Braided Newspaper Bird Toy

Lucy is an aggressive newspaper ripper-upper. If there was a contest for shredding paper she'd win for sure - I always compliment her on what a fine mess she's made and what a good nest builder she'd be LOL. To try to get her to stop ripping the papers that line her cage (which makes a big mess of bird poop, fruit, veggies, and newspaper shreds! Disgusting...) I made her a hanging paper braid hoping that'd be more interesting. She loved it - Dave said I'm just encouraging her to shred paper but I think it's a good distraction and she enjoyed it... it still made a big mess of course  but at least it was a clean big mess!

Cut strips of newspaper, clip a few strips together at the top. Braid until about 6" to go and then add in additional paper strips - along the lines of french braiding your hair if you know how to do that. Braid until it's long enough to form into a circle then hold closed with a short cable tie (or twine). I made two circles and joined them together, then hung in her cage. Cheapest bird toy short of pepper tree sticks, q-tips, or any of my stuff that she grabs off the counter before I can stop her!

she has a much larger cage (I call it her condo) that she sleeps in,
but she loves to be in this "baby cage" during the day and we move
her around to different parts of the house. 

3.7.18: healthy cauliflower soup
3.7.17: making breadcrumbs
3.7.16: foam shamrock indoor wreath


Happy moment ~ watching the bird play with the toy I made her, of course!

Framed Bats

Check out this inexpensive simple Halloween decor project that took me about 5 minutes to make! Another nice and easy thing for me to add to Ronda's October display table.

Supplies:
-dollar store frame
-cardstock to fit inside the frame
-a piece of newspaper, burned around the edges
-3 bat silhouettes
-gluestick


Directions:
-carefully burn the edges of a piece of newspaper. This was the hardest part (and it's easy). Obviously use caution when doing this, you'll be amazed how fast the paper burns! I did it with a lighter over our big kitchen sink, burn a small portion at a time and be ready to blow it out quickly - watch for the little embers that fly away so they don't land outside of the sink.
-glue the paper to the cardstock.
-punch or cut out bat silhouettes from black cardstock and glue on top of the paper.
-put in dollar store frame.
-display!

Found this cute idea here. 


one year ago today: funky pumpkin decorating by Brooke
two years ago today: BOO painted mug