Building Bluebird Bird Houses – How to build a bird house
Building Bluebird bird houses is a great afternoon project.
I know because my daughters spent a Saturday afternoon building some with my Dad.
They had so much fun using tools with their grand-father.
I say they, but I think Emanuelle enjoyed it more. haha
About 25 years ago, my Dad built several bluebird bird houses for my grand-parents. They live on a farm and really enjoy having bluebirds nesting on their property.
They have them attached to fence posts all the way up their very long driveway.
Skip forward to now, the bird houses have started to fall apart and it’s time to make new ones.
As soon as my daughters heard my Dad mention that he was going to build bird houses, they made sure to tell him that they wanted to help!
Bluebird bird house plans
The bluebird bird house plans come from a book that my Dad has owned for as long as I can remember.
If you want actual plans and dimensions, there are a lot available online, search for bluebird bird house plans.
Many offer plans for one board that you make a few cuts in, and voilà.. you have all the pieces you need.
This post also contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Building Bluebird Bird Houses
My Dad started off by taking out old barn wood and cutting them down to birdhouse size. Bluebirds like nesting in bird houses in natural tones.
Once all the side pieces were cut, Gabrielle and Emanuelle pre-assembled the bird houses to make sure everything fit together nicely.
The girls loved that it was like doing a puzzle. hehe
Next it was time to pre-drill holes (pilot holes) with the drill press in order to assemble the bird houses with screws.
We opted to use screws to assemble the bluebird birdhouses because they can easily be unscrewed in order to clean them out if necessary. Bonus, it makes for a quicker build too!
As soon as Emanuelle saw her grand-father using the drill press, she wanted in on the action.
Who could blame her? A drill press is a pretty neat tool!
The pilot holes (pre-drill holes) Emanuelle made, were the ones for when we would attach the bottoms to the body.
Once the sides were attached, my Dad and Emanuelle used the drill press to drill holes for the bluebirds to enter the bird houses.
We made markings in the front where we wanted to drill the bird peep holes.
We proceeded to attach the bottom using screws inside the pilot holes.
We also used the drill press to make a few holes on the bottom pieces of the bird houses for drainage.
To finish the bird houses, my Dad cut pieces of wood to make the roofs.
Once the pieces were cut, we drilled pilot holes in order to attach the roofs onto the bird houses.
And of course, we drilled a little hole at the top in order to easily screw it onto a fence post.
We placed the roof pieces over the bluebird houses.
Then we attached the roofs onto the bluebird birdhouses with screws.
Emanuelle wanted to use the drill too.
Emanuelle’s hair kept falling in her face, Grandpa made sure to hold it back so she could see what she was doing. haha They did a great job, didn’t they?
Bluebird Houses
I’ll make sure to take photos of them hanging on the fence posts next time I go up, and I’ll share them with you. I know Emanuelle is really looking forward to seeing bluebirds enjoying them.
Want more bird house inspiration?
DIY Bluebird Birdhouses
Have you made bird houses or bird feeders before?
Do your children like to participate when you build stuff?
P.S. If you liked the bluebird bird houses, please feel free to PIN and/or Share with your friends. :)
Love it how Emanuelle helped. So empowering for her
Great craft too, ideal for Earth Day..
Love them. I just wish the raccoons wold leave all my bird things alone!
Raccoons make wonderful hats, gloves and taste good too!
The pictures are awesome!
Christine, I’m sure your family must have enjoyed making these! I would love to make one of these bluebird bird houses. I just asked my husband to find me the wood to build one. And I would love for yout to share this on our link up party tomorrow on Idea Box!
Awww! Thanks for linking up at Idea Box, Christine!!
LOVED this post. Pictures of each step to making a bluebird nesting house are gold! Now lets decorate!
This takes me back to the birdhouses we used to make for conservation during 4-H meets… I forgot all about them until now! Thank you for refreshing my memory of a childhood favorite activity that I can now share with my kids. :)
Great project!!!! Pinned
Christine love those and love seeing your girls building them with your dad! It makes them all the more special. I know my boys love doing things with their Papa. We actually have a lot of scrap wood out in the garage and could make a few of these. Thank you for the idea.
These look great, and the girls look like they had a fun afternoon with their Grandfather. Looking forward to seeing a picture of them lined up on the fence posts.
Thanks for Sharing, Ricki
Growing up as a child was nothing like what you show in the pictures….it was more like the “Bates Motel”(figuratively speaking). I think because of the way I grew up, I learned to appreciate things & appreciate wild life & nature more.
Today I am an avid “save the whales” type of person…I have nothing against legal hunting, but I despise poachers, private animal game preserves(the ones where you have to pay to”hunt” the animal of your choice), and anyone who hunts illegally.
I believe that little things such as these bird houses, may seem like a small insignificant thing to some, but the ripple effect has had an enormous impact for the blue bird….At one time, the Blue Bird was close to extinction, but then a bunch of crazies (like myself) got together & helped to educate everyone of the plight of the Blue Bird.
Today, thanks to people like you, the Blue Bird has rebounded & its numbers are such where it is no longer considered to be endangered…but its numbers are still being watched to make sure that they do not drop like they once did.
Ms.Christine, there are no words to fully express my feelings for this post & for the links & such that you have provided to help the Blue Bird…
All I can say is Thank you Ma’am.
May GOD bless you & your family forever more.
This just melted my heart! I love seeing their grandpa teaching them and making projects! We do the same thing with my baby! She takes after me lol…and between me and her father we are constantly in the wood shop building something for my shop. This is going to be my feature pick so stop by tomorrow and check it out :)
I would love for you to be on our group board so you can pin and share others goodies too. Please let me know if you want added, you have to add me and then I can invite you to the board :)
Have a great week!! See you tomorrow
Jess
LiveRandomlySimple
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful creativity on The Inspiration Board at homework. I loved your project and featured you today!
Have a wonderful and creative day!
carolyn ~ homework
We love watching the birds! This is a fun project, and you show so many really cool birdhouses.
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
The all look incredible! Pinned and tweeted. We appreciate you taking the time to party with us. I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm.. Happy Monday! Lou Lou Girls
The bird houses look great. Thanks for linking up with me. I”m featuring you this week.
How fabulous. I hope that the new homes get occupants soon :o)
You inspired me. I may have to make several of these. Good beginner project. Thanks!
I absolutely love bird houses! I want to make some for our yard, thanks so much for sharing. :) Pinning and visiting from Titus 2 Tuesday.
Christine those are so cute!! I love that you used old barn wood my fav!! Thanks for sharing this over at Bewitchin’ Projects Block party! Hope you can join us again this week!
-Shonee
What fun! I love the birdhouses. Thanks for the tutorial. Pinning.
You’re very welcome! Thanks so much!
hello, i am new to this website. i do love all kinds of birds, have alot’s wild birds living in my front yard.
i do feed them everyday . but i need to find somebody that can build me some birdhouse to fix up to put in my shop.
i am also the birdhouse lady. what i do is i buy the unpainted birdhouse from hobby lobby. i paint them. i sale them.
i have painted so many birdhouses. i would like to buy some birdhouse for me to paint. if any body can make some birdhouse for my birds to live in and for my customers to buy them. if you could send me your email, i will send some of my pictures to you. thank you, julie
Great tutorial! I love painting them with the kids when they’re done too! Pinned!
It’s great seeing them build the bird houses together. Quality time spent and good photos to remember the moment. Please get Emanuelle a hair net or something to secure her hair for safety’s sake!!!