Hello!
I hope the year has started well for you and you've been able to enjoy some bright moments - both literally and metaphorically!
We've had a real highlight moment last week thanks to the wonderful team at The Social Giraffe. At the end of a free Pinterest training event, attended online by over 1,200 people, we were awarded the top prize and have been gifted membership on their VIP course starting in February! It has already been incredibly helpful to learn from Katie, Philippa and the team, so we are really excited about all that's ahead the next couple of months.
As we give our Pinterest account a professional overhaul, you can still find all the previous pins but they're now located in the Ideas We've Collected board where you can browse sections from Egg Box Animals to Upcycled Plastic Bottle Flowers to Words and Thoughts on 'Hope'... and so much more! You can also see the first of our brand new pins, featuring the beautiful watercolour cards of our maker, Nikki Duffy. Let us know what you think!
The New Year can be a good moment to pause, to think back and to look forward. So we're really pleased to welcome back Jess to share her guidance on how we can do this in our Contemplate section. We're also getting ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend so we're sharing a range of bird feeder projects for all ages and concentration spans below...
Love,
Ruth
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Last year was the first time we'd got involved with the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch and we really enjoyed it! All you need to do is spend an hour over the weekend counting the birds you see on your balcony, in your garden or in your local park.
Some of you may remember our previous attempts at bird feeders, and they were fun but not as successful as we'd hoped - mainly due to our hungry squirrel neighbours. But we've not given up and this year have had fun trying a few new ideas to treat our feathery friends...
The most simple and fun to do with little ones was halving apples and scooping out a hole in each half. We then mixed some nuts with some peanut butter and filled the holes in our apples with the mixture. Lastly we strung them up along the washing line with a bit of string tied round them like a parcel!
My very favourite to do was a craft I've seen pictures of before and wanted to give a go - the cup and saucer feeder that allows birds to alight and enjoy a lovely spillage of seeds. I've kept an eye out in charity shops for a while and finally found the perfect set - pretty and botanical themed! The only tricky part is gluing the cup onto the saucer but I found a bit of gorilla glue worked brilliantly, then all that was needed was a bit of ribbon (of course some string would be absolutely fine) to hang it up and a generous pouring of seed.
As many of you will know, I find it incredibly difficult to throw away 'useful' things and it's even worse when they have sentimental value! I have kept a few favourite but broken mugs with the aim of repurposing them and was delighted to come across the idea to make them into bird feeders. All you need is your mug, a twig that is 4/5cm longer than your mug is deep, some bird seed and suet. The recommendation I followed was to use 2 parts bird seed to one part suet. You melt the suet then stir in the bird seed so it is all well coated. Checking that your stick is upright against the inside edge of your mug, on the opposite side to the handle, you then spoon in your mixture. Pop it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight and it's ready to hang on a branch or wherever is handy for your local birds to find it.
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