Welcome to Handmade Tuesdays! Today’s tutorial is from Abbie From Greening Sam & Avery. I absolutely love Abbie’s site and it is amazing what activities she does with her daughters. I am so excited to have her sharing a tutorial today that can be done with kids!
Hello Handmade Tuesday Readers! So excited to be here sharing some of my daughters favorite handmade items with you all. I check in on Handmade Tuesday a lot and am always blown away by what you ladies are making. I am not sure if this will even compare but keep in mind that my two year old daughter is the primary “maker” of these crafts!
We are bird lovers in my family but with very small attention spans. So we have to bring the birds close to us for viewing. Bird feeders can be expensive so we tend to make our own. Also gives us hands-on crafting activities! Here are a few of the bird feeders we have made that have been our favorites and most successful at attracting birds (and squirrels!) to our yard.
Source: Fresh Art Photography
The Classic Pine Cone Feeder –
These are super simple and fun for kids of all ages. All you need is string or ribbon, pine cones (preferably ones that are opened up all the way), peanut butter and bird seed.
Step one – tie ribbon or string from the top of the pine cones so that they can be hung up easily.
Source: Fresh Art Photography
Step two – cover the pine cone with peanut butter. The more peanut butter you can get shoved down into the crevasses of the pine cone the better.
Step three – cover peanut butter in bird seed. Works pretty well to fill a bowl or cookie sheet with bird seed and then roll the pine cone around in that.
Step four – hang up the pine cone feeder someplace where you can watch the birds from the warmth of your house!
Juice/Milk Container Bird Feeder –
This one was a HUGE hit as a craft project, little mess and worked surprisingly well at attracting birds. Plus, it has actually held up through THREE seasons now! All you need is a juice or milk container (similar to the one pictured), scissors or box cutter, heavy duty wire, paint and bird seed.
Step one – clean the juice container out really well.
Step two – about an inch from the bottom of the container cut a slip that wraps around each side. At each end of the slit (on the sides of the container) cut up toward the front on a diagonal. Then cut down the corners of the front to cut out the two side triangles and release a flap in the front. I know that was really hard to follow! The pictures might make it a little easier to understand!
Step three – then use wire to help hold up the bottom and the flap on the top.
Step four – go crazy with paint and once paint is dry fill with bird seed.
These are both very simple feeders but so much fun for young kids to make with a little bit of help or older kids to make all on their own. And the hours of bird watching enjoyment they can provide is amazing as well. We love having a little bit of nature that we can watch right from our windows.
Thanks so much for letting me be a part of the amazing Handmade Tuesdays!
————–
So I got to work looking around….
