Build a Beckoning Birdhouse!
Building a birdhouse is a great family project—and with any number of designs and simple plans, you can make several! Did you know birds are actually great at pest control and eating annoying insects like mosquitos? And as school draws to an end and the entire family has time to spend together at home, think of adding one of these abodes to your Crystal Valley backyard! You can take an old (or new!) watering can and place it on a pedestal for a hi-rise bird apartment, or use a few lengths of cedar and create a more traditional bird abode. The folks at Moore Lumber in Castle Rock can help you get all the supplies you need.
Building a Classic Birdhouse
It doesn’t get any easier than this. The roof is a single piece of wood, sloping backwards and Birds and Blooms offers a simple diagram to accompany these instructions. You will need one five-foot pine board, some deck screws, finishing nails, sandpaper and a power drill. 
For a more traditional look, you can make a pitched-roof birdhouse, with an extended “porch” in front for finches and swallows to take in the view! Blogger Shelly at 100 Things 2 Do suggests using untreated cedar instead of pine because pine will rot and cedar and lasts 25 to 40 years! You’ll be building a mini-mansion for generations of birds. Or, you may want to try this clever birdhouse roof variation from Morning Chores and use an old license plate as the roof!
Upcycled Birdhouse Designs
Also from Birds and Blooms, an upcycled chandelier birdhouse takes just a few tweaks to make a garage sale or flea market find both a planter for petunias and a home for birds! Painting everything white — the chandelier, plus four small terra pots and a $6 unfinished birdhouse from Hobby Lobby (at 10901 S. Parker Rd. in Parker) and boom! You’ll have an elegant apartment any bird would love.
Almost anything can be turned into a birdhouse for your favorite feathered friends and Living the Country Life offers 100 ideas for taking ordinary objects destined for the dump and turning them into nesting spots. An old watering can with a hole drilled into one side and propped up off the ground – the height depends on the breed – works well for warblers. They will nest in boxes but also like old sneakers and tin cans!
Attract an entire extended avian family to this repurposed and repainted mail box with a floral theme (looks like dahlias to us!) and three entrances! Flycatchers will nest in unexpected places like gutters and mailboxes and take care of those annoying buzzing insects for you! Living the Country Life also offers tips on feeding and housing birds, including how to keep aggressive birds like blue jays and sparrows away and providing protection from predators.
Everyone Wants to Live in Crystal Valley!
The birds will love a place of their own – right next to yours in the master-planned community of Crystal Valley! Amenity-rich with something for everyone — stop by to visit the beautiful new models offered by D.R. Horton, Kauffman Homes, and Richmond American Homes. New Crystal Valley homes are available in ranch and two-story models and priced from the high $300s.
