Bird Feeder Garland and Bird Feeder Ornaments

The BIRD FEEDER GARLAND is one of my favorite Winter crafts. It's fun to make and even more fun to watch the wildlife activity that arises in our backyard after we hang it up! This week we've watched birds nibbling, followed by squirrels chasing the birds, then snacking themselves, and lastly, we observed four neighborhood cats stalk the squirrels for two days straight. Easy Winter entertainment...the girls and I have been glued to our kitchen window! The BIRD FEEDER GARLAND itself looks beautiful hanging in a tree, around a bush, or along a fence!

Materials needed:

-dental floss

-unsalted peanuts in their shells

-old apples, oranges, cranberries and/or raisins

-embroidery needle

-cardboard

Thread the dental floss into the needle. I use dental floss for lots of projects, because it's always on hand and is super-sturdy! Using the needle, string the peanuts onto the dental floss. Having cardboard under the peanuts, makes it easier to push the needle through. Tie a knot after you string the first peanut to hold the rest on!

You can cut an apple into small pieces to string as well. If you have dried fruit, you can string that along with the peanuts too.

My helper squirreling away some apple bits...

Once the peanuts are all strung, find the perfect place to hang your BIRD FEEDER GARLAND!

The BIRD FEEDER GARLAND looks great on it's own, but to really give the birds a treat, add some BIRD FEEDER ORNAMENTS as well! Kids love helping with this part!

Materials needed:

-dental floss

-pinecones

-peanut butter

-bird seed

-butter knife

-2 plates

First, tie the dental floss in a knot or two around the top of the pinecone.

Using a butter knife, slather on some peanut butter.

Pour some bird seed out on a plate and let your little one roll the peanut butter-covered pinecone through the bird seed. 

Hang the pinecones from your BIRD FEEDER GARLAND!

You can also slice some apples and/or oranges to hang from the garland. And if you make these DIY Cereal Bird Feeders, you can add them as well! Enjoy!!!

10+ Silly Jokes for Kids!

The only thing better than a good knock-knock joke is watching your kids crack up at them! Give them something to smile about at breakfast with these 10+ SILLY JOKES FOR KIDS! 

What does a cow wear?
Udder-wear!

Knock-Knock.
Who's there?
Olive.
Olive who?
Olive you!

(L made this one up. She think's it's hysterical!)
Knock-Knock.
Who's there?
Shoes.
Shoes who?
Shoes don't talk!

What do frogs order when they go to a restaurant?
French flies!

What does a nosy pepper do?
Get's jalapeño business!

Knock-Knock.
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I'm here?

Knock-Knock.
Who's there?
Lemme.
Lemme who?
Lemme kiss you!

Knock-Knock.
Who's there?
Ida.
Ida who?
Ida want to!

What do you call a fly without wings?
A walk!

What did the dog say to the flea?
Stop bugging me!

Why do fish live in salt water?
Cause pepper makes them sneeze!

What did one volcano say to the other?
I lava you!

What's your kid's favorite joke??? Share in the comments section below!!! Happy laughing!!!

DIY Cereal Bird Feeder

Being that February is National Bird-Feeding Month, I thought we'd make and share a few homemade, bird feeders with you over the next few weeks! This DIY CEREAL BIRD FEEDER may be the quickest and easiest one to make! I remember making similar ones when I was in grade school. So cute! 

Materials needed:

-pipe cleaners (or other thin wire)

-O-shaped cereal (non-sugary)

-ribbon

First, bend the wire in half gently, making a V-shape.

Have your little ones string the cereal onto the wire, as you would with beads. Leave about 1/2 - 1 inch of the wire showing at the ends.

Twist the ends together and shape into a heart. 

Tie some ribbon in the middle of your bird feeders and hang them outside for the birds! 

Notice the hearts are rather light, so hang them up in a bush or against a tree trunk...someplace protected from the wind. Enjoy! 

Check out our DIY TIN CAN BIRD FEEDER as well!

It's Tea Time!!! Tea Party Ideas

Over at Our Beautifully Messy House, we love a good TEA PARTY! We have breakfast tea parties and mid-afternoon tea parties, tea parties in a teepee outside, and tea parties on the kitchen floor! We have tea parties with friends and tea parties with fairies! There is only one rule in our house when it comes to having a tea party: Everyone must wear a hat! It doesn't matter if you are still wearing your pajamas, everybody starts the tea party with a hat! 

If you're planning ahead, you can make some "Floppy Newspaper Hats" for tea time! (DIY here.)

Tea Ideas: Obviously you can steep any flavor of tea, but with little kids you may want to get creative! Sometimes I pour L half a cup of Blueberry Wild Child Tea, fill the rest with milk and she drinks it out of her fancy tea cup with a straw. Anything goes! Kids can drink water, milk, juice mixed with water, or hot chocolate...if it's in a tea cup, it's tea! 

Tea Cups: Tea cups don't have to be fancy, but fancy is fun! The best place to find tea cups is at antique stores, yard sales and flea markets. Such places are filled with tea pots and cups and, at only a couple of dollars a piece, it's no big deal if one breaks. 

Tea Party Treats: For breakfast tea parties, we make PANCAKE SANDWICHES with cream cheese and strawberry jam layered in-between two pancakes. To make them extra fancy, cut the pancakes with a heart cookie cutter and let the red, strawberry jam shine through! 

These Strawberry Jam Scones are perfect for tea time! Get the recipe here.

No-Bake Acorn Treats are fun and yummy for your tea party outdoors! Get the quick and easy how-to here.

If you're just throwing together a tea party last minute, anything will do...a granola bar cut into bites, muffins, a bowl of popcorn. Your kids will love it! 

A Tea Party for Fairies

If you don't have fairies and fairy furniture, you can easily make some!

DIY Fairy Folk

DIY Fairy Furniture

Acorn Cap Treasures (aka Fairy Hats!)

Use cheerios to make FAIRY DONUTS. If you have a microwave, simply place one chocolate chip on top of a cheerio and zap it for a few seconds. Top with mini-sprinkles! We don't have a microwave and melted the chocolate chips in a double-broiler on the stove-top and it worked just as well! For powdered fairy donuts, dip the cheerios in some maple syrup and then toss around in some powdered sugar. Silly, sweet, and so much fun!!! 

If you don't have a mini-tea set, you can use buttons for fairy plates and thimbles for the tea cups. Have the tea party on top of a box or a colorful pillow! 

Please don't think that if you have little boys that they can't partake in your tea party fun! Everybody loves a party and if you must, call it a "picnic!" Enjoy!!!