Back to Basics

An easy, basic craft that eased the transition between dinner and bedtime.  A little filler that reminds us that there are animals out there in the winter wilderness who might like a little help getting through the last few weeks until spring.

Birdfeeder in the shape of a birdhouse.  In case they like our birdseed so much they want to move in and stay close.

This craft was inspired by Jax's good friend Nia, whose extra-crafty mommy let Nia use paint and sprayed with something fancy that keeps the washable paint from coming off.  Jax opted to use markers, which is good because I had none of that fancy spray so our birdfeeder would have been naked in a few snowy days.  Well, in hindsight, the markers are washable, too, so we'll see how long the color lasts.

Birdhouse and markers from Walmart.  Probably cost less than five dollars total.  Plus you'll need peanut butter and birdseed.  Overall, a pretty inexpensive way to talk about nature and color.

So we colored the birdhouse with markers. 

Eventually.  It took a while, but eventually we did color most of it.  Well, I did after he quit.  Also, there were lots of words and names because did I mention he likes letters?

Daddy took this opportunity to say that the hole in the birdhouse was so small that any bird who went in there to eat would be too fat to make his way back out again, like Winnie-the-Pooh.  Well, then Jax did nothing else besides call to the imaginary birdie inside the birdhouse.  You do realize there is no bird in there yet, right? And probably never will be?  I feel like if a bird doesn't move into our little birdie love nest then Jax will feel jipped.

Now, if you're still following along at home, you're almost done.  Unless you have a peanut allergy, just lather the roof of the house with peanut butter (don't bother to paint it first)...

...then dip the roof in birdseed...

...until you have a delectable wintertime treat for your fine feathered friends!

Jax wanted to fill every possible peanut buttery crevice with a seed, like he was plugging leaks in a roof.

And then, for good measure, we filled the inside with birdseed, too.  Just to witness the Winnie-the-Pooh effect.

So there's your birdhouse!  You can then do handy things like hang it from a ribbon or a hook, making it inaccessible to squirrels and dangle happily from some nearby eave. 

Or you can just acknowledge that squirrels are a lot smarter than we are and plop it on the railing of your deck and see who gets there first, the vermin or the birds.  Since ours has been sitting there untouched for a couple of days, I'm wondering if it'll be something more interesting, like a bear.

Enjoy my back to basics, simple craft idea!  You could be even more basic and just go grab a pinecone and slap some peanut butter and birdseed on there, but I like to give my audience a little credit.  Or maybe there was just too much freakin snow to find a pinecone.  Either way, enjoy!