Julie Finn
Animals both big and small, tame and wild, will appreciate these handmade animal houses, all made from eco-friendly upcycled or natural materials.
Whether you’ve got a pet that you want to pamper, or you want to welcome wild creatures to a safe place on your property, you’ll find a project to inspire you here:
1. Armoire Aviary: Finches will have plenty of room to fly in this upcycled armoire aviary.
2. Bat House: Build a bat house that encourages bats to come live in your yard and eat all of your mosquitoes.
3. Bee Habitat: Providing a home for native bees–one that’s FAR away from your deck!–is as simple as drilling into scrap lumber.
4. Boot Bird House: Obviously, you’ll want to build a pair of these.
5. Bug Barn: Turn any Mason jar or other glass jar into an instant bug hotel.
6. Butterfly House: Got a brie container and some window screening? You’ve got a butterfly house!
7. Cardboard Cat Climber: At least when your cat tears this up (the way that they tear up everything), you can legitimately toss it.
8. Dog Bed: The bedding that you’re done with will be brand-new to your dog!
9. Dog House into Duck House: Convert a vintage wooden dog house into a duck house.
10. Dresser Chicken Coop: Chicken coops for your backyard flock can be expensive! This tricked-out dresser solves the problem on the cheap.
11. Earthworm Habitat: Earthworms will be happy for you to observe them for a few days in this earthworm habitat made from recycled materials.
12. Hedgehog House: I don’t know anyone who has a hedgehog, but if I did, I’d make them this cardboard hedgehog house.
13. IKEA Bunny House: This rabbit hutch is upcycled from IKEA furniture.
14. Insect Homes: You can use a variety of materials from old tires to plastic bottles to make garden habitats for native insects.
15. Soda Bottle Ecosystem: A couple of pill bugs and snails will be happy to live in this complete, recycled ecosystem.
16. Suitcase Dog Bed: A vintage suitcase is the perfect size for a dog bed.
17. Toad House: A broken terra cotta pot makes an excellent toad house.
18. TV Fish Tank: Turn your grandma’s old TV into a working fish tank.
19. Wine Cork Bird House: Get drinking!
20. Worm Tower: Use an old bucket or a PVC pipe from the Restore, and you’ll never have to compost your kitchen scraps again.
Got any other upcycled animal habitats in mind? Link to them in the comments–my kids are always looking for more pets!
