Materials:
natural coconut with outer shell in place
miter saw
drill with wood-boring bit and regular drill bit
safety glasses
hot glue gun and glue sticks
various small shells for decoration
one long shell or twig for a perch
3 equal pieces of cord or small chain
Note: Always wear safety glasses while sawing and drilling.
1. First prepare the coconut by drilling two or three holes where the "entrance" will be and draining out the liquid inside.
2. Then use the power drill and the wood-boring bit to create the hole for the birds to enter through. This will take awhile, as the inner shell of the coconut is very hard. Apply steady pressure and stop to check your progress a couple of times.
3. Next, cut the coconut in half (somewhere above the hole) using a compound miter saw. You can try other saws if you like--we did, but nothing else worked. Who knew coconuts are SO hard? You might have to saw halfway through, flip it over and saw through the other side if the coconut is bigger than the blade. Watch your fingers and remember to wear safety glasses.
4. Rinse the insides clean of dust and coconut husk splinters. Then scrape out the fresh coconut and check out www.foodtv.com for recipes to make with it!
5. Place the top half of the coconut insides-up on a table and use hot glue to secure the cord inside. I tied a knot on the ends of each cord to anchor it a bit, then glued the cord and knot to the inside of the coconut, evenly spacing the three cords so the birdhouse will hang straight.
6. After all three cords are glued in place, run a large bead of hot glue around the rim of the coconut and glue the two pieces back together. Press hard until the glue takes hold, because the fibrous nature of the coconut husk doesn't seem to want to stick together so well.
7. Attach shells with hot glue to cover the seam around the coconut. Glue a long shell or twig below the entrance for a perch. If there's not a natural indention there, use the drill or a hammer and nail to make a small hole (about 1/4 inch deep) for the perch.
8. Hold the birdhouse up by the three cords and adjust them until it hangs even. Then knot the cords at the top and clip off the extra ends.
Hang the birdhouse outside a window so you can see which birds like coconut!
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