19 Birdhouse Ideas: Easy DIY Birdhouse Plans and Birdhouse Kits

Birdhouses are a wonderful feature to add to your yard to help make your yard more bird friendly, and birdhouse ideas are easy to come by. They make a fun afternoon activity for the family, and you can get step-by-step birdhouse plans or kids. The finished product can be simple or elaborate, depending on your skill level and which tools you have on hand. The good news is, you don’t have to be a DIY master or a weekend warrior to tackle simple birdhouse ideas, and you may even be able to upcycle a few things along the way to give your yard a whimsical touch. 

If you’re not that DIY inclined, you can use birdhouse kits that come with all of the materials and birdhouse ideas you need to complete your project. No matter which type of builder you are, I’ve got something for all skill levels. I’m going to outline easy DIY birdhouse ideas and show you some birdhouse kits you can have shipped straight to your door. You can choose which one works best for you and spend an afternoon on this fun project. The birds will thank you!

The best birdhouse ideas will give your yard a rustic or whimsical touch while giving your birds a safe place to nest and have their babies. You can get several different sizes to accommodate the different birds in the area. 

1. Nesting Shelf Birdhouse 

First up for birdhouse ideas in a nesting shelf birdhouse. This simple project will give any birds in your yard a nesting box to have their babies in, and you get a front row seat to watch them grow. You’ll need an old bucket, spray paint, nails, hammer, wood screw, drill, and a screwdriver. To start, paint the bucket whatever colors you choose and let it dry. Choose a pole to attach your bucket to and drill a whole in the center of the bucket’s bottom. It should be between three and six feet off the ground. For the final step, add a few pieces of nesting material into the bucket and wait for the birds to come around. 

Most birds only require smaller birdhouse ideas to keep their babies safe, but you have to factor the heat in because some materials can get too hot inside.

2. SparkJump Birdhouse Craft Kit

This birdhouse idea can go right by your bird feeder. You get seven pre-cut cedar boards, 30 nails, wood glue, shingles, windows, chimney, eye hooks, decorative half wood slices, eye hooks, sandpaper, and bird seed. It works for ages five and up, and it uses rot and insect-resistant cedar for the birdhouse idea that can last for a long time. The end result is an adorable birdhouse with a beautiful and rustic design. 

3. Clay Pot Birdhouse

If you have an old clay pot or two lying around at home, you can pull off this birdhouse idea. All you’ll need is an eight-inch pot, eight-inch eye bolt and nut, 10×10-inch ¼-inch thick plywood, rat-tail file, power drill, hook or chain, saber saw, and a half round file. Decide where you want the entrance hole to be and carefully drill out a hole. Start with the smallest bit and work your way to the largest bit. Use the rat-tail file to continue enlarging it by hand, and finish with the half round file. Trace the open end of the pot on the plywood to form the floor, cut the circle out, and drill a hole in the center for the chain to hang from. 

Set your flower pot upside down on the plywood. Put a fender washer onto the eyebolt and put it through the drainage hole through your plywood base. Put a second washer over the end of the eyebolt and use a nut to secure it. You’re now ready to hang it. 

If you get patterned terracotta pots, you can easily turn this birdhouse idea in an eye-catching display that looks right at home with the rest of your lawn ornaments.

4. Made By Me Wooden Birdhouse 

This colorful birdhouse idea is a full kit that is a perfect activity for your kid’s sleepover ideas. You get all of the pieces you need to create a beautiful and fun birdhouse, and you can even use the three chimes to turn it into a birdhouse and wind chime combination. Kids as young as six will be able to follow the easy instructions, and the house glues together so you won’t need any tools! 

5. Peanut Butter Jar Birdhouse 

For this birdhouse idea, you’ll need a large, 64-ounce peanut butter jar, a small brass hook, and nut and bolt, spray paint, and wire or string to hang it. You’ll also need a drill, 1 1/4 inch bit, a bit that corresponds with your bolt size, a 1/16 to 1/8 inch drill bit, sandpaper, pliers, sponge, and a sink. To start, clean out your jar with a sponge in the sink to remove any leftover peanut butter. Get your 1 ¼-inch drill bit and drill an entry hole in the center of the jar before sanding it to smooth it out. Next, get a smaller bit and drill a hole directly under the entrance hole and insert the bolt before screwing the nut into place to create a perch. 

