{Tutorial} Recycled Craft For Our Feathered Friends

The birds are out in force searching for items to build their cozy nests from. I thought I would assist in their effort and put together a few nesting supplies from some leftover project supplies  I have laying around. Plus, I was able to re-use some of those red mesh vegetable bags  I have been holding onto for so long.

Supplies:

Small plastic or cloth mesh bag

Pieces of string, twine, thread

Handful of raffia

2 twist Ties

 First Choose your mesh bag. Cut off the top to create a large opening.

 Gather your nesting supplies. Pull-a-part the string and separate the raffia into thin pieces.

 Shove all of your nesting supplies into the open end of the mesh bag

 Select a few pieces to gently tug through some of the open holes of the mesh bag. This will make it easier for the birds to access the elements inside the bag.

Use one of your twist-ties to secure the top of the bag closed. 

Now weave the other twist-tie through a few holes in the mesh bag, secure the ends together creating a loop.  hang your bag in a tree an off-the ground so birds will feel comfortable and safe when pulling items from your bag. Watch and see the birds flock to your home...OK, well this part might take a while. 

Happy Bird Watching!

Toddler Craft Project {Nature Collage}

We had a little break in the rain and decided we should go outside for that wee bit of time. The ground was wet, which made Emory even more interested in everything around him. To capture the excitement of the freshly washed earth we made a nature collage! This turned out to be a spectacular project (and easy too) for an active toddler.

I gave Emory a small plastic bucket to collect natural flat items that could be added to our nature collage. We collected pine needles, leaves, flower petals, specs of dirt, and some non-natural objects too that included bits of glitter (not sure how he saw those!). It took us a long time as we paused, examined and considered each object that was found. Emory loved exploring the different pieces.

I cut about 2 feet of clear sticky contact shelving paper after we were finished collecting. I helped Emory place each found object on one foot  of the sticky side of the contact paper. He enjoyed arranging and placing the objects. He thought the stickiness of the contact paper was fun too.

After all his items were placed on the contact paper we folded over the remaining portion of the contact paper to seal in his collage. We hole punched a hole into the top and threaed a ribbon through creating a lovely window sun catcher. We gifted the sun catcher to E's Great Grandmother who did indeed love her great grandson's creation.

What have you and your family been doing to connect with nature?