How to make a ceramic pottery "lily pad" bird bath...and a frog to sit on it!

If you're starting to feel a little antsy for spring while a certain Mr. Winter continues to drag his feet (the groundhog saw his shadow...six more week of winter...ugh), why not hurry spring along by making a cute "lily pad" birdbath for the birds...

Visions of birds splashing around in a little birdbath you make can help tide you over
until your garden starts waking up and the birds start singing this spring!! 

How to make the bird bath
1. Roll out a slab of clay.
Make the slab at least 1/4" thick. Since this piece will be outside, you want it to be strong.

2. Cut out the shape of the "lily."
The beauty of this project is any shape works. You can make an actual lily shape or just a wavy circle. It doesn't matter!

3. Stuff plastic under the edges and push the center down to form the bowl.
The clay has to harden, and the best way to help it keep its shape is to stuff plastic around the edges. Newspaper doesn't really work, because it absorbs water and loses its shape. The plastic (dry cleaner bags work really well) maintains it shape.

...and that's it! This has to be the easiest ceramic pottery birdbath project ever!

How to make a frog for the lily pad
1. Form a small ball of clay into a wedge shape.
This wedge will be the body of the frog. The pointed end will be its nose.

2. Roll out a clay "noodle," and attach it to the hind end of the body.
This "noodle" will become the frog's leg.

3. Press the noodle to the frog's side. About halfway up, bend the noodle back.
Making a frog's leg is that simple. In the photo below you can see how easy it is to create the look of a frog's leg.

4. Add the webbing on the back feet.
Simply press a few lines into his feet using a wooden carving tool...no details are needed!

5. Roll out two smaller noodles for the front legs and attach them.
In the photo below, you can see the front legs are even easier to create. Attach them just in front of the back legs, and curve them in. Add the webbing lines as well.

6. Roll out tiny balls and press them onto the head to form the eyes; then use an Exacto knife to cut a simple mouth.
Voila...you have a frog to laze on your lily pad bird bath!

Ribbit!

Ribbit!

6. "Score" the clay to attach the frog to the lily pad.
To attach one piece of clay to another, you must "score" the surfaces first, which means you rough up the surfaces a little, dab water onto the score marks, and stick the two pieces together. I usually use a pencil, a clay needle or a craft knife.

7. You're finished with the construction of the birdbath...
...but you have a few more steps to go: let the piece dry (can take up to a week), fire it, glaze it, and fire again. Find a pottery teacher to help you if you don't have your own kiln or access to clay or glazes. There are lots of studios around town.

You can dig out a small depression in the ground to hold the bird bath (as in the example at the beginning of the post), or place it in a stand like in the photo below. Have fun!!!

I usually scoop out a depression in the ground to hold my lily pad bird baths, but they look great in a stand too.
Another option: attach a chain at three equidistant spots and hang it from a branch.

It's been a week and the bird Jacuzzis are still working.

...actually, the two Jacuzzis have always worked fine. The back porch outlet was the problem (explained in a previous post). When I arrived home today, Chiggy (our name for Chickadee) was getting ready to dive in. He was happy and so was I.

The outside temp was 24 when I took 

these pics, but you'd never know it.

Suburban Birds, Winter, and Beer

I woke this morning to no Internet. Ack…panic. After a quick look around, we found the back porch ground fault had been tripped again, which strangely, powers our cable modem and router in the basement, the TV in the living room, and the 2 little bird Jacuzzis on the back porch. So, my poor little wild birdies were suffering in the cold. They have become accustomed to the warm, steamy water and who can blame them. Not wasting any time, I found a really long extension cord I could stretch to the side of the house where a functioning socket is. Now we are back in business, and my birds are happy again. Can you imagine what real wild birds think of our suburban wild birds, “Pets,” they probably smirk as they fly over and see the softies lounging in the water sipping at a cold brew.

…this is just funny and cool. I thought I’d do a quick Internet search for a beer with a bird on it to go with this blog, and instead I found the International Bird Beer Label Association (IBBLA). Their mission is to foster a worldwide appreciation of birds and brew. I was the 11,007th person to visit the site, so bird beer must be big. They report in their fun facts, “The most commonly featured group of birds on beer labels is the eagles, with a majority of these American Bald Eagles. Hawks represent the 2nd most commonly featured group of birds on beers, followed closely by waterfowl and gulls.” Go to their site for species photos.