I'm sure you've always been wondering "Where can I find a light post that can double as a bird feeder station and has a spot for hanging baskets too?" You've come to the right place because I'm going to show you my latest project for
Lowe's Creative Ideas. The challenge this month was "Old and New." Essentially we had to take something we had lying around and reuse it with a few newer materials. In my case I had several old decorative posts that used to hold up my parents front porch before they had them replaced. Some of the posts were rotting on the bottom but had decent wood further up the post. Worth saving and reusing if possible but couldn't be used to hold up a front porch (Unless you're a hobbit and like short front porches).
Our family loves to watch the
birds around our garden. More often than not the feeders get empty and the birds are forced to forage around the garden. Fortunately for them we provide lots of natural plants like
coneflowers,
beautyberries, and
viburnums where the birds can find nourishment. I had an idea to combine the bird feeders and one of the front porch posts together to make a nice feeding station for the birds with couple locations for hanging baskets. I purchased two hanging baskets from Lowe's, pansies to fill the baskets, and a nifty solar light to affix to the top of the post.
Here's how I put the "
Light Post - Bird Feeder Station - Hanging Basket Holder" project together!
First I chopped a little bit of rotted wood off the bottom of the post. It was only about 4 inches or so so it didn't hurt the height of the post that much at all.
Then I reinforced the post with screws going in opposing directions. The post was made with two pieces of wood spliced together and showed a few signs of separating. To insure longevity I screwed them back together.
Next I cut a small piece of wood to hold the solar light. It had to fit the bottom of the light perfectly so I used the lamp as a template and drew my lines around it. Then I cut the piece into a nice little square. I centered the piece of wood and attached it to the top of the post with screws.
After this I took two pieces of closet rods I had laying around. They had been used for other projects before and are now finding a new use here. I measured the diameter of the closet rods to match a wood paddle bit for my drill. Then I measured where I wanted the holes in the post to go and drilled as straight a hole as I possibly could through the post. Once I fit the closet rods evenly through the posts I secured them with screws from both sides.
Next came sanding and painting. I sanded everything to remove any chipped or rough paint that was on previously then wiped it all clean. Two coats of outdoor semi-gloss paint later (which I also had from another project) the light post was ready to put in the ground.
A 60 lb. bag of concrete went into the hole after my two young assistants (ages 4 and 7) held it steady. I secured the post for the night with a couple sawhorses and clamps. Clamps are one of the most useful things you can buy! I couldn't just leave my children to hold it all night could I?
After the post had set I added the light on top! I had to drill a few screw holes on the bottom then screw them in by hand to the small square I cut earlier. I still have to hang the baskets and the bird feeders on it which I hope to do later today. I'll show you the finished look tomorrow.
