Bird Feeder Ornament

It was such a good project in theory.  What's not to love about making a bird feeder mobile to hang outdoors in winter?  Gavin was up for it and I had all the supplies at the ready last Saturday morning. 

Needing sustenance for brain and body, we had breakfast first and logged about an hour of Tom and Jerry cartoons, one of Gavin's current favorites.  Gavin changed out of his pajamas while I gathered together everything we would need to assemble these birdie treats.  We were ready and excited to get started.

Just a side note here having nothing to do with this nature craft project.  But did you notice how I said "Gavin got changed out of his pajamas?"  Well, this is a big deal.  He's been dressing himself for awhile now, but I still marvel at how we've moved from 'dressing Gavin,' to "helping Gavin get dressed," to "Gavin getting himself dressed.  I hear Life's clock ticking in my head as I write.

I'd never seen a sweet gum tree pod until I moved to Fort Campbell, KY.  Fascinated by them, I went around our neighborhood, gathering them up for some unknown future project. Ended up using them like 'shipping popcorn' in all my Christmas boxes that year. My friend, LJ, calls them 'alien pine cones.' Since that time I've seen many a sweet gum tree.  My neighbor here on 101st Place has one, right across the street and so I was able to gather some for this project.  Peanut Butter is always on hand and black sunflower seeds, too.  Check! 

I was the designated 'peanut butter spreader onner.'  Gavin was the official 'pod dipper' and then back to me for tying onto the hanger.  Mine was most definitely the messier of the steps.  Gavin shot some video footage of me and asked some very astute questions as the interviewer. 

    

  

It was a very cold day and Gavin was happy to stay indoors. I donned my boots and went outside to hang our new feeder in the maple tree.  

I was so excited when only minutes after Gavin was picked up by his Mom, a male and female cardinal dropped in to check out the 'thing-a-ma-bob-doo-hickie' hanging in their tree.. Check it out was all they did, never attempting to alight on the pods or hang from the twine to get at the seed. Turns out you can lead a bird to the seed but you can't make them eat.

A week has passed and the pods are still hanging in the tree, a little more worse for the wear. This bird feeder may not have resulted in what we hoped for initially but in the end I got what I wanted. Time well-spent with Gavin.  I'm thinking this is the most desirable outcome.