It is possible to make your own butterfly houses and feeders from objects around your home. Butterflies prefer specific foods and you can make these available in your garden. Butterflies like sunny warm spots, but if you are in a hot climate then shady areas are preferred. You can plan your garden to include specific butterfly attracting plants and flowers.

The best type of butterfly food is over ripe. Butterflies like very sweet food, think of how sweet nectar is. If you have any over ripe fruit in your fridge, don’t throw it out but give it to the butterflies. Fruit trees are great butterfly feeding areas, as the fallen fruit is great food for them. They best type of fruit is rotten even moldy, over ripe fruit.

You can use many objects around the house to make a feeder. Glass or ceramic pie plates, terra cotta or plastic plant saucers or any dish with a slopping rim are ideal fruit butterfly feeders. You will need to hang the plate from a branch and you can fashion your own hanger from twine or string or use a plant hanger. You should sprinkle some water or fruit juice on the fruit so it doesn’t get too dry.

Butterflies also love nectar and you can make your own butterfly nectar feeder using a jar, absorbent cotton, some twine and homemade nectar. Homemade nectar can be made by boiling 4 pats water to 1 part sugar and the allowing the mixture to cool. You punch holes in the jar lid, plug the holes with absorbent material, fill the jar with the nectar, put the lid on tightly and hang upside down. The absorbent material should hold the nectar without dripping.

Butterfly houses are specifically designed to protect the butterflies form the weather and any wind as well as any predatory birds. These house look like birdhouses but have long slits in the front for the butterfly to get in and keep the birds out. Tree bark or twigs will be in the inside of the house so the butterflies have something to rest on. The butterflies will use this house for shelter, particularly as the weather cools down.

To get even more butterflies to your butterfly house you should have a butterfly feeder close by. You can put long twigs in the butterfly house to give the butterfly something to rest on. You should but the butterfly house in a shady part of your garden but in view so you can enjoy the butterflies.

Visit Home Butterfly Garden to learn more about different butterfly species and their favorite plants.