Embroidery Hoop Birdcage

I decided that our Halloween decor needed a creepy birdcage to house a couple of our crows. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on one so I decided to make this one out of things we already had around the house!

SUPPLIES:

2 Hoops

10 Gauge Wire

18 Gauge Wire

Black Spray Paint

Spanish Moss

Fake Birds

Black Posterboard

Needle Nose Pliers

DIRECTIONS:

1. Trace the inside of the bottom hoop onto a piece of black posterboard (I only had yellow so I just painted it black).

2. Using needle nose pliers, wrap a few pieces of 10 gauge wire around the bottom hoop. It will be covered later so it doesn't have to look pretty, it just has to be able to support the stuff that you put in the cage. For the hoops I used two mismatched embroidery hoops that I picked up at Goodwill for about $.10 The wire was from Home Depot in the picture hanging section.

3. Wrap a 2 or 2.5 foot piece of 10 gauge wire around the bottom hoop with the long end sticking up like this:

4. Stretch the wire up and wrap it around the second hoop so it is however tall you want your cage to be. The distance between my two hoops is about 9.5" The remaining foot or so of wire should then be sticking up like this:

5. Repeat three more times, measuring each time before wrapping it around the top hoop to make sure that the hoops are the same distance apart on every side. It should stand up like this:

6. You could continue doing this all the way around with 10 gauge wire but at this point it was pretty sturdy so I switched to 18 gauge wire which is easier to work with. Whatever you use, continue around the cage until you have the bars spaced out every two inches or so.

7. Now spray paint the hoops and wires black and let it dry.

8. Place the black posterboard circle in the bottom and fill with spanish moss. Mine is from Dollar Tree and was leftover from my mini skull vase filler project.

9. Place your birds on top of the moss and arrange how you like. I picked up these crows at Dollar Tree last Halloween.

10. Gather the top wires together and use one of the 10 gauge wires to form a loop. Wrap the remaining wires around it and trim off the excess. Carefully touch it all up with more black spray paint if needed.

All done! I think it adds a nice creepy touch to the side table in the living room. And the best part is that it was made using stuff I had around the house so it didn't cost me a penny!