Happy Spring everyone!
I was reading about nest building supply stations that people make, usually out of mesh onion bags or an empty suet feeder, or simply scattering the supplies in your backyard. I loved the idea of using tiny fabric scraps, fluff and yarn to encourage nest building in my yard, but the suggestions were just not....crafty enough! So I enjoyed making this over the weekend and wanted to share my idea with everyone.....
Wanna make one too?
Supplies:
-Attractive woven structure of your choice.
(I found a pack of 4 bamboo plates at a dollar store....but any sort of woven basket or wreath should do.)
-Garden shears
-Craft scissors
-tweezers or needle nose pliers
-Yarn needle
-Yarn or twine (natural fibers are best, especially wool)
-bits of fabric, fleece, cotton batting (no more than one inch wide and six inches long...it can strangle or entangle birds)
-Wool roving
-(I didn't use this, but I read that you can use pet hair too...or hair clippings. Just make sure hairs are short an unable to tangle around birdie toes!)
-Scavenged twigs, dry moss and brush from your yard. I used flexible twigs, ornamental grass, iris leaves, tufts of dry grass, soft pine branches, etc....just don't pick from any areas that you know have poison ivy!
-Items NOT to use: dryer lint, long string, fishing line, anything plastic! I also read that birds tend to avoid anything colored bright red. Keep in mind that this stuff might all blow in your yard, so if you don't want to stare at bright blue flannel bits in your shrubs all summer, try something that blends in.
-Lay some of your long twigs and grass around the circular edge of the plate until you like how it looks. Thread your yarn needle with a long piece of smooth twine or yarn. Tie an end securely onto the brim of the plate. Sew large stitches around the edge of your plate or basket, covering the branches and securing them to the plate. These branches are too large for the birds, they serve as "pockets" to stuff everything else. Keep the stitches large and really spaced out.
-Weave around strips of cloth and pieces of yarn under the stitches, in the branch spaces, or use your tweezers or yarn needle to thread them into the weave of the basket/plate. Make them secure enough that a soft breeze won't free the materials, but loose enough that a bird could easily pluck it free.
-Tuck in wool, fluff, moss, etc, and rethread your yarn needle. Sew on top of that to secure it in, once again with big stitches. You can make a star design like I did on the top if you want. Add as much as you want.
-Thread more yarn and tie a long tail on the left and right side of the plate. Tie it to a tree trunk securely, out of reach of predators (cats, etc.), in a quiet/sheltered area where you can observe from a window.
I just put mine out this morning, birds are supposed to be really nesting in mid march, so go get started now!
