Want to add character to your garden while giving birdies a free spa day? Julia DeLeeluw from House of Pixel Dust showed us how to make our own bird bath, from an old lamp! Here's her instructions:
Supplies:
1 Epoxy glue. Do not try to use glue gun-glue even if it's awesome Gorilla Glue gun-glue. It does not work ladies! T
2. Old lamp base. You are going to want to get a fairly large lamp from a thrift store, yard sale, or your own dusty storage. Make sure to use a lamp base that is not too top heavy. Try to find one as bottom heavy as possible because we are adding a lot of weight to the top and if all the weight is on the top it is easier for it to fall over.
3. Large glass/ceramic bowl and large, flat glass/ceramic plate. A large salad bowl works great and a circular serving dish. You don't actually have to use a serving dish under the bowl but I think it looks really nice so I did.
4. Glass candle stick: I like the glass candle stick addition to this project because it has an open curved inside both ends so you can place uneven lamp tips in it and epoxy it great. I used my candle stick as the bind between the plate and lamp and it worked perfectly. Plus is made the birdbath just a little more taller.
5. Spray paint. If you are wanting to paint your bird bath that is great, but you should probably know that if you spray paint any place on your bird bath where water will be sitting for a while then your paint is going to get warped up and peeled. Spray paint works really well only on the base and neck of your bird bath. So remember to pick out a bowel and plate that you like the color of as is so you are not tempted to paint it.
Instructions:
Step One: Epoxy glue is really easy to use and works fast. I am now a fan of it after I attempted to make this birdbath with glue sticks. I know. I know.
Hot Tip: use gloves when applying it to your pieces because epoxy glue is not messing around. Also some epoxy glue has different instructions then other so make sure to read the directions of use. Epoxy the candle stick upside down to the lamp. The wide end of the candle stick should be on the upside and the skinny side glued to the lamp.
Step Two: Paint your base: When your candle stick is glued on hard and tight (a few minutes) I recommend spray painting your birdbath at this point. Then you can put your glass plate and bowel on once the paint dries.
Step Three: Epoxy your plate to the candle stick. Try and make sure you glue the plate exactly on its middle point. But if you mess up and it's a bit lopsided it`s not the end of the world. I glued mine on all funky and it still stands up and looks good enough for me to post about it here. Once the glue is hard give your bird bath a wiggle to check for infirm glueing spots that need fixing. Your bird bath should fill solid with no wobbly bits. And then guess what? Its ready for your garden!!! Just like that!
Here is a link to the full tutorial on my blog with extra tips: http://houseofpixeldust.com/index.php/2019/08/31/diy-repurpose-old-lamp-bird-bath-easy-tutorial/.
