We love our candy houses so much, we thought it would be fun to make our neighborhood birds some too!
Of course the “candy” we used was more suitable for birds, but some of it also doubled as a yummy afternoon snack for the boys.
Most of the time my boys enjoy a craft just fine but are just as content to clean up and move on to a video game or a movie afterward.
This one though…I couldn’t get them to stop! After an hour, I insisted we put it outside and just be done (with the mess ;)). I’m not sure if the element of service to our little feathered friends made the difference, but they really put a lot of thought into their houses and had a great time.
The only prep I did was to hot glue their graham cracker houses together. An idea I got from Smashed Peas and Carrots on instagram! Genius! I also glued them to the cardboard  base so it would be sturdy for when we put it in the tree. The only thing I would do different next time is to glue them to separate cardboard bases. Every time one boy wanted to move his house around, the other one would have to move too…. (wish I would have thought of that!)
The ingredients are simple:
sturdy cardboard base
graham crackers for the houses
pretzels
bird seed
cheerios
creamy peanut butter
hot glue (to assemble the houses)
Then decorate away!
Owen buried some yummy “treasure” in the front yard next to his house for the birds to find. Reid and I worked hard on a pretzel fence we kept in place with copious amounts of creamy peanut butter.
We put our houses in a bare, winter bush with lots of branches and made sure it was securely nestled in there. That way the birds can perch easily and snack on their little “candy” houses.
Aren’t these little houses so cute?
We made these last week. We got to see some evidence of bird snacking but it didn’t last long. We have had a ton of rain and snow for the past several days, which destroyed them. The boys enjoyed it so much, we might repeat this activity after the holidays.
I hope you find time to create and play with those you love.
Merry crafting!
That is so cute! It would be fun any time of year, really. And I'm pretty sure my 14 y/o brother would have fun with it, too. thanks for the great ideas!
How fun! We had such a blast building our gingerbread houses. We are definitely going to make these!
What a genius idea! Someday when I have kids, we will be sure to make these! 🙂
This is such an awesome idea, I am a little jealous I didn't think of it myself! 🙂 We will definitely be doing these this winter break! Thanks for the inspiration.
Too darn cute Delia. My two year old daughter has been calling our Gingerbread House a Birdhouse all season. What a great way to bring the two ideas together.
Aww, ginger-bird-houses! Those are so cute!
That is such a cute idea!! Love it!
what a great idea for kids. I never would have thought of it.
neat
Looks so Great!
Fun project, Delia! My second thought looking at the pictures was "oh, no…the tabletop!" what finish do you have on it? it seems durable.
What a wonderful idea to combine the holidays with something thoughtful for the animals. Love it.
this is really really cute
Will the hot glue harm the birds? I wouldn’t think they would try to eat it, but maybe.?
hmm. Good question. I can’t say I know definitively but my guess is no. The glue is non-toxic and comprises such a small part of the whole bird feeder. If you are uncomfortable using hot glue, you could use royal icing?