13 Creative Ways To Repurpose Old Bird Feeders And Birdhouses In Your Garden

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Bird feeders and birdhouses are both simple ways to invite feathery friends to your yard, while contributing shelter or a few healthy snacks to your favorite local and migrating visitors. Of course, nothing lasts forever. If you've been helping birds for a while, you may have collected a few retired bird feeders or birdhouses. Luckily, you don't need to send them to your local landfill, as they can easily be repurposed in your yard or garden. With a bit of creativity, you can decorate your yard with birdhouses and feeders past, giving them new life. 

Most commercially sold feeders and birdhouses are specifically designed for outdoor durability. They're built to hang on trees and fences, withstand rust, and allow drainage. These qualities make them ideal for gardening and other outdoor activities, whether you're looking to host plants, store gardening gloves so they last longer, or repurpose them into something entirely new. Here are just a few of our favorite ideas, ranging from highly practical to quirky and decorative. 

One of the fastest and simplest ways to repurpose a birdhouse in the garden is to use it as a hanging planter pot. To do this, thoroughly clean and sanitize the interior and exterior of the house. You can then remove the roof and add fresh potting soil inside the house, or stick already-potted plants inside or on any platforms. This makes it easy to bring the whole thing inside as the weather cools. The elevated design of a hanging planter saves space, allows for the best sun or shade placement, and improves airflow and drainage, which helps prevent soggy roots. 

If you're interested in turning your old bird feeder or birdhouse into a statement piece, consider transforming it into a DIY patio lantern. This project is as simple as removing any interior components, cleaning everything well, and filling your birdhouse or feeder with a solar light or battery-powered LED lights. You can add decorative cut-out paper or metal to create charming light and shadow patterns. YouTuber My Crafty Home even converts a Dollar Tree hummingbird feeder into an old-fashioned hurricane lantern design.

Similar to the hanging planter listed above, a bird feeder or birdhouse can quickly be transformed into a tabletop planter. After removing any unnecessary internal components and thoroughly cleaning it, fill your ex-feeder or house with potting soil, and plant fragrant flowers that complement your porch, balcony, or patio. This is the perfect gardening hack for anyone working in a limited space, or for those who prefer easier access to their plants than a traditional garden bed affords. 

Instead of housing birdseed, an old birdhouse can easily store lightweight garden essentials, and all the tools that beginning gardeners need. This works especially well with a larger structure, like a DIY owl nesting box. To create a spot for gloves, clippers, or a watering can, add a front door to the facade of a birdhouse for easy access. This DIY serves as a practical upgrade to prevent clutter, and to help put forgotten items back into your daily rotation.

If you don't have room to create a pollinator friendly garden, you can repurpose old feeders to attract bees, butterflies, and other helpful critters. Simply use the base of the feeders to hold nectar solutions, overripe fruit, or shallow water sources, and watch as your yard becomes an oasis for butterflies, bees, and — when combined with working feeders — hummingbirds. Hung near flowering plants, this simple repurpose will help support bees and other pollinator populations, making your home the buzz of the neighborhood.

Much like herbs and hanging flowers, succulents love to grow in shallow tray-style environments. Birdhouses are ideal for these garden accessories, especially when hung in sunny locations with good airflow. Add well-draining cactus soil mix and ensure that the planter itself has drainage, and you'll soon have a living piece of art adorning your garden. Plant the succulents on the roof, letting the interior of the house serve other purposes. 

One of the more whimsical ways to reuse a retired birdhouse is as an ornamental fairy garden. These miniature, enchanted landscapes often decorated with dolls, tiny houses, mushroom ceramics, colorful pebbles, and other cottagecore aesthetics. Effectively, it's like an outdoor Christmas village that remains open all year long. In this case, an old birdhouse functions as the rustic or whimsical centerpiece. Depending on the design, it can become a clock tower, a home for the fairies, or an avant-garde art installation, making for a playful focal point that adds personality and flair to a garden nook.

While an ornamental feeder can serve as a great display for mature plants, an open-faced tray feeder is better for housing starts and seedlings as you're hardening them off and they're coming into their own. For this project, simply hang your tray feeder in a bright but sheltered location. This will minimize invasive pests, and help ensure your budding plants have a chance to bloom. If you're hardening off your plants, you'll be able to successfully bring your seedlings outdoors and inside as needed as one unit.

Filed under "best of both worlds," you can convert an old birdhouse into a fresh new bird feeder with a splash of creativity and little bit of time. Ideally, deconstruct the whole thing, sand and paint any wood, and rebuild it with new features for best results. Depending on the construction, you may need to cut a few holes in the sides to access food. You could also replace the long walls with acrylic panels, allowing you and the birds to view how much seed is left, leaving a gap at the bottom for seed to spill temptingly to the platform. 

The next DIY on our list is fairly simple, allowing you to squeeze new life out of your bird feeder or birdhouse without an engineering degree. Simply use the underside of your hanging feeder or house as a base to hang wind chimes. These can be store-bought chimes, or you can DIY your own peaceful wind chimes using recycled metal, driftwood, seashells, or other crafting materials. The hanging frame will provide a sturdy anchor for the chimes. You may want to avoid overly reflective or spinning chimes, as these can scare birds.

If you're looking for something ornamental to usher friends and visitors into the garden, consider investing in a garden stake. These decorative yard markers are already often manufactured to look like old birdhouses, sometimes costing a couple of hundred dollars. Why not take an actual former birdhouse and give it new life in a cost-effective way? Simply affix a wooden or metal rod with a secure platform on one end to the bottom of a birdhouse and place it in the garden or along a walkway. From there, you can attach a small welcome sign or other clever labels.

If bird watching was a shared pastime between you and someone special who has passed, a bird feeder memorial could be an excellent way to galvanize their memory. Painting a simple message on the side of any feeder is one option. But you can take it to the next level using a wood burning or laser cutting kit, engravings, stencils, or an arrangement of your loved one's favorite dried flowers. From there, hang the piece in your yard or among the greenery in your garden. Add a bench where you can watch as birds, alive with joyous energy, flit about for food.

Closing out our list, we've got a DIY that involves planting microgreens inside your old, retired bird feeder. To pull this off, simply fill the base of your feeder with a thin layer of high-quality potting mix, and sow seeds for radishes, arugula, or broccoli sprouts, which can all grow as microgreens. If you hang the feeder in a sunny, sheltered spot, it should receive enough airflow to produce fresh, nutrient-packed salad fixings. You could even grow chia microgreens for pet birds, bringing the whole thing full circle.