Simplicity at its finest

Sometimes the most rewarding crafts are the simplest.

When mr is gone for work, my mom IL likes to send little care boxes - things to keep us busy while he's away and surprises for the kids (and me).  In one box she placed all the tools for pinecone bird feeders - including the giant pinecones (which was good, since the ones that fall in our backyard are kind of puny).

It struck me that I had never done this simple craft with my kids before.  And fall is really the best time for it.

We made our bird feeders the way they've been made for... decades?  Centuries?  I'm really not sure, but surely for a VERY LONG TIME, anyway.  

We smeared peanut butter all over the pinecone.

We rolled the pinecone in birdseed.

We let them sit for a little while to kind of harden.

I cut some twine and tied the twine to the stem of the pinecone in a pretty little bow.

 You really can't get a whole lot easier than that.  The kids especially liked smearing the peanut butter - of course.  And, not surprisingly I suppose, but disappointingly, I can't find my photos of them hanging on our porch.
I thought they made very sweet little decorations on into winter last year.  The kids would wake up and check the feeders - to see if any seed was gone or if perhaps they could catch a bird in the act.

We only saw a few birds try them out, but it was fun, and the kids were pretty proud of their creations.

Which only serves as yet another reminder to me that sometimes it's really best to go back to basics.

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