What, you may ask, do I do with all these bottles? Well, I love to incorporate them into craft projects because the possibilities are virtually endless. One project I have wanted to try for quite awhile is wine bottle hummingbird feeders. It took a couple attempts to get the right combination of materials, but I think the result is simple and beautiful. (Not to mention that the hummingbirds go absolutely crazy over them.)
Materials
- wine bottle
- five feet of 6 gauge copper electrical wire
- pliers
- electrical tape
- Hummingbird Feeder Tubes For Making Your Own Feeders
- glass paint (optional)
Directions
![]() | You will be constructing a cage around the bottle by bending the copper wire with a pair of pliers. A bit of muscle is required because the wire is pretty heavy duty. I wrapped the tip of my pliers with a few layers of electrical tape cover the tiny grooves on the pliers so they don't mar the surface of the copper wire. You don't have to do this, but your project will be prettier if the copper is nice and shiny. |
![]() | Let's start bending the wire. Make sure to give yourself plenty of room to work. Five feet of wire can be a bit unruly and you don't want to poke anyone or scratch any surfaces in your house. Create a loop that is bigger than the neck of the bottle, but smaller than the body. Loop the copper around 1 1/2 to 2 times. |
Slide the loop over the neck of the bottle | |
Bend the wire so it is at a perpendicular to the first loop and parallel to the body of the bottle. | |
Twist the wire in a tight coil around the body of the bottle until about 6 inches of wire remain. | |
Next you will be making a hook so that you can hang your feeder. Bend a loop about an inch in diameter in the end of the wire, leaving an opening so you can hook this when you hang your feeder outside. | |
Bend the loop back as shown into a backwards "S" shape | |
Stretch out the coils and bend the "S" hook over the top of the bottle so it is secured inside the wire. Fill your feeder with nectar, insert the feeder tube and it's ready to use. There is a bit of a trick to filling the feeder properly so it doesn't leak. I'll share my tips in my next post or you can check out my video about filling your hummingbird feeder on You Tube. |
If you want you can add some bling by using glass paint to apply flowers or other decorations on the outside of the bottle before you fill it. This is the clear glass bottle feeder that hangs in our front yard. The hummingbirds love it and I enjoy watching them.