Monday, March 29, 2010

Pine cones and Sweet gum

Posted by: Dawn


My kids had last Friday off from school; some workshop, in service, that sort of thing. So what to do with a free day, no snow, but bitter blowing cold? My seventeen year old didn't care, he bugged out to a friend's house and spent the night and it took him a full day and full night to recover.

My daughter and I decided to make the best of a quiet spring day.
I saw this somewhere in my travels and I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

What you need: Use the skewer to poke a hole through the center of each ball,


**missing the day of photo shoot...a plentiful supply of pine cones and sweet gum. Thanks, Skeeter for the sweet gum!

use the sharpie to draw the idea,


Make sure you have glue designed for styrofoam. Oh, use the snipers to cut a well in your design.


Glue.


And...glue some more.

Estimated drying time: One day.

String one bead through the twine that you cut at the size of 6x's bigger than your biggest ball. Tape both ends of twine to the end of skewer, thread through your pre-made hole.

Cut the twine of and string both ends through the smaller ball, place the last bead on top, knot both ends together.

Time for the secret ingredient!

Three part peanut butter to one part birdseed. Coat with seed and wa-la! This feeder is up really high, just outside my daughter's window, she has promised me to tell me when a little birdie lands on it.
Until then, sweet tweets In the Garden!

Happy Birthday to Lola!

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden


24 comments:

  1. What a wonderful idea, Dawn! You, daughter and mom, did an awesome job! I hope you post the pictures of the winged cuties feasting on your work.

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  2. Dawn,that is a great idea! I didn't realize it was going to be a birdfeeder until you added peanut butter?
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOLA!!! Have a wonderful day!

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  3. What a great plan for a birdfeeder! The birds love peanut butter too!

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  4. Good morning all!
    Heavy rain today and I was worried about the PB washing off but no! Course it's frozen but I think it will stay.

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  5. What a great idea! The birds will love it. Your daughter is a beautiful young lady. Glad you enjoyed your day. Carla

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  6. That's such a great bird feeder, Dawn! What a great idea and economical too.

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  7. They are a real work of art Dawn. I know those birds are loving all that protein from the peanut butter too!

    Happy Birthday Lola!

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  8. What a wonderful, family project! Happy tweeting, too!

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  9. What a great bird feeder! Happy birthday Lola!

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  10. Clever idea! Fun to make and good for the birds...gail

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  11. What a great idea and one that I think our grandchildren would love to make. Thank you. Diana

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  12. wonderful idea and a great way to spend the day. I'm sure the birds will love it.

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  13. This is the prettiest bird feeder I've seen, Dawn! I made some simple pine cone feeders smothered in peanut butter and bird seed this winter, but yours are a work of art! A great idea for a cold winter's day...which I hope we've seen the last of:)

    Happy Birthday to Lola!

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  14. I have seen articles about making them before but none as big as those. They are great and I'm betting the birds will be mighty happy. Good job.

    Lola, I hope this is the best birthday ever with many, many more to come.

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  15. What a cute idea! Those projects are not only good for the finished product but for the bonding time with your kids as you work on them.

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  16. Hi guys,
    Chandramouli, I spied a chick-a-dee flying away yesterday but no such luck with a photo, not yet!
    Darla, Thanks!
    Meadowview thymes, I was going for the surprise element, I figured everyone would know, nice to hear you didn't realize it until the PB, thanks!
    Randy, thanks! I'm beginning to think this feeder might not need refilling, lol!
    Carla, Thanks for the compliment on my daughter! She THINKS she wants some of her hair cut??How do ya do that!?
    Lzyjo, We used a PB my kids found they did not like, the natural kind that seperates. Just couldn't throw it away with so many tiny, cold, birds around.
    Tina, They ate my PB suet in chunks! Might of been the bj's though. No way for them to get a hold of this feeder.
    Happy tweeting to you too, Cameron!
    Dave and Gail, Thanks!
    Di, Not for the squemish though, my daughter's alittle like that, she was worried about hanging on to it without getting pb all over the place. As long as she didn't lick it off her hands, I was OK with it!
    Melanie, It was so cold here on Friday, it got down to the low twenties. Nice inside project although we want to be outside now.
    Hi Rose, thanks, I hope we have seen the last of the coldness, it's spectulated to be in the 70's next Sunday, the Easter bunny will like that!
    Mom, I thought the wind might take it off it's S hook but it is very heavy and holding up in the rain today!
    Catherine, yes, good bonding time. Usually where she is, I am. I'm sure she will REALLLY outgrow that soon.
    Gloomy here in Maine, great for the flowers just not the humans! And basements.

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  17. Happy Birthday Lola! I hope you have a wonderful day. The sun is out and nice here so assume you too are enjoying some nice stuff today....

    Dawn, Not all the pictures are showing for me right now. I think something is up with blogger at the moment. I will peek back later to see the finished product. On the pictures I do see, Madame looks like she is having so much fun making this birdie treat! I have more Gum Balls if you want them! Just let me know and I will send them on up...

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  18. Thank you all for the best wishes. I'm having a great day. It's sunny out even tho we had more rain during the night.
    My brother visited the weekend to celebrate both Young'un's & my special day. We had a marvelous time with him.
    That is a great idea for a bird feeder. The pics didn't show up so I could just read the directions. Maybe later they will appear.

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  19. Hi Skeeter and Lola, no, the pictures are not showing up here either.
    Soon as blogger gets the bug out of the photos, I will be around to visit everyone. I'll miss alot by trying to read the text so let's hope it will be soon!

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  20. Happy Birthday Lola!!! Hope it's the best -from lil bundle and all of us.

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  21. Pics are up now. Guess the bugs are out.
    The pics sure do make a difference. Now I think even I can make one.
    Thanks again to all for the best wishes.
    Kiss lil bundle for me. Sure would like a recent pic of him. Guess all the kiddos are involved in their school programs. Just got pics of GS's baseball this past Sat. They sure looked cute in their uniforms.

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  22. Hi anonymous, lil bundle must be getting big! and again Happy Birthday, Lola. I'm singing just not sure how to write it as such!

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  23. Great project!!!! It's almost too pretty for the birds to eat. I bet they love it.

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