I’m going to be bringing you a ton of outdoor tutorials in the next few weeks. I’ve been completely obsessed with my backyard and I’ve got a million things I want to do with it. For today I thought I’d start with a simple one that will also lay the groundwork for what’s to come. I’m going to be drilling through EVERYTHING. Plates, bowls, votive holders, you name it. If it’s glass or ceramic, I will be putting a hole in it so that I can build something cool. And I’ll start by bringing the birds and squirrels to right outside my door.
Drilling through tile, glass, or ceramic is not hard in the slightest. You just need to know the trick. Start with a tub of cool water. The water will keep things cool and lubricated so your plate won’t crack. It reduces the friction caused by all that fine dust and a drill bit. Lay an old towel or something in the tub to keep your plate stable. You don’t want anything wiggling on you.
Drill slowly and with even pressure, using a drill bit designated for tile, glass, or ceramics. There’s a ton on the market, but the one I liked best came to a nice point which made the even pressure and not wiggling way easier. Make sure that your plate is supported while drilling, which in my case meant I had to tip it down to be surrounded by the towel.
Drill slowly until you punch through the other side. Slow is the key here. If you try to rush things, you’ll break it. Patience. Drill two more holes evenly spaced around the rim of the plate. Make sure that you drill your hole a good 1/2 inch inside the rim so that your hole is extra stable and won’t chip open.
Now you need to connect your two plates and hang them up. We’re going to do that with three chains on each level, but first we need a way to keep the chains in place. So I pulled out my jewelry stuff and made a couple of eyeloops. Cut a piece of wire about 2 inches long. This wire actually came from the fencing section of the hardware store, so it will face the elements well. With your pliers just bend the end around to make a loop. For the bottom plate, thread the wire up through the bottom of the hole so that one eyeloop is supporting the bottom of the plate. Thread a 12″ chain onto the wire, and finish the other end with another eyeloop.
On the top plate, you’ll have to connect two pieces of chain. With another 2 inch piece of wire, make a loop and attach an 8 inch length of chain. Thread the wire through the hole from the top and bend the end around to make another eyeloop.
Join the chain from the bottom plate onto that wire, and squeeze your loop closed tight.
Take all three chains hanging the top plate and thread them onto a keyring. Then your birdfeeder is ready to be hung.
The birds and squirrels have been having full time parties in our backyard ever since I hung this up, and the cats are pissed. Which is even more fun. Now I get to sit at my desk watching the birds flutter, and then laugh and laugh as I watch the cats fume.
