Spring is for the Birds!

We did two crafts for Spring this year that the kids loved because they were for the birds! The kids and I absolutely love one of the trees in our backyard. It's a nice big shade tree right outside our kitchen and dining room windows. The birds and squirrels seem to love it too! There are always lots of critters hanging around it. We have a large birdfeeder hanging from the tree, but we thought it would be fun to add some other things that the birds might enjoy.

The first thing we did was paint small birdhouses to hang in the tree. I had been shopping at our local craft store the week before and found these neat little wooden birdhouses on sale for a dollar each. We had been given paint and brushes as a favor at one of the birthday parties we had attended recently so it was great being able to use them on the birdhouses! We only had one real incident when Jackson decided that it would be funny to paint Lana instead of his birdhouse, which of course made her cry because her new Dora shirt was now "dirty!!"

Our second project was to make bird seed ornaments. We did this a few days after we painted the birdhouses and it was a lot of fun. It took a little more skill to do this so Tate, Lana and Jackson mostly watched as Nathan and I did the majority of the work.

Here are the directions:

3/4 cup birdseed (we got the seed for small birds at wal-mart)

1/4 cup water
1 small envelope of knox gelatine
twine or string
cookie cutters, molds or mason jar lids
wax paper

*Mix together the envelope of gelatine with 1/4 cup of water and bring to a simmer while stirring. continue stirring until the gelatine is dissolved.

*Remove from heat and let cool for a minute.
*Stir in the 3/4 cup birdseed. Adding a little more if there is liquid still in the bottom of the pan.
*Lay your cookie cutters out on wax paper and fill half way with the birdseed mixture.
*Cut your twine, knot the end and push the knot down into your birdseed.
*Continue filling with birdseed, covering the end of your twine and knot.
*Push the birdseed evenly into the cookie cutter until it's full.
*Allow them to dry overnight, turning them over every now and then.
*Remove from the cookie cutters and hang them in your trees.
*Then wait by the window to watch for your first guest.