Friday, December 4, 2009

On the 4th day... Four Calling Birds

"On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four calling birds,
three french hens,
two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree."




Hi, I'm Sherri from Design to Shine . I am very excited to be writing my first guest post here at ReDeemed! I am so honored Noel asked me to take part in sharing along with all the other very talented ladies.

Today is the Fourth Day of Christmas and I truly love crafting something up on a budget. Today my true love gave to me 4 calling birds, plus a few more!

Tradition has it that the calling birds in the song are actually 'colly' birds. In England, a coal mine is called a colliery or colly. So a colly bird is actually a black bird, due to being black as coal. A gift of black birds then would have meant another gift of food. The religious meaning behind the lyrics of this line are referred to as the Four Gospels or the Four Evangelists.

My four calling birds are actually red! They adorn the Christmas Tree in my home.

I decorated my tree with an entirely new theme on a handmaidens budget of $20. Here are the elements of my inspiration.


See the cute red birds? I found them several weeks ago at the Dollar Tree; 3 to a card for $1. They also had them in white.

I wasn't wild about the idea of hanging them. My vision for a natural country inspired tree had them sitting cutely on a limb. How do you get really cheap birds perched dainty on a tree limb?

Very simply with a household item. In fact, it's SO easy your kids can help. The first thing I did was snip off the gold string hanger on each bird.


Then I gathered a few clothes pins from the laundry room, along with green craft paint and a small foam brush. I painted the clothes pins and most of my fingers green to match the tree.

The cute little birdies had flimsy wire on the bottom to wrap around a limb. So I snipped it off from under their tiny feet.

Heat up your hot glue gun. Little ones will need help with this step!

Put a dot of glue on the painted clothes pin and hold the bird in place for a minute. I faced all my birds toward the end that clips.


And now you have Four Calling Birds ready for your tree, garland or wreath!


I actually made a total of twelve to place on my tree. Which is the perfect pop of red, along with the berries.

If you would like to find out how I put together a totally new theme tree on a $20 budget and to learn about pine cone pickin' down in the south, stop by my blog Design to Shine. I love visitors and new friends! May each of you have a wonderful Christmas season full of joy and love. Remember, It doesn't have to cost a pretty penny to SHINE like one!

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Don't forget about our gift certificate giveaway - with a drawing, from ALL the comments on all the days!

To enter:
  • Post a comment (1 per day – so after you check out the next day’s blog, come back here and enter again – just like the song builds every day, so do your chances!
  • If you haven't already, post the button (then a comment letting me know)
  • Blog, Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway with the link (then a comment letting me know)
  • Follow me (then a comment letting me know)
  • BONUS entry! Visit Sherri's blog and look around, then come back and leave a comment to tell us what you like best!
The fine print:
  • You must leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry – this is the only way to keep it fair and straight (and keep me from having to kill a tree printing them out and cutting them apart!)
  • All giveaways will be held on December 13th
  • A random number generator will be used to determine the winner(s)
  • If your e-mail address is not publicly listed on your profile, please include it with your comment(s)
  • We reserve the right to re-draw if the first winner does not respond within 48 hours (please don’t let this happen – that would just be sad!)

32 comments:

  1. I so love these clever ideas on a budget, it looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

    Smiles,

    Carol Casey
    jcdas@msn.com

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  2. Love this craft!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I love, love, love the pine cone tree! I was looking at them at the store the other day and now I know how to make one for only $5!!!!!! You can't beat that!

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  4. Oh yay, enter me. does this count??? :)

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  5. What a great way to have four wonderful birds to perch on your tree. Thanks for the tut!

    Smiles~
    Marilyn

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  6. I am now a follower of you blog!

    Debbie
    rlmdam@sbcglobal.net

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  7. Love the birds on the Christmas tree!

    Debbie
    rlmdam@sbcglobal.net

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  8. I'm already a follower of Sherri's blog (that's how I found yours) and she recently posted about an old wreath that she gave some new life to. It was so cute!

    Debbie
    rlmdam@sbcglobal.net

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  9. I posted a link to your blog on Facebook!

    Debbie
    rlmdam@sbcglobal.net

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  10. Sherry, what a great idea! I'm thinking this is just as good as making my own (probably way better and cheaper). Thanks for sharing such a wonderful idea!

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  11. I was at Sherry's blog just a couple of days ago and saw this beautiful tree. $20.00 who would have ever thought it could be done. Great tutorial and oh so smart idea. For years I just wired the feet around the limb hoping my doves wouldn't take a nose dive - this is such a smart idea.

    Hugs...Tracy

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  12. Hey Sherry. I'm a follow of yours.

    Hugs...Tracy

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  13. I bought these same little birds! I glued them on metal "roach" clips (I'm sure they have a real name, but back in the day ... ), and filled in with a little it of glitter in the bare spots. Love them!

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  14. What great tips to decorate on a budget!

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  15. The birds on the phone is hilarious!

    Smiles~
    Marilyn

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  16. Really hoping to win that gift certificate!

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  17. Those little cardinals are just too sweet!

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  18. I really really really have to get some of those birds!
    Smiles~
    Marilyn

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  19. Very pretty Christmas tree - don't know if we will put one up or not - we visit family during Christmas and our cat likes to climb the tree!

    Smiles~
    Marilyn

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  20. I love Sherrie's birds. Saw it on her blog!

    Debbie
    rlmdam@sbcglobal.net

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  21. I follow Sherri's blog..Design To Shine...and I love her easy ideas for decorating and gifts!

    Debbie
    rlmdam@sbcglobal.net

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  22. I think my cat was talking to the Four Calling Birds yesterday - well at least to the ones that were outside!

    Smiles~
    Marilyn

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  23. I haven't even decorated for Christmas. But love the tree in this post.

    Smiles~
    Marilyn

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  24. I think the four calling birds (or a lot of their relatives) are outside my house right now. I can hear them making a racket!

    Merry Christmas~
    Marilyn

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