Milk Jugs

• Make birdhouses out of gallon- or half-gallon-sized milk jugs. It will cost next to nothing, and you can do some recycling while you are at it. Start by thoroughly washing out your empty milk jugs. Use a pencil to draw a circle 1 1/2 inches in diameter about a third of the way down from the top of the jug. Cut it out with a craft knife.
  
  Use your craft knife to make an "X" cut an inch below the circle. Do the same on the back side of the jug, exactly opposite from the other X cut. Push a dowel or pencil through the front to the back of the jug. Leave the longest end out in front for a perch. The dowel will stay in place because it goes across the milk jug. When the baby birds are large enough to fly out of the nest, they can stand on the dowel, inside the jug, to reach the hole. Drill or cut a few very small holes in the bottom of the jug, for drainage.
  
  Wrap a piece of sturdy wire around the top of the jug, just under the cap, at the middle of the wire. Wrap duct tape around the wrapped wire and the cap, to hold both onto the bottle. Tie the two ends of the wire around a tree limb, high enough so cats and dogs cannot get to it.
  
  These same instructions can be used with large pop bottles or milk cartons.
  
  

More Recycling

• Use your imagination to create birdhouses out of old, unused items. Anything that can have a bottom or top attached to it is a possible birdhouse.
  
  Consider old cowboy boots or hats. Start by drilling a hole for the bird(s) to enter. An old boot then just needs a roof and a wire for hanging. The roof can be made out of pieces of scrap wood or a square of tin folded in the middle. A hat will need a bottom, but a stray piece of plywood or tin will do for this, as well. Attach the roof or bottom by drilling holes in the wood or tin. Drill or poke holes in the boot or hat and use wire to attach the two together. Make sure to drill a few very small holes in the bottom of the recycled birdhouses, so any water that may enter can drain through.