Plate Feeder

This beautifully made DIY Butterfly Feeder will invite butterflies to your garden while serving as a pretty ornament. It can even be as simple or dressy as you’d like.

Made by suspending an old plate on a string from a tree, you can decorate this feeder with colorful glass beads and bright silk flowers to sparkle and attract the butterflies.

A sugar solution provides them with nourishment and energy. Any saucer or bowl would do. Follow these six steps to create the feeder.

What You’ll Need:

Acrylic plate
Sponge
String
10″-14″ wire plate holder
1/2″ metal washer
Silk flowers and leaves
Hot glue
Glass beads
Wire
Water
Sugar

Directions:

1. Fasten a wire plate holder to the rear of an acrylic plate. You can find plate holders at arts and crafts stores, hardware stores, and home decor stores. Cut four parts of string about 24 inches long and tie up the ends to the prongs grasping the edge of the plate. These strings will hold the butterfly feeder suspended on your tree.
2. Thread some glass beads along your four strings, and tie them with knots on either side. These beads help catch the light to entice the butterflies.
3. Take your 4 strings and tie them together around a 1/2-inch metal washer. It’ll be used later for hanging your DIY Butterfly Feeder on a tree.
4. Using your hot glue gun, attach the brightly colored silk flowers to the strings wherever you see fit.
5. Make some butterfly food by mixing ten parts water with one part sugar. Heat up the mixture until the sugar has dissolved, and allow to cool.
6. Put a sponge on some silk leaves in the center of the plate. Place some sugar water blend onto the sponge until it’s saturated but not overflowing. Then hang the DIY Butterfly Feeder from a tree branch using a wire connected to the washer. Remember to check the feeder regularly to ensure plenty of sugar water in the sponge.