If you knit or crochet, you have probably wondered to yourself what you could do to put your yarn scraps to good use. I have one option for you: set up a bird nesting station! Not only do you get to use up your scrap stash, but you get the enjoyment of watching birds make a nest right outside your window!
At SNAP! Conference, Home Depot gave out some of the kits that they use for their Kids Workshops. I picked up a toolbox kit for my daughter and a birdhouse kit for my son. We put the birdhouse together following the kit directions, and then my son painted it with acrylic paint.
To make our own bird nesting material holder, we picked up a suet cage from the pet section of the home improvement store.
A family member of mine makes beautiful woven afghans, and he always has tons of yarn scraps left over. He has donated quite a lot of these scraps to me. I am still working on what to do with all of them. (Ideas are appreciated.)
Yarn scraps are great bird nest material, just make sure there aren’t any scraps longer than 8 inches as they can pose a threat to the bird. We filled the suet holder as full as possible, and then clicked it shut.
Our suet holder came with a hanging chain, but you can also hang the nester with twine or rope.
Before we ventured outside, I added some eye hooks and wire to my son’s birdhouse so that we could hang it outside.
The birdhouse has windows on each side that will give us glimpses of the nest should we be lucky enough to have a bird make its home there.
I hung the nester and the birdhouse on a double shepherd’s hook outside of our dining room window. My kids and I can keep an eye out to see if any birdies visit and take some materials to build their spring nests.
I think my kids have looked for a nest every hour on the hour since we put it up. I keep trying to convince them that we will be more successful in our bird watching if they would be more quiet, but it hasn’t sunk in yet.
As it gets warmer outside, we might add a bird bath or bird feeder outside as well, so we can keep our feathered friends around all summer long.
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Thanks, Jessica
Make sure that yarn used is natural fibre. Acrylic is not good as it doesn’t retain heat and when it gets wet it doesn’t dry out quickly. Also 8″ is far too long for the yarn pieces. 4″-6″ is ideal. 8″ is getting a bit long and is more difficult for bird to handle and wind around nest. Also risk of getting tangled up in it, as well as the babies could. Love the idea of the suet cage for yarn