I bought this bowl at a sale. I loved how it looked and the price made it irresistible, but I never quite knew what to do with it. One Christmas I filled it with ornaments and pressed it to the wall. Taking it down (and putting it up) was a bit of a tricky challenge, but it made me smile to see my metal basket of balls on the wall! Still, the dexterity required to put it up and take it down without releasing balls all over the house made it a one-time project.
Come spring I spray painted it a more natural brown and turned it into my own version of a bug hotel…
I called him Mr. Bugsy. The board above his brow was meant to shed the weather and keep any dwellers warm and dry. I filled him with twigs, prunings and pinecones. I can also make out a Popsicle stick to the left between his nose and mouth that I had used as a plant tag!
Bug hotels are perfect for repurposing all kinds of things. Spend a bit of time on Pinterest and you will find all kinds of ideas.
This one is a favourite of mine…
Old bricks, clay pots, twigs, straw, logs with deep holes drilled into them…all make fodder for hotel rooms for bugs!
The cute little ones you can buy at nurseries or a hardware store often don’t have deep enough holes to safely see an insect through to spring. Shallow holes mean predators such as birds can easily beak their way in and make a meal out of a future butterfly or what-have-you. They also offer less in the way of protection from the weather.
I am not even sure how well Mr. Bugsy worked, though I did see a few insects checking it out.
One like the hotel shown above offers all kinds of refuge for a wintering bug.
Have you made a unique bug hotel? Please feel free to share if you have. We would love to see your project.
As always, thanks for stopping by!
Garden Trivia 