Thursday, December 16, 2010

Birds on the Brain

Well, I've got lots of birds for you today!! We got 4 inches of snow over night and when that happens we get lots of activity at the bird feeders because the birdies are looking for something to eat after everything has been covered with snow. And..... I finished up a brand new bird make do today!! He is made with a stained muslin that I printed the cursive alphabet on. I'm sure you all remember staring at that at the top of the chalkboard when we were kids, I know I do. This sweet little bird was just listed in my etsy shop!




Also today I made homemade suet and suet holders. Wow...I guess I got a lot done today!!

Here are a couple of pictures right after I hung up the feeders. Mrs. Red-Bellied Woodpecker Mr. Cardinal were checking them out. They never did land on them. Maybe tomorrow.


Here's the How To to make the suet and the hangers. This was posted in the Birds and Blooms latest issue.

Suet Hanger

Supplies: 14-gauge galvanized wire (sold in 100-ft. rolls in the hardware store)
pliers and wire cutters
glass spice jar or other 2 inch diameter jar
duct tape
spray primer and paint approved for metal
(I didn't use the spray paint)

Take your wire and make a little hanger at the top before wrapping around the jar. Then right where you start to wrap on the jar put a piece of tape to hold the wire in place. Then smoothly wrap around the jar until you think you have it long enough for the suet to rest inside with room to spare. Then at the bottom where you cut it off, use your pliers to bend in the wire to form a curlicue so the suet don't fall out the bottom.




Suet
Supplies: 1 cup of lard or bacon drippings
1 cup of oatmeal
1 cup of corn meal
1 cup of chunky peanut butter
raisins
bird seed

cardboard toilet paper tubes
aluminum foil
rubber bands

In a pan, melt lard, peanut butter together. Then add in your oatmeal, cornmeal, raisins and bird seed. Then let cool a little. Mean while put foil over one end of the cardboard tub and wrap a rubber band around to hold in place. Then spoon in your mixture in the tubes. This recipe made enough to fill 5 tubes for me. Then put them in the freezer and harden. After frozen just peel off the foil and the cardboard tubes and place in your new suet holder!! This was super easy to do!



Now here are a few bird pics that I took today!


Mourning Dove



This sweet little bird that I don't see very often is a Carolina Wren


Mr. Cardinal


Red-Bellied Woodpecker


Red-Bellied Woodpecker


Mr. Junco


So Sweet Junco

Ok that's all for now. I sure did have a big post tonight didn't I??!! :)

11 comments:

  1. I like the fabric on this one, very nice.
    I would love to attract birds like that. I did have more this year, but they seem to be hiding again.

    Debbie

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  2. Beautiful Pics!!! Thanks for sharing the instructions!!
    Lottie

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  3. I love the pictures of your birds!!! Your tutorial for the suet feeders is very nice too!!! I may need to pass this onto my MIL to try! Thank you!

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  4. Wow, you take beautiful photos! And thank you for the suet instructions. I think I might even be able to make them! :) Oh and your fabric bird is absolutely beautiful!

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  5. Love all the little birds - the stitched ones and the real one!

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  6. What wonderful ideas for the suet and feeders...thanks so much!!
    Your photos of the birds are great..what do you use for a camera!!
    Love your new stitched bird!!

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  7. grammie g, My camera is a Canon EOS Rebel XS. It's the best camera I have ever had, Love it!

    Tammy

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  8. You make the most beautiful pictures Tammy...its always a pleasure to look at your blog and read your posts...wonderful stitched birds too!..As it has snowed here a lot in Holland (20 cm last night) we also make several goodies for the birds almost every day...as beautiful as the snow is it is so sad if the birds dont find any food...so a lot of them are paying us a visit everyday and its great to look at them...
    Thanks for the tutorial...
    greetings Francien.

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  9. Love your nature pics and thank you so much for sharing the how to on the suet patty and suet holder. I'll have to try this. I really enjoyed your blog! - BJ

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  10. Thanks for the suet tut...the alphabet bird is adorable too. I do have a question though. How did you print it out? I tried ironing muslin to freezer paper (on the shiney side) and it wouldn't stay for some of my printing. Do you use some sort of temporary adhesive between the paper and muslin? Any tips would be appreciated.
    Thanks,
    patti

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