pine cone bird feeder

This Winter we've been especially vigilant about filling our bird feeder.  In the weeks before the cold spell and snow we had over twenty birds at a time in our tiny back yard in the late mornings:  flickers, chickadees, nuthatches, song sparrows, scrub jays, robins, juncos and a few unknowns.  This is a greater variety and grander numbers than we've ever seen gathered near our home before.  Ryan has been giddy.  (His old friends like to tease him about the bird call CD Ryan kept and played over and over in his car during his high school days.)  The man likes birds and is passing his fondness and appreciation for them on to our dear daughter. 

So today, with daddy home early, we decided to direct our afternoon crafting into a treat for our feathered friends by creating these naturally delicious pine cone bird feeders.

This is a great simple project even for very young children. 

We began by tying twine around one end of the cone leaving enough length to hang the finished project from our desired location. 

We then slathered nut butter into all the nooks and crannies.  (We used almond butter because it's what we had, but any nut butter would do.  I've also heard shortening works just as well.)






We then rolled the sticky cone in bird seed.



We hung it near our existing bird feeder because we don't have many options in our little space, but I have always thought it would be lovely to fill a tree with ten or twenty of these and watch the frenzy it would be sure to create.