Home Made Bird Seed Patties!

  

    I have been looking for a 'bird seed patty' recipe that didn't include weird ingredients that I had to make an extra grocery trip for and I finally found it! This little project is great for those rainy days when you can only paint and craft for so long... my little guy loves using mixing bowls and spatulas and adding ingredients to the pot. He also loves to watch the birds from our back window- guess I shouldn't use saying 'killing two birds with one stone' in this post but we really did :)  hehe Enjoy the home made birdie patties, everyone!

Materials:

• 4 cups bird seed
•  3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons corn syrup (I used light and it worked just as well.)
• Twine or String
• Cookie Cutters (I found that the larger ones work best.)
• PAM Spray (or any brand.)
• Aluminum Foil
• Plastic Straws

    I like to pre-measure all of my ingredients so they are all ready for my little helping hands to toss into the bowl. I find the more time I involve him the more interested he is.  So allow your little ones to combine all of the ingredients: bird seed, flour, water and corn syrup.  Stir the mixture until the entire bowl is moistened.
   Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray the foil with your cooking spray. Place the cookie cutters on the cookie sheet and also spray the inside of each cutter, this will allow for easy patty removal in the end.
   Pack the cookie cutters to the brim using a spoon or a spatula and push on them to ensure the mixture has made it into all the nooks and crannies.
   Once you have used all of the bird seed mixture, use a straw to poke a hole near the top middle of each patty, you will have to manuver it back and forth to get it the whole way through.  Cut the straw up and leave  a small part of the it in each cutter so the hole wouldn't close up over night.
   Periodically pack the mixture down in each cutter so your patties will stay together longer once they are hanging outside.
  Once they have dried and are hard, pop them out of the cookie cutter and string them up where ever you want to see more birds! Ours only lasted a few days because the birds loved them so much! Next time I will only put a few outside at a time :)
   This recipe will make about 2 dozen normal size cookie cutter patties,
you can cut all the ingredients in half to make a dozen if you don't want to use that much bird seed... but remember they make cute little gifts for the grandparents!
  

Scrap Paper Project!

Scrap paper. Should I save it? Toss it? No! Don't throw it away, save it for goodness sake! If you are into crafts with your kid at all, you know what I am talking about. Those little pieces of construction paper left over after you practice cutting, gluing, etc. that really start to get on your nerves. I started doing this little project with my son to utilize all those extra scraps. Just save all your left-overs in a ziploc bag and use then when you have enough for this fun art project. When they are gone...start saving again!

 

Materials:

• Scrap paper (any old kind will do!)
•  Glue Stick
• Washable Markers

   Start by drawing a shape of an animal, letter, number, anything you can think of! I used an octopus because this is what my son requested. We did a car after that.  
   Tare up all your scraps that you have saved in your little ziploc baggie.  Make the pieces small enough so little hands can grab them and glue them on, you also want them to fit throughout the entire shape. You could even tare up longer pieces for legs, arms, etc.  Now let your child glue the little pieces of scrap onto their 'octopus.'  This project is great for hand eye coordination and can really help them with patience.
   Try to encourage them to glue 'inside the lines' and talk to them about why they are putting the pieces where they are. "Are you gluing the eyes? Good Job! Where is that green piece going? Oh cool...the tentacles!" Kids are more likely to get into something if they see that you are enjoying it, too. Enjoy this time when they will sit down and communicate with you because I am told that will not last long :)

  Do they want more?!?! Give it to them! Use your scraps from this project to add buttons to your Recycled Race Car, or add little feet to your Egg Carton Caterpillar! These are just a few of many ideas! Happy crafting, everyone! :)