How To Make a 3 Teacup Bird Feeder-Watering Station

This is a beautifully simple project.
Rated -- Easy for beginners.

You’ll need:

Materials List

• 3 porcelain teacups and saucers
• 1 3 light wall sconce
• 1 each, ¼” lag screw (about 1 1/2” long) and a flat washer

Tools List

• 1 tube of weatherproof glue for glass and tile (like E-6000)
• 1 5/16” or 3/8” diamond core bit
• 1 1/8” twist drill bit
• 1 drill, drill press or rotary tool (such as Dremel)
• 1 wrench for the lag screw
• 2 1” X 1” squares of landscape fabric
• Paint if desired (optional)

This teacup bird feeder project is extremely easy to make. You only have to drill one hole in the bottom of each sconce bowl and 1 hole in the bottom of 2 of the teacups and saucers, as drainage holes for rainwater.

You’ll find quite an assortment of teacups, coffee cups and soup cups at garage sales, flea markets and local thrift shops. I found 3 matching teacups at a local Goodwill store.

I chose a teacup and saucer with a pastel leaf design on it. You can also choose a plain white, off white or solid pastel colored teacup to use as your “blank canvas”. Then you can decorate it with beads, paint or stencils. This is your creation.

Drill a 5/16” or 3/8” hole through the center of the bottom of 2 of the teacups and the saucers. A diamond core bit works best. I used the third teacup as a water bowl. No holes needed in that one. Glue a small square of landscape fabric or fiberglass screen over the drain holes in the teacups. This will keep the bird seed from being washed out of the teacup

When drilling with diamond core bits remember to:

• Use a slow drill speed of 1500-2500 RPM
• Use light drill pressure
• Keep the drill bit and the glass wet

Pull the wiring out of the wall sconce and unscrew and remove the ceramic light bulb socket. Use the 1/8” twist drill to drill 1/8” diameter drain holes in the bottom of the sconce bowls. Rainwater will drain from the teacups and saucers into the sconce bowls. These drainage holes eliminate having to turn the bird feeder upside down after each time it rains. I drilled these holes on the backside (wall side) of the sconce bowl, the side closest to the back plate of the sconce. This way you can’t see them.

Next, glue the teacup and saucer together.

If you’re painting or beading the light fixture, please do that now. I unscrewed the arms from the wall sconce and spray painted the backplate a light green color and the arms a golden yellow. Any outdoor spray paint will do. Then I used blue paint to highlight the details of the wall sconce arms

Next, I glued the bottom of the saucers to the top of the bowls of the wall sconce. After the glue dried, I put the lag screw through the washer and through the mounting hole of the wall sconce fixture. I chose to fasten mine onto a fence in our backyard

I filled the two outside teacup with birdseed and the center one with water.

That’s it. You’re done!

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