Get your small drill bit and drill a hole in the middle of the lid. Screw your hook into the hole and cover the pointed end of the screw to prevent injuring the birds. Apply a coat of paint, let it dry, screw the cap back on, and loop your wire through the hook before you hang it up. 

Birds love peanut butter, and this birdhouse idea allows you to upcycle some old peanut butter jars and keep them out of landfills. 

6. Log Cabin Birdhouse Kit

This birdhouse idea is the perfect way to upgrade your balcony decor on your apartment with an adorable log-cabin style birdhouse kit. The hole in this kit will allow small songbirds to enter while keeping predators out, and it has a removable floor that you can use to get inside to clean it in the winter months. There is non-toxic waterproof glue to attach the log cabin pieces, and it has twine to hang it. It uses 100% Red Cedar that is mold-proof, and you get an adorable finished project. 

7. Coffee Can Birdhouse Idea 

This simple birdhouse idea allows you to upcycle old coffee cans and utility lights to create a fun and eye-catching birdhouse. You’ll need paint, a coffee can, sandpaper, utility light, glue, spice or vitamin bottle cap, small branch, hammer, knife, and a drill. To start, strip all of the stickers and labels off of your coffee can. Use your knife and cut a hole to whichever size you like and use the sandpaper to smooth out the edge. 

Get your drill and drill a small hole below the entry hole and slip the yard branch in to create a perch. You can glue it to hold id in place if you like, but it should be tight enough to support the bird’s weight by itself. The utility light will be the roof, so apply a coat of paint to seal it from the elements. Glue the utility light to the top of the coffee can to seal it. If you glue the spice bottle cap to the top of the utility light, it looks like a small chimney. Set the birdhouse on a solid surface. This will get hotter during the warmer months, so it’s better for more arid and cooler climates. 

A coffee can makes a lightweight but durable birdhouse idea that can last for several seasons without rusting or corroding. 

8. Koogel Bird House Kit

This birdhouse idea comes from Koogle, and it’s a colorful kit that comes with three unfinished wooden bird houses, 12 paints, one glitter pack, one painting pen, and three pieces of string. These are slightly smaller birdhouses that can hang from your maple tree in your yard and attract songbirds. The birdhouses aren’t assembled when you get the kit, but they’re easy to slot together before applying a dollop of glue to keep everything together. When your kids finish painting them, you can thread the twine through after they dry and hang them out to display them. 

9. Fabric Birdhouse Idea

This simple birdhouse idea uses chicken wire, twigs, cardboard, wire, cloth scraps, and beads. The beads are purely decorative, but they can add a nice touch. To start, cut an 18 by 8-inch chicken wire rectangle and roll it up into an eight-inch tube. It should be around 13 to 14-inches in diameter, and weave the ends together. Weave one end of the tube together to close it off and turn away any excess. Cut cloth strips that are two-feet long and five inches wide, and cut a two-inch slit up the middle of each strip to tie it to the wire. 

Start at the opening and tie a strip of cloth to the wire and weave it through to cover the outside of the wire. Weave it until you get to the end and tie it off. Continue weaving strips through until you cover the entire wire body. Bend your wire inward to get a neat rounded edge and trim away any excess. Add a 12-inch piece of 14-gauge wire to hang it. 

Fabric strips create a warm and soft environment for birds to have their babies, and you can make them as large or small as you want.

10. LATI Toys Premium Birdhouse Kit

This birdhouse idea is a kit that comes with pre-drilled holes to make it easy and quick to put together. All you need is a Phillips screwdriver. You get paints, a perch, eye hooks, screws, paints, brush, palette, a manual, and a toy bird. You can assemble it in under an hour, and it’s perfect for kids aged 5 to 12. When you finish, the colorful design will go perfectly with your kid’s playground equipment, and it’ll give them a chance to watch baby birds grow and thrive. There is also a satisfaction guarantee on this product or your money back. 

