We almost didn't do anything from the list yesterday. I spent most of the day doing our taxes and just didn't feel like I had it in me to pull together an art (or other) project. But in the afternoon, Maia and I were playing in the backyard and I noticed a bunch of pinecones near the fence and remembered the pinecone bird treat idea.
We've done this once before, at our friends' home, when they had an after-Christmas tree decorating party (inspired by this book). They moved their tree to the yard and we decorated it for the birds with popcorn garlands and pinecone birdseed ornaments. I loved the idea! And I've been wanting to try the pinecone birdseed treats again.
When I added these birdseed treats to the list, we were in the middle of a snowstorm and they seemed very appropriate. Less than a week later it's warm enough to make these picnic-style in the backyard. Crazy North Carolina weather!
First we spread peanut butter on the pinecones, then rolled them in the sunflower seeds. Actually, I ended up doing most of the spreading, while Maia's spoonfulls of peanut butter always seemed to end up in her mouth. She liked the rolling-in-birdseed part though. I would have used one of those birdseed mixes with the smaller seeds as well, but we don't have any at the moment.
We tied yarn to the top of the pinecones and hung them in our dogwood. I hope the birds like them. I'm sure the squirrels will.
