How often do you find yourself stuck in the house on them cold winter days, suffering from the winter blues? I bet you said quite often, if you did then your answer is like that of most people during the winter months. I want you to stop right now and think about what you just read, if you do find yourself stuck in the house during the winter with nothing to do, you should consider yourself very lucky. Most people are always complaining that they don’t have enough time in the day to get things done. So, according to a lot of folks, if you have nothing to do in the winter because your stuck inside, you are indeed a very lucky person.

Now, if this is true and you find yourself in the winter with nothing to do, and you need an idea to help shake the winter blues, why not take up a great hobby like making bird houses for Swallows. Making bird houses is not only easy it’s also fun, and if you don’t want to keep and use the bird houses for yourself, you can give them away as gifts or even make some extra money selling them at craft shows, yard sales or online.

The design for a Swallow bird house can be as detailed as your imagination, or as simple as a shoebox shape made out of wood, and turned to hang or stand on end. There are just a few things you will need to make Swallow bird houses; wood, a good weather resistant wood works fine in a size of around 3/4 inch thick. Some people use plywood that’s been treated for outdoors use, while others stay away from treated lumber, saying the chemicals can harm the birds, I have made bird houses from treated plywood for years, and have never seen any harmful effects done to the birds that make their homes in them, the choice of wood is up to you.

You will also need a nice saw to cut the wood with, either a power saw or a good wood cutting hand saw works fine, a vise to hold your wood securely while cutting it, ruler or tape measure to measure your wood pieces, and either your choice of nails, screws or wood glue to secure the pieces of wood together, you will also need either a jigsaw or a hole saw attachment for a drill, to make the entrance hole for the Swallows.

Cut out and assemble your Swallow bird house like you are making a narrow shoebox, it should have 4 sides, and a top and bottom, some people make the roof slanted so the rain will easily fall off, while some folks just leave the roofs flat and use a waterproof cover or coating to repel the elements, again the choice is yours on how elaborate you want to make the Swallow bird houses. The one thing you should add are a few small holes in the bottom for more ventilation and to allow any rain that enters the entrance hole from a blowing storm, or melting snow, to drain properly. The average size most designers cut the entrance hole depends on the type of Swallow in their region, you want a hole that’s just big enough for an adult Swallow to enter, and yet stops larger aggressive intruders. Again, you can search the internet for a little more information on the entrance hole sizes.

Once you have your Swallow house done, you can fasten a wire hanger onto it, or create a pole type hanger, the choice is up to you. You can paint the bird house in any color or style you want. Making Swallow bird houses is not just a great hobby for fun and possibly earning some extra money, it’s also a great way to help shake the winter blues.

There is a website that describes numerous activities and other methods to help eliminate the Winter Blues, this website is called: Winter Activities – and it may be found at this url: http://www.winter-activities.com.

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Author Bio: Robert W. Benjamin has been involved in weight loss and has been researching the Winter Blues for a few years. He age 50, he reduced his body weight from 400 lbs to 185 lbs. If you want to turn your life around, and read other great info and ideas on beating the winter blues, please check out the website below: Winter Activities http://www.winter-activities.com

Category: Arts and Crafts
Keywords: winter blues, winter depression, winter activities, birdhouses, bird houses, making birdhouses, maki