I saw this lovely craft on Gardenmama for making natural bird feeders and thought it would be a perfect activity for a cold afternoon. The combination of seeds, pine cones and peanut butter was sure to delight with the added bonus of creating some nice feeders for hungry birds.
Nicole’s pictures are always so beautiful they inspire me to emulate her projects, or at least entertain the possibility, but of course my reality is never quite as picturesque as my imaginings. My toddler boy makes life somewhat challenging when it comes to serene crafting and I often lack the patience required to manage his enthusiasm. He doesn’t see an issue with scattered seeds or worry about sharing with his brother. For him diving in is all that counts, there is no end goal, no purpose, just the now.
I wish I could share his Zen approach to life but someone has to clean up afterwards and that someone is me. That tends to crimp my joie de vivre somewhat, leaving me viewing our projects from a less enthusiastic perspective. Thank goodness for photography.
When I look back through the photographs of our seed scattering session I am caught by the little fingers, the colours, the textures of seeds and cones. A world of life on my table while outside merges into monochrome. There is a simple sameness to winter that I love but here, in my kitchen, the scene is every changing. It may not be as serene or tidy or communal as I would like but it is our life. Sticky, messy, muddled and filled with good intentions. This is us.
Perfectly imperfect.
Emmalina and Her Unfeasibly Large Bonnet 
We love making these! And the kiddos insist on checking them every day until they are all empty. Looks like you had a great, fun project!
hmmmm… That last comment was from me, not my hubby 😉
It was good fun and I’m looking forward to seeing if any feathered friends decide to snack on them : )
This is a great idea! We don’t find peanut butter so easily in my area, but I’ll have a try at it with simple butter! Thanks for the post!
I’m glad you enjoyed it Valerie! I’m pretty sure you could use any other nut butter (which you could whizz yourself if you have a blender or food processor) or even use fat from cooking.
I’m quite hungry right now, and would happily munch on one of those pinecones.
They do have a pleasing granola quality but I’d stick with the banana bread if I were you!
I so intended to make more bird ornaments this year–but we ended up only making popcorn & cranberry wreaths. Perhaps you’ve inspired me to make a few before the weather warms up!
Popcorn wreaths sound fun too, I’ll have to give that a try!
Of course I loved the photos here, but I loved your writing even more! “It may not be as serene or tidy or communal as I would like but it is our life. Sticky, messy, muddled and filled with good intentions. This is us. Perfectly imperfect.”
That just filled up my heart this morning…
Thank you for your lovely comment Sofia, it made my day!