I wanted a colorful display of grandchildren art for our small beach area near our lake cottage. So I bought several $1 birdhouses at Michaels. I set up painting stations all around an old outdoor picnic table and asked each of ten grandchildren to paint his or her own birdhouse. Some had polka dots, some had glued sticks on the walls, one was painted like a red barn, and still another boasted flower vines climbing up the sides. All in all, the houses were charming. I fastened hooks at the peak of each house. Then I used two shepherd's hooks stuck well into the ground to be the holding ends of an old fishing pole. The bird houses were hung all along the length of the elevated pole. Now the beach area is colorful and fun, and I have a precise memory of each of the ten grandchildren as each one signed his or her own masterpiece!
