Recycle an old tomato cage into a birdbath or bird feeder that will have you attracting more backyard birds for less.
DIY Tomato Cage Birdbath or Bird Feeder
Updated on Feb. 11, 2025
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Make a Birdbath or Feeder With a Tomato Cage
Use a discarded tomato cage for a birdbath or bird feeder! Add a few tin flowers, an arching plant and a colorful dish for water or birdseed, and you’ll soon have a bona fide work of art that’s also great for attracting birds.
Learn how to make a DIY concrete leaf birdbath.
Materials
- Tomato cage
- Plastic pot, soil, and plants
- Shallow plastic bowl or tray
- Metal flowers (optional, see below)
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1
If you already have a location in mind, install your tomato cage there to start. You can either insert the tines into the earth as you would normally (the deeper and more even, the better), or bend the tines outward to form “feet.”
Step 2
Measure the circumference of the tomato cage ring that you want to use for holding up your plant. Arrange plants in a plastic pot with a top circumference slightly larger than the ring on the cage. Ease it down into place.
Step 3
Measure the very top ring of the tomato cage for a plastic bowl or tray to rest there, and then scout around for a colorful receptacle that fits your dimensions. Your kitchen, yard sales and thrift stores are great options.
Drop the bowl or tray into the top ring of the cage, and add birdseed or fresh water. You’ll be attracting birds in no time!
Step 4
Want to add some colorful metal flowers to your feeder?
- Draw a simple flower shape on your choice of metal and cut two or more with tin snips or similar metal-cutting tool. Cut out 1 small center circle for each two flowers you cut.
- Spray-paint flowers and circles in the colors of your choice.
- Nestle two of the flowers together and place 1 circle on top in the center. Using a nail and a hammer, punch a hole in the center of the flower cluster with a whack of the hammer on the nail. Repeat for the rest of the flowers.
- Take about 12 in. of wire that is stiff enough to hold the flowers upright but flexible enough to bend easily. Using needle-nose pliers, twist a loop in the wire about 2 in. from one end. This will support the flowers so they don’t fall straight down the wire.
- Thread the flower cluster onto the short end of the wire to rest on the loop you made, and twist the wire above the flower into a spiral using needle-nose pliers. This will sandwich the flowers between loops so they are secure. Repeat for the rest of the flowers, and you’re ready to attach them to the tomato cage.
Next, learn how to make a DIY wood bird feeder.
