At least, the decorating I have been doing the past couple of days is for the birds. And it’s for the squirrels, and the possums, and the mice … and probably even for the coyotes who will come to eat the other critters if they aren’t quick. I know, that thought is sad, but coyotes have to eat, too.
You see, I have this stunted, ugly evergreen in my front yard. I think it was supposed to grow into a tree, but nobody ever told it that. Over the years, it has had a difficult time flourshing in the Texas weather. The back half of it died, but it keeps on growing. It reminds me of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I never had the heart to chop it down, because I figured it had suffered enough. Besides, I fantasize that when I kill plants I can hear them screaming.
You already knew I am not “normal,” so why did that surprise you?
Anyway, I decided that I would decorate that tree with edible treats for the critters. Sure, I could have just thrown this stuff on the ground and the animals would have been happy enough. But, that would have been too easy. Y’all should know by now that if there is an easy way and a complicated way to do something, I’m going to pick the latter.
Cranberry and popcorn garlands. The critters had better like them!
Did y’all string cranberries and popcorn for the Christmas tree when you were small? We did, and it was a wonderful time together as “family.” I even convinced my kids that it was fun when they were young. After a few hours of stringing, though, I decided that perhaps this was one of those Norman Rockwell types of memories … you know … it’s the way we wish things were. I wish I could tell you this was fun!
I did remember a few tricks about stringing those edibles:
- Do not string cranberries over the carpet — unless your carpet is cranberry-colored, and even then it’s probably not a good idea.
- Use short lengths of thread for the stringing and just tie the lengths together to make a longer strand. This way those who have a short attention span have the opportunity to achieve success … and the thread doesn’t get tangled (prompting you to teach your children a whole boatload of vocabulary words that you would rather they didn’t learn).
- Popcorn strings better when it is stale; it won’t crack as easily. That takes the fun out of eating all the popcorn that breaks, but it will save your sanity.
- Cranberries string better when they are fresh. OK, I know that the grocer probably froze them before he sold them to you, but by “fresh” I mean “firm.” However, if you listened to me and didn’t string those over the carpet, a squishy cranberry or three won’t be a big deal.
- Keep these strands away from the pets. It probably won’t hurt the cat or the dog to eat some popcorn and cranberries, but you won’t like it if they barf it back up on your non-cranberry-colored carpet.
I’m here to tell you that it took me awhile to get those strands of garland put together, and that it is a lot more fun to watch somebody else do the work. But, you didn’t think I would stop with just some strands of garland, did you?
Nahhh! I took that pumpernickel bread that had freezer burn and tried to cut out some stars. I wanted to toast the bread, spread peanut butter on it, dip it in bird seed, and hang it from red ribbons in the trees.
Please don't show these to Martha Stewart!
It didn’t work quite as well as I planned. I didn’t have a cookie cutter and my hand drawn attempts didn’t look much like stars. As soon as I toasted the bread, the tips broke off of the stars. After much trial and error, I said, “To heck with this noise! Birds and squirrels never learned to tell the difference between stars and squares anyway!” So I just slapped peanut butter and seeds on the whole slice and called it, “good.”
I can’t show you my tree decorated, because I can’t decorate it just yet. As sure as shootin’ the rain started at just about the time I was ready to go decorate. The birds and squirrels are lined up at the windows calling me names. But, we can’t have all those bread ornaments turning into peanut butter and bird seed pudding, can we? I’ll show you my Charlie Brown tree in a day or two. Or else, you can get you some cranberries and popcorn and have a good time of your own!
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Actual edible ornaments for the animals? You’ve got style Shelly, no question. And a heart as big as that state of Texas of yours.
.-= Robin from Israel´s last blog ..Olive Press =-.
Edible … and very ugly, but the birds won’t know the difference
Did you see I put your link to your Etsy shop on my sidebar?
I remember doing this with my mom and three siblings growing up. We’d have a real tree at Christmas and when it was over the tree was stripped of our decorations, taken outside and redecorated for the birds and squirrels. We used pine cones instead of bread and when they were empty we just “re-loaded” the pine cones. Mom also used yarn or twine and the caps off of spray cans to make little food dishes to hang in the tree too. Thanks for reminding of this. I have a huge butterfly bush that’s looking very bare…….
I thought about the pine cones, but I didn’t have any except some that were artificially scented, and I don’t think that would be good for the birds! I like the idea of using the caps, though. Thanks for sharing it!
Shelly, you do have a heart of gold!!! I’ve never actually done the cranberry/popcorn stringing, but I do have a couple of fake popcorn ball ornaments that are cranberry colored. Does that count? haha! I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have the patience to string those
.-= Jessica The Rock Chick´s last blog ..The Lost Symbol =-.
If the birds can eat those popcorn balls, then I say go for it. No, you probably don’t have the patience to string them, and your kids are too old to be able to fool them into thinking it’s fun.
But, the birds will appreciate it.
You could get really fancy and make your own suet, http://www.attractwildbirds.com/feedingbirds/how-to-make-suet.htm
has some yummy recipes. Can’t say I have done suet, but we did the pinecones, peanut butter and seed here with cub scouts years ago. Seem the squirrels loved them and ran off into the woods to share (hoard). Enjoy your wildlife when the rain ends! Or should I say, your cheap entertainment for your cats!!
.-= Jennymcb´s last blog ..I Know Why Healthcare is Expensive =-.
Cheap entertainment for the cats
You so have me pegged, don’t you? I haven’t tried suet, and I didn’t have any pine cones. Maybe corn cobs?
This a great project to do with kids…..yes I ma saying there is a kid in you.
We love to feed the birds and just got 14 inches of snow and flocks of birds at the suet feeder. My husband likes to keep a heater in the pond so the birds have water to drink.
Thanks Sheila
.-= Sheila Atwood´s last blog ..21 Lessons I Learned In 2009 That Gave Me The Greatest Return On My Investment =-.
Well, Sheila, honey, we KNEW there was a kid in me … I never grew up. Now your husband sounds like a gem! Keeping a heater in the pond….only a good hearted soul would do that.
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