Bird Feeder

    About two months ago I attended a local Arts and Craft Fair/ Farmer's Market that happens annually near my home.  One of the vendors had little homemade bird feeders made mostly out of 1by 2's and 3's and mesh wiring.  They were cute, practical, and seemingly inexpensive to make so I studied the feeders and decided to try my hand at building one soon.  I kept a look out for scraps of wood my husband would bring home from his many remodeling jobs and Mother's Day weekend I decided it was time to create the feeder since cardinals, blue jays, and red- winged black birds were gracing the yard daily!

    I searched through the scrap wood pile and found a number of pieces that would work perfectly for my feeder and then set off to find a skill saw in the shed to begin. Somehow, with the multitude of tools my husband owns, I was unable to locate a saw.  Since he has been working on a large job I assumed all tools were with him for the day.  Suddenly, I had to revisit my bird feeder plans.  

    In the corner of one of our sheds Justin has a dozen or so logs stored up to use for creating sculptures (once he has both a bigger shop and more time).   My two or three creative genes started up.  I had logs and I had chisels.  Thus, the new, impromptu bird feeder plan was birthed.  The new plan consisted of using a chisel to create a circular recession a half inch deep at the top that could be filled with bird feed (in this case safflower seeds for cardinals) and then, in a very rustic way, sit nestled between a couple of nandina shrubs right out front of our living room window.  I set to work removing parts of the wood and about thirty minutes later, my feeder was sitting in its new home.  

   

    While I don't typically do any woodworking/ chiseling/ sculpting (Justin is the artistic and creative one in this match) I really enjoyed the simplicity of the little project and working with the wood.  Justin promises to teach me more about carving correctly and efficiently in the future, but for now I can mark "Making My Own Bird Feeder" off of the to do list.  

    Now, I'm just waiting for those cardinals to start fluttering around the feeder for a delightful show in front of our window!