Making bird feeders

The attendance was sparse for a fun event at the Golden Hour Senior Center.

On Thursday, only two seniors showed up for the JELLO bird feeder event, but they sure had a good time.

Carol Lowell and Barb Little were following GHSC activity coordinator Kelly Harsha's instructions on how to make bird feeders out of bird seed and unflavored Knox JELLO.

First, Harsha made the JELLO. Once it was at the right consistency, not too hard and not too soft, she added the seeds.

The residents took over from there. They stirred the seeds until the JELLO and seeds were combined.

Next, they started forming the mixture into balls, while Harsha dumped some out onto a baking sheet.

Harsha then pressed the mixture to make it stick together before using cookies cutters of various shapes including, trees, cats and bows, to cut different bird feeder designs out.

Once the feeders were molded, the group had to wait for them to harden. They then poked a straw through the bird feeder to make a hole for the ribbon. Once the ribbon was pulled through the feeder, it was tied.

Harsha said now it is ready for them to hang outside.

Little enjoyed her first visit to the senior center and said she would definitely be back for more fun activities. She found out about this program through a flyer.

"This sounded fun," Little said.

Little was concerned about the mess they were making with the birdseed.

"I was wondering what the janitors are going to think of us," Little said.

Harsha reassured Little that one good part about the project is once the bird seed dries it is really easy to vacuum up.

Lowell said the end project almost looked like a necklace.

"I can't wear it around my neck or I'd be dive bombed by a sparrow," she said.

Harsha said she came up with this idea from when she was a den mother for the Boy Scouts. She said the children loved this project and it seemed that the seniors who attended felt the same way.

Some of the bird feeders didn't make it to the final stage. For various reasons, they fell apart. Harsha told the residents not to worry about it.

"Anything that's not used the birds will still eat," Harsha said. "They don't care if it looks pretty. They will still eat it."