Hot air balloon gourd birdhouse and feeder

Welcome spring!   my favorite time of the year  👩

I am all excited and starting to get that spring fever I get every year.  Time to be outside again.   I want to show you a cute little project today.  We are going to make a birdhouse and feeder that resembles a hot air balloon, and we are going to make it out of a gourd.  We will be using Proxxon tools and Plaid paints.  

Supplies and equipment:

1 or 2 gourds   (one to look like a balloon and one to cut for a basket)   

Proxxon mini jig saw

Proxxon OZI/E delta sander

Proxxon rotary tool with drill bits

string

pony beads or buttons

epoxy sculpt (optional)

small dowel (optional)

sealer of your choice

Plaid paints of your choosing

small eye hook for hanging

wood glue.

Let's get started.   See below.  I picked out 2 dirty gourds.  One is an old birdhouse that has seen better days, but the top will work for our basket.   First step is to get these cleaned up.  A little water, elbow grease, and  a scouring pad does the work.

Mark on the gourds where you intend to cut.  On the large gourd you want to mark a circle about 1 1/2" in diameter. (the entrance hole to the birdhouse.  ** remember you will be turning the gourd pointy side down to hang**)  On the small gourd we will use the top as a "basket" for our hot air balloon.

Then cut along your marks using the Proxxon mini jig saw

Using the Proxxon OZI/E delta sander, sand the edges of the hole and the top of the basket.

Cut gourds have very sharp edges.

Next, mark 6 evenly spaced holes on the "balloon" and on the "basket" where we will attach the strings suspending the basket.  Then drill the small holes using the Proxxon professional rotary tool.  I also drilled 3 holes in the bottom of the balloon for drainage.  

Optional step-   I was worried about the thinness of my basket piece and how it would hold up to the elements outside so I used epoxy sculpt to make a band around the outside of the basket.  When it dries it is hard as cement and should keep the strings from tearing out of the basket.

Next step is to paint like crazy.  Better yet, let the kids do it.! 👦👧

I always use Plaid paints for the huge selection of vibrant colors.

Be sure to seal your project since it is going outside.  I used Krylon triple thick gloss, (2 coats)

I used 6  -  16" pieces of string to attach the balloon to the basket at the holes we previously made.  First tie one end to a pony bead.  Next from the inside thread the string through the hole in the basket. (the length of string should come out of the outside of the basket with the pony bead inside.

  Next, thread the string through the small holes in the balloon part, pull it out the big hole, tie a bead on it,  Try to keep the strings even.   I used chalk to mark a line where I will attach to my balloon.   You will eventually need to cut part of the string off,  It is too long to start, but that was to give you room to work with it.  

I had to do some adjusting at the end to get it to hang right.  This is easily done at the basket attachment.   I also added some small dowels as perches for the little birds.

An eye hook in the top and it is done.  Don't forget to fill it with bird seed.   Check it out hanging in our Plum tree.  

Thank you Proxxon, and Plaid.  2 awesome companies check out their websites!!

And thank you for visiting.    Till next time ...Carol