for your birdie friends...

...or perhaps for a special Mom in your life.... or have your kid make it for their teacher, though teacher appreciation week is about past... I'm relating this information to you a bit on the tardy side....

Anyway, it's a very easy and cool-looking little bird feeder that I just made with my science and nature class. And then this afternoon I made one with Jack, for him to take in for his teacher tomorrow. Everyone really enjoyed making it, and it was easy to prep for. I found the idea at Kleas.

So see, here's what you do. Find a smallish piece of wood. She uses rugged chunks of tree, and that was what I was planning on doing too, but then I realized that what I had on hand was actually some biggish chunks of lumber, wood scraps from my carpentry class, and I used these instead of going to the bother of getting out the saw and doing all that work of cutting up a big tree branch. So this is quite a proper project for using up any old wood scraps you may have lying around. Ours were big rectangular chunks so these came out looking kind of modernist and spare, which I found pleasing. Anyway, now drill a big, shallow hole in your piece with a spade bit. Underneath, drill a smaller hole, in which you will stick a twig or a dowel on which your birdie can perch to peck out the bird cake you will be stuffing into the bigger hole above. And pre-drill a hole up top and the kids can twist in an eye screw for hanging the whole contraptions somewheres. I also gave my kids some sandpaper (stapled onto blocks of wood for easier handling) so they could smooth it up some if they wished. Jack (almost 6) really got into this part and even oiled his as well. The bird cake recipe is as follows:

1 c. bird seed
1 c. shortening (or lard)
3 c. corn meal
1 c. peanut butter

Delicious! Stuff the stuff into the shallow hole, hang in a tree, and your birds will go bonkers.

These pictures are from Kleas, my camera and computer still aren't communicating (please work on your communication skills, guys!)... (can you tell I've been drinking? I came home and my husband was drinking cachaca with his friend... and I was powerless to resist...).