Saturday, April 28, 2012

Feed the birds in style!

Make a Recycled Milk Jug Bird Feeder

Snot, snot and more snot. The past week has been full of it, with all three of us down with colds, fever and chest congestion. The husband took two days off work, the kid stayed home from playschool and we all just kept each other company, coughing in chorus and balling up wads of tissue all over the house.

When Little Miss M. was feeling a bit better, I came up with a fun activity that would keep her occupied but not sap all her energy and mine. A recycled milk jug bird feeder. 

You will need:
Empty milk jug, scissors, hole punch, green acrylic paint, brushes, clean up cloths, sticks, pine cones, glue gun, glue sticks, thread, bird food,

Method:
1. Take an empty milk jug from the recycle bin, rinse and dry it.

2. Cut a circle 2.5 inches in diameter near the base of the jug (This will be the main entrance to the feeder).

3. Using a nail or hole punch, poke a twig size hole just below the circle. This will be the perch.
4. Get some green acrylic paints together and give your toddler a paintbrush.
 
5. Get toddler to paint the whole milk jug green. 
6. Hand toddler a basket and ask her to collect sticks and pine cones from the backyard.

This occupied my kid for almost an hour - just hunting for the right kind of sticks and cones! I used that time to bathe the dogs, give myself a pedicure, cook dinner and clean the house.

Kidding!
7. Get a glue gun and start sticking all the sticks (approximately 5 inches in length) on the milk jug.

If you really want to slow yourself down, do this: I handled the glue gun and Little Miss M got to place the sticks on the hot glue.
8. Before you know it your bird feeder has a roof! Then its time to decorate it with pine cones.
9. Insert a twig in the tiny perch hole you created in step 3. This is where the birds will perch while eating out of the bird feeder.
10. Punch two holes on either side of the top, just below the cap, thread some rope through and there you have it, your very own recycled milk jug bird feeder!
We filled it with wild bird food and hung it right outside my kitchen window.
Isn't it pretty?
Little Miss M loves peering out of the kitchen window to see the birds eat.
It makes eating oatmeal every morning at the kitchen island that much more fun.

2 comments:

  1. I love this idea!!! We have had the snots, too. In fact, there are two wadded up tissues stuffed under my leg right now.

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  2. This is simply amazing, love your ideas...Mayu looks like she is totally enjoying the art work

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