I’ve always enjoyed Mid Century modern designs – especially Joseph Eichler period homes.

A friend had shown me a cool mid century modern bird feeder that they saw in a magazine – I decided I’d have a go at it, of course making my own changes.

I designed my seed feeder to sit on top of a wire “squirrel maze” bird feeder I made a few years ago, which is not very attractive. Here is the completed seed feeder.

Materials:

• Plywood
• Asphalt shingles
• Radiator cover grill
• Orange paint
• Round wooden dowel
• Nails

Measurements:

• Base – 18″ x 11.5″ (all measurements in inches (“)
• Roof – 23″ x 12.5″
• Left Side – 7.5″ x 9″
• Right Side – 6.5″ x 9″
• Door – 7,25″ x 5.5″

I tried to use mostly leftover scrap for this project. I began with the plywood frame of 4 pieces. You’ll need to decide the angle of the roof. I chose about 18 degrees (I only have a Skill saw) and cut the left and right side wall top edges accordingly. Then I glued and nailed the pieces together.

I made the door out of a piece of leftover pine and cut the top edge at about18 degrees. Then drilled a 1″ hole and added the dowel and paint.

This is the back view of the radiator grill cover cut and installed. I bent the edges of the grill cover material and stapled in place.

Here is the front view, I added some white trim pieces along each edge of the roof for looks.

Finally, I cut and glued on the roof asphalt shakes and also put them on the bottom of the feeder for waterproofing.

I added seed and waited for the birds to arrive. Believe me, it did not take very long!