Expensive Bird Bath?
Flip ‘em the bird … make one for $20!
It is with great regret and displeasure that I announce to you … I have no jellybeans. Kindda craving them. Also, this is the final cheap birdbath post. For now anyway. I actually have plans to make another birdbath, but it involves me learning how to chip out a dip in the top of a mammoth sized rock and polish it to a finish as smooth as a career criminal’s fingerprints.
If there are any dip chippers out there, lemme know how to get started. My initial plan was to use fertilizer to make a little rock blasting bomb but with the G-20 in town I don’t want to raise any unnecessary suspicions. My next thought was dynamite but that might not be a good idea. Dynamite is a one way road to too big of a dip.
So the first birdbath was free and very organic looking. The second birdbath was $6 and very contemporary. Sparse even. This final birdbath will cost around $20 and is a combination of organic and sleek. And I must say it’s my favourite.
Just to give you an idea of what you can get for $20 … here’s a $20 birdbath I found at my local hardware store. It actually looks quite elegant in the picture compared to real life.
This specimen is made from an attractive combination of white plastic and white plastic.
So you can go and pay $20 for this birdbath, which is so lightweight it would definitely tip over and therefore embarrass the portlier birds. Or … you can gather:
a few wood dowels
... and this organic shaped candle plate from Ikea
To create this:
To me this birdbath is the best of both worlds if you’re willing to spend the money. And quite frankly, I already owned the Ikea candle plate (currently found in the candle section of Ikea) and 2 of the 3 dowels.
So while this would cost you approximately $20 – $25, it cost me $3.00.
Materials:
3 wood dowels @ $3 each (or 3 old wood broom handles if you have them around)
Brown & black paint
Varathane (satin finish)
Ikea candle plate @ $14.99.
As you may have noticed I stained my dowels dark brown. You can leave yours natural if you like. Or you can paint them purple. Or green or pink or blue or black or saffron or eggplant or polka dotted. Actually polka dotted wouldn’t go with the candle plate, so scratch polka dot. Please don’t paint your dowels polka dotted.
Click right about here … no HERE … no here to learn how to stain the dowels with paint.
Your dowels need to be at least 3 or 4 feet long if you want a really elevated birdbath like I have. I like the drama of it, plus it makes the birdbath easier to see from the other end of the backyard where I eat and lounge and daydream. Pfftt. I don’t do any of those things.
After you hammer the dowels into the ground grab yourself a handy dandy level and make sure the dowels are level. Duh. It’s hard to tell if the birdbath is level just by looking at it because the Ikea candle holder is shaped irregularly with one side of it being higher than the others. When you set it on the dowels it looks a bit wonky and you (and by you I mean me) second guess your eye levelling.
I love my level. It's red.
Now for the pretty pictures!
So there you have it. 3 ways to create a birdbath, all for less than the cost of 1,500 jellybeans. Or a bag of fertilizer.
Tricia Rose
I thought you were going to cast one! You can do it – and it would certainly support even portly birds… Awww, gowon,
Karen
That’s right! I WAS going to cast one. O.K. That’s on the list of birdbath to-do’s as well. Um … I … um … I’m not sure I want that many birdbaths and that many birds bathing around me. I may have to make them just to see if I can do it and give em away. How much do you think it would cost to mail a solid cement birdbath as a contest giveaway? I can afford $1.27. If it’s any more than that the cement birdbath giveaway deal is OFF.
movita
Have you been using an agglutinate (shout out to thesaurus.com) to keep the bowls on the legs? Or do you just set ‘em on the legs and hope the portly birds don’t all congregate on one edge?
Wait. Maybe you aren’t using an agglutinate to allow for cleaning. This comment is turning into a stream of consciousness type thing…
Please advise.
Karen
Pftt. Agglutinate schmootinate. No, I just set the bowls on top. They’re all heavy enough to stay stable. Especially when they’re filled with water. This way they are easy to clean and put away for the winter. Unless I get a birdbath heater! Something else to start obsessing on.
amy
Hi! OK, I know this might be a silly question, but I’ve been wondering this since the last bird baths – they all seem to be placed (the plate) directly on broom handles, etc with nothing else (glue, adhesion, etc). Don’t they blow off when it gets very windy? Especially the smaller plates Thanks!