11. Cowboy Boot Birdhouse Idea

Anyone who has an old pair of cowboy boots laying around can use this birdhouse idea to create a rustic birdhouse. You’ll need a cowboy boot, one 1×6 eight-foot cedar board, one 1×2 eight-foot pine board, sisal rope, three feet of leather lacing, 20 go 30 1 ½-inch nails, two ⅝-inch brass screws, saw, screwdriver, hammer, scissors, drill, ¼-inch hole punch, and 1/16-inch and 5/16-inch drill bits. To start, cut a one-inch hole halfway up the boot and punch smaller holes around the opening around ⅛-inch away. Lace around the hole with the leather cord and tie it off. Punch two holes in the back and front of the boot to hang it later. Drill three holes in the sole with a 5/16-inch drill bit for drainage. 

Put the pine board inside your boot’s front part and add two inches before cutting two pieces that length to make the frame. On the end of each board, cut a 45-degree angle. From the pine board, cut one 2-1/8 inch board and one 3 ¼-inch board. Cut two six-inch lengths of cedar and assemble the frame. Face the 45-degree angle ends away from one another. The two ⅛-inch pieces will connect the bottom, and the 3 ¼-inch spacer goes eight inches above this. Drill pilot holes with the 1 1/16-drill bit to keep the boards from splitting. Nail the boards in place. Put two cedar roof legs at right angles and nail them together. Put the roof over the frame and nail it into place. Finally, thread the rope through the two holes in the top of the boot you drilled earlier and hang it up. 

A worn pair of cowboy boots make a stunning rustic birdhouse that you can seal to keep the elements out so it lasts for years at a time. 

11. Melissa & Doug Wooden Birdhouse 

This simple birdhouse idea goes great in your shade garden. You get 10 wooden panels, four paint pots, paintbrush, and screws. Kids aged five to eight can easily put this kit together, and you can paint it with fun fall leaves to give it a festive feel and look. This is a high-quality kit that has a satisfaction guarantee, and each piece of wood is cut to perfectly fit to make it easier to assemble, and the wood will withstand wear, tear, and the elements very well. 

12. Grapevine Ball Birdhouse Idea 

Nesting birds love enclosed spaces to shelter their babies, and this birdhouse idea delivers. You’ll need a few grapevine balls, scissors, twine or raffia, pencil, and nesting materials like Spanish moss, grass clippings, and natural cotton with no dyes or chemicals. First cut away any tags on your grapevine balls. Create a small opening in one side of the ball, and use a pencil to push a few nesting materials inside. Push more materials through the balls at different points, and you can fill it as full as you like. Once you finish, thread a piece of twine through it to hang it and hang it outside. 

Grapevines form a natural birdhouse idea that adds a whimsical and natural feel to your yard or patio, and you can get them in many different sizes to give different bird species homes.

13. Backyard Paradise Birdhouse Kit

These birdhouses will go great with your landscape edging, and you get three birdhouses per kit in different styles that you can space around your yard. You get three brushes and three sets of paint with six colors each. They come with the rope needed to hang it, and you can easily paint them different colors to help make it stand out. They measure just over six-inches tall, and they have large enough holes to let different types of birds in and out. 

14. Milk Carton Birdhouse Idea 

For this birdhouse idea, you’ll need a clean and dry juice or milk carton, paint, recycled cardboard, glue, foam paint brush, tissue paper squares, twice, wooden spoon, X-acto knife, and modge podge. Set the clean and empty milk carton on the cardboard and spray it with a layer or two of white paint to seal it. Get a foam paintbrush and paint a layer of glue over the carton and paste the tissue paper squares on. To create the roof, fold a piece of cardboard in half, spray it, and let it dry. Use the x-acto knife to cut the plastic spout out, and cut a door in one side of the carton. 

