Make this super cute birdcage to decorate your tree or just to embellish around your house. In this tutorial, I will show you how to make your very own small birdcage ornament, for your Christmas Tree or just to decorate around your house. Its so adorable and easy to make with the right materials!
I originally made this tutorial for a guest post for Craft Snob, but since that blog is no longer online, I wanted to share it here so you can check it out!
I love birdcages, but I dont like it when birds are in them =[ because they belong free and not secluded in a tiny little space, right? so the birdcages I have are just decorative.
Because of my love for birdcages, I thought that it could be really cute to have one as an ornament. The best part is that once the holidays are over you can use this little birdcage to hold pens in your office or just to decorate your favorite space!
I love to work with wire, but there are some things you should know. Always try to use gloves, your hands will then you because they get really nasty, especially when you work with galvanized wire. Usually, when you use flux core solder, you dont need rosin soldering flux, but in my case, I like to place a little bit of paste before soldering on each wire intersection because it makes the soldering a lot easier and the joints cleaner =] I think we all like clean and pretty soldering points. right?
I also wanted to point out that we will be working with rings and wire curves, those are very tricky and even though we will be measuring, its really hard to work on having perfect shapes when you work with curves (especially because we will be making our curves with a glass, so there is no measurement there) So dont worry if your pieces are not perfect, you can always fix them later on.
Ok so the first step will be to create the rings for our birdcage, and the size will depend on the size of the cup you decide to use, Ive made birdcages using shoot glasses and also using the smallest glasses I have.
You can try and see how big your circle ends up because after you wrap the glass with wire it will loosen up, being bigger than the diameter of your cup. So it can be tricky. My cup had 3 inches of diameter and my loops end up being almost 4 inches.
After that we will need to cut the pieces we will be used to assemble our birdcage, you will need:
To make the 3 main structure pieces I measured 4 inches in a straight piece, and then bend using the same glass cup until I had te desire shape, I cut the pieces leaving 3 inches on each side after the curve.
Its very easy if you just lay the piece in a mat and mark where the curves start and measure from there. After that, you will need to solder the circle pieces to close them.
For the bird hanger, you basically have to first make a loop in the top (to attach this piece to the birdcage) and then, bend the bottom so that you wrap the toothpick, just like shown in the pictures above, you can also see how I measure everything in my cutting mat.
To assemble the birdcage you will need to first mark all of your structural pieces where the curve starts, so that can be your first horizontal ring.
I started with one ring and one structure piece. If you have trouble holding the pieces to solder, tape them to the glass. That always helps me =]
After that, you will need to visually mark your circle so you can add the other two structures. Here is where you can just mark an approximate because the exact measurements will depend on how big your circle is.
And since this is just a little fun project, go with an approximate. Divide the space so the other two fit and your all set. Attaching the other 2 circles is way easier, just measure an inch below the first and solder =]
As you can see here I really liked how my birdcage ends up, but I thought that the top was too empty, so what I did was mark 3/4? up the line and I added another ring, but in this case, since I didnt know the exact measurement for that one, I took a shot glass and made a smaller one, I left that piece bigger than I needed it so I could cut, once I had the exact piece I wanted.
In this case, I solder all the pieces to my little marks leaving the first and last open to be able to cut. I made sure I was not going to cut too small or too big and the solder the end. I know it sounds complicated, but it was the easiest piece to solder because all the structure is already there =]
After you finish, clean your structure with a paper towel to take all the oil from the soldering and spray paint it if you want. Attache the bird hanger to the inside of your birdcage by making a knot in the ribbon. After that add the piece of paper to the bottom (you can glue it, or you can do what I did and stitch the paper to the wire I just dont like hot glue so much)
* This tutorial and pattern are provided for personal, non-commercial use only. Check the Site policy at the bottom for further information, Thank you!
Following the drilling of all the holes, place each metal post into its respective hole.
After that, I turned the cage over so that the posts protrude through the tray’s bottom. I bent the ends of each post using the needle nose pliers. This will secure the cage to the tray and prevent the posts from sliding back through.
The posts should be positioned exactly at my tray’s outer ring. I marked the locations of each post with the black marker.
3. One tiny wooden disk, about three inches in width that I purchased from Walmart
Then, I cut the three tiny metal loops that held the chain in place. I did this to both baskets. This is an optional step but I like them off. Simply use the wire cutters to bend it so that it snaps off.
* You may only use this tutorial and pattern for private, non-commercial purposes. Please refer to the site policy located at the bottom for more details. Thank you!
I started with one ring and one structure piece. Tape the pieces to the glass if you find it difficult to hold them while soldering. That always helps me =].
I measured four inches for each of the three main structural pieces, cut them, and left three inches on each side after the curve. I then bent the pieces using the same glass cup until I got the desired shape.
Birds belong outside, not cooped up in a tiny space, so even though I adore birdcages, I don’t like it when they’re inside of them =[. As a result, the ones I own are purely ornamental.
I think having a birdcage as an ornament could be very adorable because I adore them. The best part is that you can use this small birdcage to hold pens in your office or to simply decorate your favorite space after the holidays!
FAQ
What wire is safe for bird cages?
How do you decorate an ornamental bird cage?
How do you make a simple bird cage?
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