Toilet Paper Roll Wild Bird Treat

            Our state has experienced what I believe to be some of the coldest temperatures and received more snow/ice so far this winter than any other that I can remember.  It has been kind of rough.  Sure…not nearly as bad as folks who live farther north, but in our defense—we’re not equipped for large amounts of snowfall and constant below zero (or very close thereto) temps in my area.

            This means that my little family is still holed up in the house and my children are eager to be actively doing something different.  I’ve been searching for simple projects we can do, to help break up the monotony, and Monday ended up being a good day for us to accomplish this.  I decided on one that is very appropriate for the winter—Toilet Paper Roll Wild Bird Treat.  Not only does this repurpose empty toilet paper rolls, which I think is awesome, but also it helps wild birds survive the tough winter.  It is often hard for them to find consistent food sources in the winter, especially when it may be covered in snow and ice.  Personally, I enjoy feeding birds year-around and have a handful of feeders outside with a variety of different seeds…and I’ll be showing you another project for wild birds soon.

            This is what you’ll need for your own project:

Wild birdseed (I chose one with a variety of seeds—sunflower, millet, etc.).

Cheerios…not a necessity, but my daughter had a cup of Cheerios when we were doing this project, and it seemed like a good thing to throw in.            

Peanut butter

Empty Toilet Paper Rolls

You’ll also need extras like a knife, a plate for rolling your TP rolls in, and a pan or some type of container to place your finished product.

Once you’re ready to begin, carefully place seed on your rolling surface.  The old 13x9 pan I used for this project happened to have a lid so it worked great for rolling our TP rolls in.  Throw in some Cheerios if you like. 

With your knife spread a GOOD layer of peanut butter on the toilet paper roll.  This is NOT enough:

The amount of peanut butter I put on the roll  apparently was not enough.  It’s the one on the right, not that you probably needed me to tell you:

Not really impressive.  You’ll see attempt #2 (on the left) looked a lot better.

            Another tip for you:  I didn’t get good coverage with the seed when I just rolled the TP roll in the seed.  Instead, we placed the roll down in the seed, and used our hands to pour seed over the top like this:

            Then gently use your hands to press it in to the peanut butter.  Turn the roll, letting the excess fall off as you continue to cover and press all the way around.

            We ended up with seven rolls, and doing those with the “help” of a 4-year-old and 2-year-old took quite a while, but not a great deal of time.  It was actually a good distraction for us and they LOVED getting their hands in the birdseed.  Speaking of, if you’re doing this with littles as young as mine, just be prepared for birdseed EVERYWHERE.  Although it was in good keeping with all the crumbs I had on my floor from breakfast, and my daughter's Cheerio break while we were working on this, but a quick sweep took care of it.

            Once you’ve completed your rolls you can either put the rolls directly on your tree branches, or you could slip some string, ribbon, etc. through the rolls, tie it, and then hang on a branch.  For now I'm just planning to slip ours on branches.

I wanted to show photos of them hanging outside, but our day filled up and we didn’t get them out the same day.  Planned to do it Tuesday, but we received an ice storm, so I guess it’s a good thing I was delayed or all of our work may have quickly ended up on the ground.  They are waiting for the bird once it is not raining ice and we look forward to watching the birds enjoy them.

This was also a great opportunity for a homeschool lesson about winter, and birds.  We talked about the types of birds in our area, which would most likely visit our toilet paper roll treats, and looked at pictures of those birds.  Hope that you enjoy this project as much as we did!  Would love to hear what types of birds visit your toilet paper roll treats!

Winter Weather Is Here

We've had a few cold days here and there, but thus far our winter had been mild.  Until yesterday that is!  Temperatures in the teens and 20's arrived and have stayed, along with ice, snow, and more ice.  Yikes!  High for today is going to be an "amazing" 28 degrees, with more wintry weather on the way, I believe.

So, whenever the weather is like this, and I'm holed up in my home (after asking the hubby to make the all important milk and bread run before this weather came in), there are two things I overwhelmingly have the urge to do:  

1.  Make a huge pot of soup
2. Crochet until I can't crochet anymore

To address my first desire I am making a simple, comforting pot of Potato Soup today.  There are many wonderful potato soup recipes out there--and there are days when I'm feeling like lots of extras in my potato soup.  However, there are days like today when I'm confined to the house and all I have on hand is the small list of ingredients I need to make this soup, and it does the trick in a pinch.  Here is what you'll need:

Casey's Simple Potato Soup:

5-6 small whole Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 stalks of celery, diced
1 small onion, diced (opt)
3-4 cups whole milk (more or less to achieve your desired thickness)
1/2 stick butter
1 Tbsp flour
1-2 cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Add any or all of these delicious toppings, or whatever else your heart desires:
Bacon bits, or chopped and cooked bacon
Cheese
Chives
Sour cream

Directions:
Clean and peel potatoes, cut into pieces; chop celery. Place both in salted, boiling water; cook in medium rolling boil until potatoes are tender when pierced with fork (not falling apart). Drain and mush with potato masher, leaving small chunks for texture if desired.  Return to stock pot or transfer to slow-cooker. In separate bowl, mix milk, onion, flour, water, garlic and butter.  Add to potatoes and celery.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to boil uncovered in stock pot, or bring to simmer in 5-6 quart slow-cooker.  If in stock pot on stove, bring to boil, then reduce to LOW heat and simmer until thickened. Simmer in slow-cooker approximately 3 to 4 hrs on HIGH, or 6 to 7 hrs on LOW. Serve with your favorite toppings.

For my second urge, I am finishing up a few crochet projects.  A poncho for my daughter, and a cowl that I will probably keep for myself.  I'm using a variegated yarn for the cowl and I'm very pleased with the results so far.  I look forward to sharing pics of both when they're done!