When I decided to make a bird feeder this spring, I ran into trouble.

It wasn't that I had any problem making one, but that I had trouble deciding on the design to begin with. There were no shortage of designs, you see, and all the bird feeder plans looked quite useful.

When I had first decided on finding plans for a bird feeder, I had thought that I would use the one that birds would find most attractive. I figured that the most pragmatic design would be the best. When I talked to a few birdwatchers, however, I found that almost any bird feeder plan would work.

It was a matter of finding something that I liked the look of. The birds would come no matter what.

The bird feeder plan than I first made was actually very simple. Physically, it was a tube with a small hole in it to dispense seeds. It was small enough that it would discourage squirrels and it was hung on a wire to make it more difficult for them to get to.

Other than that, it was nothing more than a small grain silo for birds. It was unadorned and undecorated and, quite frankly, boring.

The reason that I picked out the bird feeder plans I did was quite simple: I'm practical. When I first try a project, I come up with the easiest version that is possible. Then, if it works well, I can try a more complicated project next time.

Rather than finding new bird feeder plans, however, I decided to revisit the old ones. I came back to my original birdseed feeder and worked it over. I added wooden decorations to it, a nice paint job, and a few extra holes so that multiple birds could feed at once. By the time I was done, it was looking good.

Since then, I have constructed many different bird feeders and birdhouses. Some of the birdhouses I have made have actually been quite pretty.

One of them was so nice, in fact, that I couldn't bear to leave it outside. The weather is pretty harsh there and I figured that it would get battered and weatherworn within a season. Instead, I keep it in my house. Of course it doesn't get to shelter any birds in there, but I can still admire my own craftsmanship.

Sometimes vanity is a good thing. It keeps me making new and interesting projects.

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