Punch a hole below the doorway on your birdhouse and thread the wooden spoon through to form a perch. You’ll want to put a dot of glue on it to help hold it in place. Cut two small two-inch slits on your roof piece to thread the twine through to hang it. Glue the roof piece to the carton. If you want to seal the whole thing, add a layer of modge podge and let it dry. Hang it outside and enjoy it. 

Recycled milk cartons are a fun and easy way to create larger birdhouses or bird feeders that you can easily hang around your yard to draw birds in. 

15. Creative Hobbies Wood Model Kit

This simple birdhouse idea will help you make three small birdhouses. They end up being 3.5-inches tall by 6-inches long, and you’ll need wood glue, sandpaper, and a hammer to assemble them. Kids eight years old and up can enjoy putting them together, and you can easily paint them to turn them into a fun patio idea to bring birds close in to your family where they can watch them. Each house has a small perch for the birds to rest on before they go into the house. 

16. Teapot and Drawer Birdhouse Idea 

For this project, you’ll need an old drawer, an old teapot, super glue, screws, paint, and thick twine. To start, take your drawer and turn it on its end so the handle side is facing up and the open side is facing out. Remove the handle. Take your old teapot and glue it in the center of the drawer so the spout is facing down and the opening is facing out. Thread the twine through the holes where the drawer’s handles were, and loop it around the teapot’s handle to create another attachment point unless the glue lets go. You can paint the entire drawer, leave it bare, or paint the drawer and the teapot. 

On the bottom of the drawer below the teapot’s spout, glue the teapot’s lid to create a small perch. Now, all you have to do is screw or nail the drawer with the teapot to a tree. The drawer will help to provide additional shelter for your bird’s nest down in the teapot. 

An old teapot and drawer can create a larger birdhouse, and the teapot’s spout creates a natural drainage point for old nesting materials and droppings. 

17. Stanley Jr DIY Bird House Kit

This simple birdhouse idea kit will go great next to your koi pond in your backyard. Kids aged 5 to 12 can easily put it together with you supervising, and it gives you a simple rectangular birdhouse that attaches to twine with two eye hooks. There is non-toxic paint and precut wood pieces that you screw together, and you can paint it however you like to make it stand out or create something elegant and chic. If you don’t want to hang it, it could go nicely on your patio railing or nailed to a tree branch. 

18. Gourd Birdhouse Idea 

If you grow gourds, this birdhouse idea is very easy and fun to bring to life. To start, harvest your gourds. Cut them from the vine, leaving a few inches of stem. Wash the gourds with soapy water and let the air dry. Wipe the entire outside with rubbing alcohol. Set or hang your gourds in a well-ventilated area away from the direct sunlight. Leave them for a week to dry, and the outside should harden and change color. Move the gourds to a dry, dark area and leave them for six month. You’ll have to periodically turn them if you don’t hang them when they cure. 

Once you shake the gourds and can hear seeds ratting and it’s light and hard to the touch, you’re ready to make your birdhouse idea. All you have to do is carefully cut an entrance hole that is large enough for your birds to get in and out. Clean out any seeds or dried guts. Paint your gourd however you like, and put a small screw in the top. Hold it in place with a nut, string a chain through it, and hang it. 

Gourds come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s easy to create several different birdhouses in varying shapes and sizes when you dry them. 

19. SunGrow DIY Paintable Birdhouse

The final birdhouse idea on the list comes from SunGrow. This cute birdhouse comes with a small feeding trough right at the birdhouse’s entrance. This birdhouse comes fully assembled out of high-quality wood, but you can easily paint it however you like to create a nice space for your birds to come and go. There are two entrances to this house, and you’ll have to weave a rope or twine through the top to hang it by your outdoor benches. You will have to paint or seal it before you hang it outside to prevent rot. 

Bottom Line 

These 19 birdhouse ideas can help you upgrade your backyard or patio area. They also give you a fantastic craft to do with your whole family, and your kids can showcase their painting skills. At the end, your birds will be happy with their new homes. Try one or try a few and see how they turn out!