I’ve been on a quest to upcycle every container I use and decided to make my juice cartons into bird houses! These are mainly decorative, but I put one of mine outside anyway, just to see!
This is a great project to do with the kids, too, just be sure that an adult does all of the cutting, because cutting through cardboard can be difficult if using scissors, and dangerous for kids if using a craft knife.
I just love the Minute Maid juice boxes for this project; they’re so cheery and colorful! I’m going to be making my birdhouse out of the “Tropicals” juice carton today.
Juice Carton Birdhouse
Supplies Needed:
- Clean juice carton
- Twigs
- Glue
- Craft knife
- Keychain rings
- Glaze (optional)
- Paint brush (optional)
I was able to get all of the additional supplies at my local Michael’s and for under $10 with the 40% off coupon they often have online. Plus, I now have all of these for my craft supply box (building a well stocked craft supply box is worth it if you plan on doing any crafts in the future!)
Instructions:
- Cut a hole into the juice box with your craft knife. Begin with a hole a bit smaller than you want it to be, then you have some room to shape up the circle nicely. Also cut a small hole beneath it for the twig perch. Don’t make the twig hole too big; you want the twig to fit snugly in it.
- Cut a flap in the back so that you can glue a couple of twigs inside and so that you can clean the birdhouse. Small birds like may need the twigs to climb on since the surface of the juice box is so smooth. If your box is going to be for decorative purposes only, then you can skip this step and the next one.
- Glue twigs onto the inside, just below the perch hole. Let dry.
- Place a twig in the twig hole and place glue around the twig hole area. Let dry.
- Cut a small hole at the top, center of the juice box, just big enough to hold the keychain ring.
- Attach a ring to the juice box and then add another ring to that one.
- If you like, you can glaze the twig for a nice effect. Don’t forget to put newspapers down!
And voila! You now have a cute, colorful birdhouse!
Feel free to decorate the box even more if you like! You could add a roof made of raffia or some other box. Kids may even want to further decorate their birdhouses.
Let the birdhouse dry completely and then hang it in a nice spot to add an interesting pop of color! I placed mine in a tree outside – we even had a thunderstorm last night and it survived with only a bit of peeling glaze! Perhaps my next one will go indoors in a windowsill!