Karen
Hi Amy – so far so good with the plates/vessels staying put. They’re pretty heavy espcially when they’re fulla water. The trickier part is making sure you only take one shot when you’re hammering the dowels/broomsticks into the ground. If you fool around too much with hammering them in and pulling them out your hole won’t be solid enough to hold the rods up straight. They’ll be all wiggly and shifty. That’s more a worry than the plates sitting on top. A wiggly rod will end up toppling the plate before wind will.
Carol
Love it Karen! Looks gorgeous. Do you think you could report back with an update on how the birds like it!? Would love to see it in action. : )
Karen
Thanks Carol! I love it too. This is the birdbath that’s going to have a permanent home in the garden. (I had to choose one lest I look like a crazy person) I’ll let you know if it attracts the birdies! I have one of those ceramic egg shaped contemporary hanging birdfeeders in the tree next to it and they compliment each other really well.
Tish
In a previous post (I think it was the Easter moss one which I loved. I love all your posts. You already know that. FYI, I also love stating the obvious.) you mentioned having sub-par photog skills. But these pics are awesome so to me it looks like you got mad skillz with the camera. I know that has nothing to do with making a $20 birdbath, but I still thinks it’s really important…
Karen
Thanks Tish! I’m definitely getting better and more comfortable with the camera. I’ll give you that. But I still mainly suck at it. I only picked up a camera for the first time 3 months ago so I’m sure it’ll get easier and easier. The Art of Doing Stuff … right? Photography included I guess.
Lynne
You do have mad skillz with more than just a camera & it just makes my day to read your posts!
Loving the birdbaths & I got a huge kick out of showing my sweetheart your back yard makeover. He said it was good to know that I wasn’t the only girl on the planet capable of such stuff…he gives me way too much credit as I’ve never attempted any thing on that grand a scale. That being said he told me that none of his friends married a woman who owned her own reciprocating saw.
This summer we are going to be removing and replacing a poorly done retaining wall so I’m pretty excited to be ripping out fencing, cutting cement, digging out the ground and then making it all look better.
Of course it won’t look at all fabulous in the end like your yard does but we’ll know that the neighbours aren’t in danger of having our wall land in their yard.
Hope you have a glorious summer…I miss Ontario but am loving BC so it’s all good :)
Karen
Thanks Lynne! Fellow Ont-ari-aree-areeo lady. Good luck with your retaining wall! It’ll still be fun to see a finished product. Plus knowing you’ve potentially saved the lives of all your neighbours is a good thing. Unless … well you know … they borrowed some power tools a lonngggggg time ago and never returned them and now pretend they don’t know what you’re talking about. If you catch my drift. ;)
Alissa
Between the bathing options and watching the purdy fish, your yard is definitely going to be the trendy hang out spot for any feathered creature in the know.
Deborah Wall
Absolutely gorgeous, I love the shape with the Ikea candle plate and the dowels – simple and yet devine…
Karen
Thanks Deborah! Yeah, I’m kindda pleased with the end result too. Takes up a lot of time though. I’m constantly running outside to see if there’s any evidence (you know, feathers, poo …) of a bird having been in it. Nothing yet, but I know it can take a few days to attract the birds. I will wait. And watch. :)
Renee
This is awesome! I was just thinking if people were afraid of the dish blowing off/tipping off, you could glue/epoxy some of those copper )or pvc caps to the dish so it still lifts off and the legs are separate from the dish.
I did something similar a while back with iron pipe, but yours is waaaay more beautiful and graceful!
Karen
Super-fantastic idea about using caps Renee! Smarty pants!
ginger
Fantastic bird bath ! Outstanding idea thank you for sharing it with all of us!
Karen
You’re very welcome Ginger! That’s my goal. To share every bit of smartness I have! :) – karen
Tickled Red
You never cease to amaze me with your endless creativity. Great birdbaths!!
Jana @ Weekend Vintage
I want one-it’s so fresh and sleek!
jana
@my
AND easy to clean! Thanks!! I am so making this when I get home…
Fabricio
Very clever solution! I don’t know about it in the US, but here in Brazil it’s not recommended to create baths like this, because still water would proliferate dengue mosquitos.
Karen
Hi Fabricio. Thanks! There’s no problem with Dengue in Canada, but we do have West Nile Virus that is carried by mosquitos. However, if there are enough birds coming to the birdbath the water doesn’t stay still for very long. :) Plus I change the water in the bath every day or two to keep it fresh and help deter larvae. – karen.