In Sweden, around Easter, we have a tradition of bringing in twigs and decorating them. The traditional decorations are feathers and the problem with this is that when you buy the typical coloured ones for Easter, they may come from tormented animals. Almost all feathers on the market are real feathers and very few are synthetic. In 2009 it was revealed that the feathers very often are plucked from living animals (imagine how that must feel!!). Today most feathers on the market come from turkeys and the turkey industry is purely miserable. If you want to dig deeper into the subject you may do that here.

This year we decided to go feather free. Instead we decorated our twigs with ribbons in different colours and with different patterns. Whenever I receive a gift wrapped with ribbon I save it in my crafting box. If you don’t have a stock of ribbons at home I am sure it would also look magnificent with strips from fabric in different colours!

A very fun and easy DIY-project is to make your own bird feeders. Making a bird feeder is a great way to canalise your creativity. I like to make it simple so that all the family can join in. Even though it feels good to provide the birds with something to eat, I enjoy more to actually watch them eat it. Placing your bird feeder at a spot where you can sit back and watch, with a good distance  in-between, is a very nice activity to do with your kids. Make sure to bring your binocular and notebook. You are then able to document everything with pictures and writing. It will be a super fun and easy study of nature!

The bird feeder above is made of peanuts, dried apricots and grapes. It is sewn together with some needle and thread. Leave enough thread to tie it to a tree branch. You may use whatever fruit and nuts you have at home. The only requirement is that it should be workable with a thread and needle. This bird feeder is suitable for anyone big enough to handle a needle.

But if you are not yet old enough to deal with needles or if you are just after something very quick and simple, I have the bird feeder for you! Crab an orange, split it in halves and remove the pulp. Fill it with your seed of choice and it is done, as simple as that!