Browsing around The Old Farmer’s Almanac website, I came across these instructions for making a wreath filled with things birds love to eat, and it inspired me to come up with my own bird feeder wreath. This is a great time of year to be thinking about birds, because the pickens’ are pretty slim out there for them. And while they will certainly apreciate the snack, if you place your wreath in front of a window, you’ll enjoy watching their antics.
Supplies
- Grapevine wreath from a craft store
- Florists wire from a craft store
- Dried flower heads and dried grass seed heads
- Branches from shrubs with winter berries (such as Holly or Bittersweet)
- A large apple, sliced into wedges
- A couple small bunches of grapes
- Raffia
Instructions
Start by intertwining the flower heads and grasses into the grapevine. Next stick the shrub branches into the wreath, use the wire to attach the branches if necessary. Then, wire slices of apples firmly to wreath. Finally, affix the bunches of grapes to the wreath.
If you want to get extra love from the birds, slather peanut butter on a couple of pine cones and roll the cones in a bird seed mix. Use the florists wire to attach the cones to the wreath.
Use several strands of raffia to tie your wreath to a tree branch or railing near one of your windows. Sit back and enjoy the show!
Related Posts
- Grow Your Own Birdhouse: A Great Container Gardening Project to do with Kids!
- Welcoming Wildlife to the Garden
- How to Attract Bug-Eating Birds to Your Garden
Photo Credits: 60 in 3
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
creative I like!
but what do you use to make the birds go away?
Great Post Fern,
and a nice decorative idea too, even after the seedheads and fruit are gone. Also to remain sustainable seems you could use it over and over again. ! Great Idea ! reminds me of a post I recently wrote about Bird sandwich’s! you can read it here if you want to. http://nyhomesteader.blogspot.com/2010/01/bird-sandwich-bird-watching-story.html
Peace and Prosperity,
Rich @ NY Homesteader
Interesting idea. I wonder how well it works at attracting the birds?
Bob–A scarecrow?
Melanie–I don’t know? I’ve never had a hard time attracting birds, it seems that there are a lot of them here. If your balcony has lots of plants on it, I am sure that would help make it look more hospitable to birds.
Another good post! (I’m reading backwards now that I’m here again). We feed birds yearround and garden with them in mind. They’re going through copious amounts of feed, especially the seed-and fruit-embedded suets, during our current cold snap, and provide my (indoor) cats with hours of entertainment watching ‘bird television.’
Fern, a scarecrow could work, but what about one of these: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/77/204235369_674c6dc015.jpg?v=0
Sounds lovely. Unfortunately the squirrels around here would park acorns in amongst the grapevines and devour everything else (maybe even the wire). They’ve even been spotted dangling from the hummingbird feeder but thus far can’t figure out how to get to the nectar inside.