8 inch square using a saw.Tip:You can use clamps to keep the wood in place so it is easier to cut.Once you have cut the front,back,and floor you are going to do the sides. Cut two 5 by 8 inches for the sides. Make sure the are even! For the front and back draw two lines to create a roof shape.Then draw a outline where the stakes would go and mark how big the stake needs to be, then cut. Do that eight times. The create one stake that is 8 1/4 inches. Create 2 of the 5 5/8 stakes for each side. We will need the other 5 stakes later.Then connect the floor to the stakes to the floor ( which is one of your 8 by 8 inch squares ) using a nail gun.Flip it over and line the stakes with their spots.Put 2 nails in the middle and one on each corner. Do this for every skate. ( only use 4.) Don't use the 8 1/4 inch stake!

Now using you nail gun you are going to connect the sides,front,and back onto the birdhouse.Make sure you are connecting the sides,front,and back to the stakes. The using the nail gun once again. Use 4 more stakes that you cut earlier and connect them to the walls.Look for picture above on what it will look after the stakes are connected to the wall. Then using a hammer, hammer down all of the nails that are sticking out. We do this because we don't want it to hurt the birds and so that the stakes stay in place. Once all of the stakes and walls are together, place a stake where the roof is. Put it in sideways so it lines up with roof. This is creating the beam for the roof.Then staple the beam of the roof using 2 nails on each side so the beam doesn't twist. Then cut two 9 by 6 3/4 inch squares for the roof. Then staple the roof onto the structure.

Now for the hole in the front, you are going to use a drill with a hole bit attachment.This will be the entrance for the birds. Now, you are going to take the hole bit attachment off and use a regular drill and drill holes in the bottom. The holes at the bottom is for water and waste to drain out. To hang up the birdhouse, you are going to want to find a tree, where you want your birdhouse to be. Then, you are going to need 4 screws and 2 L brackets. You are going to drill the L brackets onto the back of the birdhouse. Once, you have done that, loop 2 strings of rope through the middle of the L brackets and tape the edges with gorilla tape, so the ends of the rope won't fray.Also with the tape, tape any holes on the sides, but don't tape underneath the roof because that is for ventilation. After you have built the birdhouse and birdbath you are going to spray paint it for paint it. I used spray paint and I would not use black because it will make the birdhouse really hot. So i did white, then i did a clear gloss that is water proof.

Once you have made it to this step, you have a couple more things to do. Once the spray paint is dry, tie the birdhouse to your tree into double knots. Then add some sticks and dry grass/hay and it is Ok if it is mess because the birds will fix it. But now you are done. Just some tips: For the birdbath you have to empty and refill the water everyday so it is clean.But other than that you are done! I love this birdhouse and birdbath and I hope you do too! I hope I can do something like this again!