I was sitting at home one afternoon going over our budget and found out how much we really were spending on bird toys and that is when we decided to come up with some fun alternatives to buying toys. We now make a number of our own toys and these are our own recipes for making bird toys.
It's simple and easy, but be sure not to use zinc or lead coated beads or facets. Make sure any material you use is "bird safe" such as wood, rope, rings cannot be coated with exterior glow polish or be of metal. When making shower curtain ring items, please use the plastic rings instead of the metal.

Cotton Rope Tree: Need: One roll of cotton rope. This is rope commonly used in floor mops. One plastic shower curtain ring. One piece of cardboard cut to approximately 16 inches by 8 inches. Size down for smaller birds. Take the rope and wrap it several times around the cardboard in only one direction (much like making a yard ball for the top of a knitted hat). Wrapping from the longest side is best. Do this approximately 15 times and then take this off of the cardboard and on one end, stick the curtain rod through it, and then tie it around its neck just below the rod with more cotton rope. Cut the bottom loops so that the tree hangs with strands down for the bird to play with. Hang from cage using the shower curtain ring.

Parrot Cages London

Link Tree
Need:
One plastic coat hanger - must not contain snaps, clips or have small grooves in it. The straight kind is best.
4 or more boxes of plastic shower curtain rings. Try to get the type that snap together. Bright colored rings of different colors are best.
Take the shower curtain rings and hang 5 to 8 per strand by linking them together. This should make several strands of plastic rings. Take these rings and hook them to the coat hanger and your bird will have hours of enjoyment playing with this homemade link tree.

Swing
Need:
Plastic shower curtain rings in your choice of colors, linked together in 2 equal chains.
One piece of bird safe wood, such as manzanita.
2 U nails, stainless steel only, and please check with the hardware store to make certain that they contain no coatings from their manufacturer.
Take 2 equal chains and then nail them to the stick with the U nail. Hang from cage for hours of entertainment.

Hanging Toy
Need:
18" Piece of wood
6-8 Small round and square pieces of wood
Drill
Cotton Rope
Take the large piece of wood and drill 3-4 holes of equal distance through it, turn it a half turn and drill 3-4 more holes which go in alternate routes through the stick. Stick cotton rope through all of the holes. Use the top string for hanging the toy. On the end of the remaining strings, string pieces of wood. Tie knots in the end of the strings. Do not tie knots above the rings and squares because part of the fun for the bird is yanking them back through to the other side while playing.