Outside Garlands

We did our tree a little differently this year, kind of.  We have an inside tree that is about 5 feet tall, and we got a matching one to put outside for the birds and squirrels in the front yard.  Then I got some cranberries and nuts in the shell and made some popcorn.  Then we made garlands for the outside animals.  I drilled holes in the nuts and then the kids helped me string everything to make garlands.  We had probably 20 feet of edible garlands.  I tied the tree to the birdfeeder pole in the front yard, and then put the garlands on.  I was hoping that the outside critters would eventually eat them.  I didn't get a picture of it on day one, as I expected the decorations to stay on the tree.  I forgot, however, the true nature of squirrels.  I did all of this Friday evening.  I did not look closely at the tree on Saturday.  When we got home from church this morning, I noticed that the tree looked a little bare.  All that is left is a few cranberries on the ground.  My friends, the squirrels, must have taken the garlands somewhere.  There are no shells on the ground around the tree.  I do have some more supplies, so I will make some more and take a couple pictures right away.  But here are a couple pictures of the kids working on our project.

 Titus and Isabele got to share a coke and eat all the popcorn they wanted to while helping me string cranberries, nuts, and popcorn.

 Isabele concentrating on getting her needle in and out of the nuts.  She used a relatively blunt, thin yarn needle.  She preferred to string the nuts as she needed help piercing the cranberries.

 Titus swinging his second garland.  He was able to string everything, all on his own with his sharp needle!

Concentrate!