Make Your Own Gourd Birdhouse

A Gourd Birdhouse is fun to make and an easy and a unique project. You can make the bird house as a practical and usable birdhouse or just for decoration inside, or outside your home.

To make your birdhouse drill a 2 inch diameter hole in the side of the gourd. You will need a hole saw attachment for your drill for this. Place the gourd in an upright position in a holding vise. It's a good idea to pad the gourd where it comes in contact with the vise, so that no damage occurs to the outside of the gourd. This will be the bird’s front door.

Remove the dried seeds and fibers. Drill two ¼” holes about 1 1/2” up from the bottom of the gourd for drainage and ventilation. You will also need to drill a small hole in the very top of the gourd neck. Go all the way through the gourd, as this is where the hanger will be.

You are now ready to finish your gourd birdhouse. There are many ways to decorate these cute birdhouses. You need to decide if they are going to be for inside decoration or for a real outdoor birdhouse.

The various decorations for the gourds are only limited by your imagination. I have seen them with ladybugs, butterflies or flowers. You can even just paint them a solid color but I prefer the natural color of the gourd.

Acrylic craft paint works fine, or Permanent markets. After you have put your design on them the gourds will need two coast of polyurethane.

Hang the birdhouse in a sheltered area at least 6 feet from the ground. Just put twine through the holes that you drilled on top and hang it up.

These gourd birdhouses make wonderful gifts, for holidays, or birthdays. Children love to decorate the gourd birdhouses and they come up with some mighty fine ideas.

If you have and ideas for a gourd bird house and would like to share them with us please contact me and I will add them here.

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