Crafts are for the Birds. Literally!

Did you know that March is National Craft Month?  Hearing that makes me get goose bumps.  Not in that “I’m so excited” way, but in that “I’m gonna pee my pants with nervousness” kind of way.   I run from scissors and glue guns; I hide from needles and sewing machines.   But, as fortune would have it, I gave birth to a child that likes to get his craft on.  Woe is me!

To manage these two conflicting personality types, I scour Pinterest, magazines, and the blogs of those more crafty than I for tips on how to encourage my child’s creative tendencies without forcing me to get too artsy myself.  This is how I stumbled upon this little craft:  peanut-butter, toilet-roll, bird-feeders.  “This,” I thought, “I can manage.”  And, let’s be honest – anytime peanut butter is involved I get a little excited.

Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to make these easy bird feeders with ingredients you likely already have.

Now, I don’t keep toilet paper or paper towel rolls. Perhaps, I should. Instead, I just unrolled a wrapping paper roll and used that.  Spread peanut butter on the rolls. We used Reduced-Fat Creamy, but I’m thinking that any kind of nut butter should work.

Roll the gooky rolls into bird seed.

They’re ready to drape on branches. If you have a dog, you might want to make sure they are out of their reach. My pup seemed to really think these rolls looked good enough to chomp on.

Now, that we’ve completed a craft that truly is “for the birds,” let’s go ahead and make ourselves a tasty treat with that peanut butter we already have out.

Banana-Grahams – Named not only after my son (Graham), but also because of the graham cracker component.

The ingredients: Graham crackers, peanut (or any nut) butter, Chiquita bananas and jelly.

The process: Lay out your crackers.  Top half with peanut butter and slices of Chiquita banana. Top the other halves with jelly. Sandwich together and devour!

I hope all of your little birdies get full bellies today!