Don't Toss Out This Fruit: The Adorable Bird Feeder DIY That's Perfect For Spring

If you've been looking for an all-organic, all-natural bird feeder, then look no further than your fruit bowl. Don't toss out that peel after you eat the orange. Instead, transform it into the perfect bird feeder for your favorite songbirds in the yard.

Oranges have many amazing uses beyond being a tasty snack. You can use orange peels to help the plants in your garden thrive, and some gardeners even swear that they repel mosquitoes. But now you can use them to help keep birds healthy and fed in the early spring when their normal diet of bugs is scarce. Birds need calories to help keep themselves warm in colder weather, and bird seed can be the high-nutrient hit they need. And if you DIY your own feeder from upcycled citrus rinds, you not only save space in the landfill, but you also help keep dollars in your bank account.

The best part is that you can make several little feeders that you can spread out across your yard, perhaps even filled with different kinds of seed, to help avoid fights among rival birds. You can DIY your own bird feeder in a few easy steps. All you need is an orange, a knife, and some string. If you'd like to make a perch for your birds, then grab a pair of wooden chopsticks, as well. 

It'll only take a few minutes to DIY your own bird feeder out of an orange peel. First, make sure you pick a fruit with a thicker, more robust rind, like a navel orange. Before you get started, check whether you've got an organic or nonorganic fruit. If you think there could be pesticides on the peel, then it's a good idea to wash the outside of the rind with baking soda to help remove them. Those chemicals can be bad for birds.

Once you've got a clean, pesticide-free orange, you want to cut it in half. Then, spoon out the inner fruit slices. You might need the knife again to help gently cut them out. Once you've got a perfect half cup, you can follow the lead of @turinucraftsandcreations by taking one chopstick and pushing it through the top of the rind from one edge to the other. Move 90 degrees and push the other chopstick in and through both sides of the open rind, so that the chopsticks make a plus sign. 

Then, you'll want to tie a string to each of the four ends of each chopstick. If you don't have chopsticks, you can simply make a hole in either side of the rind and thread the string directly through the peel. Then you're ready to hang your new feeder and fill it with the seeds. Try using black oil sunflower seeds to attract more songbirds to the garden.