Chicken Wire Duck Nester

Today I have made 2 duck nesting homes out of chicken wire and hay.

Finished product.  Step by step and supplies are listed below.

The supplies I used for this project are chicken wire, rope, small zip ties, a pair of scissors, and hay.

To begin I used chicken wire that is 24 inches long, and cut a length of approx. 40 inches.  I created a circle with it, over lapped the ends about two inches and zip tied it secure in multiple sections.  You could twist the ends of the chicken wire to secure your circle if you dont want to use zip ties. When you are done with this step you will want the zip tied end at the bottom so birds do not get poked.

Once you move to this step you will pinch the lower part of the circle together (about 2 inches up), and zip tie that together tightly.  This will create a cradle effect for the bedding to stay in the house.

Here you can see how I have the bottom section pinched closed and secured.  You will do this to both ends.

You can see this is the bare bones of the house.

Now you can stuff the cradle area with hay.  Pack it in nicely so when the birds walk inside they will feel secure and they wont be in danger of stepping through to the chicken wire.

For a photo of what the nest would look like I added a few small balls in there.

This is one of the nests secured in a tree.  I put both of these nests in the crotch branches of a tree that are leaning over the water of my pond.  

Here is the other that I have secured in the branches over water.  I used rope to tie it to a few different places on branches to keep it level and safe.

These are the houses finished.  After I got them tied up good, I took a bit more hay and added it on top.  Now the ducks have a safe place to nest.  I sure hope the wood ducks that have been frequenting my pond will take up occupancy in these.  I also built a couple wooden duck houses a few years ago but the only thing that lives in those is dang squirrels.

                                                                Beçk¥

Decorative Rustic Wall Rack

This project was a birthday gift for my sister from her son.  I really had him do as much as he could, and he was very proud of his work.

This project consisted of 6 pallet boards that I cut into different sizes to give it a puzzle look instead of a brick stagger look.  The flat sheet of wood is what we screwed each pallet board onto and attached large hooks on the back.

My nephew made the pattern he was happy with on the flat board and we screwed all the pallet pieces to it.  This is him sanding the edges nice and smooth.

He chose to stain each board a different color to give it a more rustic look.  He also decided the pattern of the stain being applied as well.  The stain colors are Oak, Driftwood, Kona, and clear.  I know staining all the boards would be easier to do when it is taken apart, but this was his project and he felt happy doing it this way.

After the stain was dry he chose a color of paint (a teal green) and decided to paint some arrows on it.  His family is a very active outdoor family so this was something that would go well in their home.

We decided to attach a couple extra Whitetail antlers that I had so items can be hung from them.  This photo is just an idea of how she can decorate it in her home.  Hopefully she will send me a picture of it decorated how she likes and I will post it below.

My nephew was very proud of his work, and did a great job.


Beçk¥

Shotgun Shell Wreath

I saw this wreath on pinterest so I thought I would take a "shot" at it and make one myself rather then pay the $99.00 dollars that they are asking for theirs.  

First I hot glued about two hundred shells together by gluing two inch string from the inside of one empty shell to the other empty shell.  Make about two hundred sets like this.

I bought a wreath frame from Michaels (around $3.00), I looped each shell through the middle and dangled a set over the inside and again over the outside of the frame.

You can see the frame has four frame wires.  I hot glued the strings into place so when I lifted it to hang it everything didn't slide downward.

This is the backside of it.  I also tied a ton of little tweed type bows around the inside and outside to hide any green frame from showing, but to also give it a bit more of a rustic look.

I hung it on a wall for display.  You can see from gluing the shells in place all the shells stay in place all the way around pretty evenly and you can see the tweed string a bit throughout the inside and outside.  I finished it with a Burlap bow.  I really like it.  I suppose you could wind some lights into it if you want, I kept it pretty simple.

Thank You for checking it out.
ßeçk¥