Cait,you'll have to get someone you know near a Winn Dixie to buy you a set there,lol! You can get a dinner plater,cup,and saucer for 3.99,and you can also get it in Castle Pink for the same price. Even if they break in transit,it won't be a bad thing! I send my son-in-law boxes for 8.10(no matter how much the box weighs),so it might not be a bad price for some mosaic pieces. I use the clear spray sealer from Wal Mart,I made some birdhouses last year for outside use,and they're all doing good. I put several coats on them. The perch does look like a glass knob,but it's a large acrylic prism bead,I got maybe 20 in a box at Michaels for 4.99,different shapes in the box. You can use the 40% off coupon and get it even cheaper. They're pretty,lots of uses for them. Ummmmm,it's also the same kind of bead my poor water faucet 'threw up' lol :) Thanks for the inspiration everybody.

Wow! Thanks everyone for your nice comments! Made my day! You ALL inspire me so much to think "beyond the box". Before I joined the forum, I would have never thought to place a paperweight in my garden. You keep my creative juices flowing. Thank you for inspiring me! I "haunt" shopgoodwill, but Carol has banned me from it for awhile! LOL My last purchase before the ban (LOL) was a wood squirrel holding a brass nut. Can't wait to get it! Should look cool on our country porch. Karen and Luna, I love the Miscellaneous, Home Decor, Collectibles, Figurines, and Glass categories. It's amazing what you can find there but some things are pricey with shipping so I try to be careful. :o) Thanks again, everyone! It's so nice that summer vacation is finally here, and I can spend time in the gardens! Bear Hugs! Kirk

It is the most amazing thing if you get box you can open and see the babies or handle them each day to see the startling amount of growth/changes every single day! Our boxes are right under the power line and the parents will sit on the line and watch us and sometimes chirp, but they are a- ok with their babies being handled as long as you don't let them get chilled and are gentle. I learned the hard way to stop trying to hold them after 12 days when i made one batch fledge early. Kept trying to put them back in, but it was too late and the parents really got mad about that. I don't think we've ever had a nest that went much beyond 16 days though, so it's interesting that they are supposed to stay in 21 days. I don't even open the box after day 12. Yes, predators love blues (any baby bird). When you figure out where you want to put a house, make sure cats, coons or snakes can't get to it. Grease the pole or use a baffle or mount the box in such a way that nothing can get in. BTW, the big boxes sell very reasonably priced cedar blue houses- like $12 last i looked. You may very well get some competition from titmice or chickadees- they all like the same size, so you could get multiples and hang them (titmice are the fiercest mamas- they won't budge and will hunker down and hiss at you!). Blues happily nest close to the others but won't nest close to their own kind. And they love to have a choice of boxes. Some years i've had 3 out of my 4 boxes full. The only ones you may want to evict if the get into the box would be the alien house finches. Knock on wood, i've never had it be a problem, but have head from others that it can be.

I've seen a couple bluebirds already, too. Several of my neighbors have BB houses, and I get the benefits! Here where I live is a new development with new smallish trees. I've been here 5 years and the trees have grown and we are seeing more and more birds. House finches and Goldfinches mostly, but in the last week I've had a cardinal, a mocking bird and 4 Red Wing Blackbirds. Bird seed has gotten very expensive. Sue