i have made a variety of them according to which feeder i wanted them on.
the first one i made was on a hopper feeder with a small seed catcher on it and i took an old metal pot cover and drilled small holes in it and bolted it to the base of the feeder. also have a couple of the wire screen feeders that i screwed a couple bases from plant pots onto the bottoms to catch the seed. the latest is a glass hopper with ports and a railing around the bottom for perching. no place to drill holes through the rail so i took picture frame wire and drilled holes in a melmack picnic plate and wired the plate to the bottom of the feeder.
I also drilled holes in the trays i made to drain rain or snow moisture

You know, I have often had this same thought, and I have spent some time thinking about how to make one myself for cheap. One of the things that came to my mind was the fold up flying discs that are meant to be used like a frisbee for play. See here:http://www.wellpromo.com/upload/upimg76/Flying-Disc-98876.jpg

The thing is that you need holes in it so that the water can drain out. I'm still thinking. :o)

Yes, I'm still thinking too. How about the mesh food covers for picnics? I got one for a couple of bucks. Now to figure out how to hang it to the feeder?

dklucius, you're very handy with tools I think! Don't you love coming up with new ideas for stuff?

i was born on a small farm out in the sticks. we had our own orchard and gardens and raised chickens and cows and horses and pigs ducks geese rabitts and canned or dried
everything we could. we hunted and fished and trapped too. we did our own mechanical and household repairs and built our own house and sheds.
I worked many years also at small sawmills and logging and the crew fixed stuff to keep running. I get more satifaction fixing something than i would buying something.

Well, I am doing some research. Look at what I found on amazon.com for cheap!
http://www.amazon.com/Petco-PETCO-Bird-Seed-Catcher/dp/B003CRAJ8Q

Looks to me like we can walk right in to our local PetCo and snatch one up for $7.99+ tax!

I no longer use a hanging feeder other than for thistle seed. There was always a mess on the ground around it. A little more attention is needed now but it works extremely well and I have many more birds at the feeder at a given time.

That's a good idea. The only problem here would be the neighbor's blasted cat.

we get lots of snow in the winter and sometimes after a storm i do put out an aluminum baking sheet with seed on it. But try to take it up if more snow is forcast. if there are lots of Juncos towhees or Doves feeding mostly on the ground.

In southern OK, it rarely snows, much less gets cold enough for snow to stick on our concrete patio. So when it does snow I just throw feed on the patio. About all kinds come right in. They are not used to scrounging for chow when there is snow cover.

I put every day a 14 inch dish that is a bottom of a flower pot and I put sunflower seed in it and bread and corn but I have 4 squirrels and 2 chip monks the birds don't get a chance to get at the food.
Anna