Put a little birdhouse in your... tree

I watch more than my share of Sprout, but never on weekends, which is why I've never seen the awesomeness that is the Noodle and Doodle show. (I take it for granted that the show itself is way better than their poorly-designed, flash-happy, slow-loading, user-unfriendly website.)

On Monday I helped my favorite Lilybelle make a Bird Feeder House. I did the cutting and gluing, but the bricks are all her.

Printer-friendly directions are available here, or, see them in their entirety after the jump.




Bird Feeder House
Supplies

• 1 half-gallon cardboard carton (milk or orange juice)
• 1 long sturdy straight stick (for bird perch)
• Lots of little twigs (to make the roof)
• Red and yellow paint
• String
• Birdseed
• Small piece of rectangle-shaped kitchen sponge (to paint the bricks on the house)
• Clothespin (for holding the sponge, to avoid messy hands)
• All-purpose white glue
• Craft knife
• Paint brush
• 2 paper plates (for mixing the paint)

Instructions

1. Cut holes in the carton: 2 rectangular holes on opposite sides for the bird to enter through, 2 small round holes (one on each size) under the rectangular holes for the perching stick, and 1 round hole through the top for threading the string through for hanging.
2. Mix some yellow paint with some white glue (about half and half). (This makes it stick to the carton and makes it waterproof).
3. Paint the carton all over with the yellow paint and glue mixture. Leave to dry.
4. Stick a small piece of rectangular kitchen sponge into a clothespin and use the clothespin as a handle. 
5. Mix together half red paint and half white glue.
6. Dip the sponge into the red paint mixture and sponge-paint little bricks all over the house. Leave to dry.
7. Push the large stick through the holes under the rectangular hole. This is pushed through from one side and right out through the opposite side. The stick should feel strong enough for the bird to use as a perch.
8. Cover the roof of the house with glue and stick little twigs onto it for the roof.
9. Thread and tie some string around the hole at the top of the house. (This is in order to hang it onto a tree.)

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