Thanks, guys. Those glass flowers are amazing! I wish the pictures could be enlarged to see the detail. I have this vague memory that I might have seen the real ones many, many years ago when I visited Boston. They truly are exquisite works of craftmanship, and glass is such a classy material compared with Sculpey clay. It has a translucency that's hard to get with polymer clay. If I make the Sculpey clay really thin, though, the light passes through and makes the petals glow in the sunshine. I'm always striving to get this effect, but it's hard to do. When clay is pressed this thin, it tends to slump either in the forming or in the baking stage. It is definitely a labor of love, but then so is gardening for hummingbirds and feeding them. It is such a thrill to make a feeder and watch them head right for it, take a sip, and zip off, disappearing to parts unknown. Some of my flowers are quite a bit larger than life, and I sometimes chuckle to myself and wonder what those little hummingbirds are thinking when they see a Salvia coccinea that is 3x bigger than it ought to be. "Ay caramba! That's the biggest salvia I ever saw!" I've had my share of failures, but have gotten better and better at making them hummer friendly. Although I try to make them works of art, they remain, first and foremost, functioning hummingbird feeders. Here's a couple more: A NOTE TO CS7580 (Otherwise known as Connie, I think)--If you're seeing this, I just wanted you to know that I tried to send you an email by going through your member page, but I think it didn't go through. I know you were interested in trying to make your own Sculpey clay feeders, and I remembered some instructional things I hadn't mentioned in my original post that might help you with your efforts. If you're interested, maybe you can send me an email by using my member page. Hopefully, it will work for you. Once I have your email, I can get those extra instructions to you. They are very important, and I think you'll have trouble being successful without them.

Unlike the Hourglass shaped with 4 flowers and very large Bee Guards (I think it is a PP), the Hummzinger Fancies seems to have a learning curve. Not only a learning curve, but also I think they have problem seeing and finding the feeding ports. Otherwise there is no reason for hungry birds to come check it very up close and hover right above it and not feed from it. I cut out a couple of yellow flowers and stuck them on top of the feeding ports with scotch tape and guess what? it worked immediately. now, when the regulars check it out, they go to the two ports with yellow paper flowers. But there seem to be quite a lot of hummers in my area and I would like to get all the fly byers. the old feeder did this but I am not sure about the Hummzinger Fancies. I am new at this and have not had the bee problem yet. so I am thinking of painting the flowers yellow with food coloring or something else that is safe and does not smell.

How Many Feeders and Where Should I Put Them? Put out as many feeders as you are willing and, most importantly, are able to maintain. (It is even better if you also garden for hummingbirds.) Having more feeders/plants may help lessen the competition amongst hummingbirds, especially if the feeders are hung out of sight from one another (and the gardens are well-spaced). You may want to check this by thinking like a hummingbird... You may not be able to see both feeders from inside your house, but a highly territorial hummingbird will find the perch outside that overlooks both! Experiment with feeder locations; once a hummingbird has discovered that a feeder is a reliable source of food, it will remember exactly where that feeder is. Go ahead and hang a feeder right up close to your house or even on a window. (Just be aware of the potential for window collisions on unprotected, reflective glass and with screened porches and other large screened-in structures.) Hummingbirds are rather fearless, and don't mind being observed close at hand if you don't make any sudden moves. Note: The sugar solution in feeders in full sun may spoil more rapidly than that which is in shaded feeders. Feeder and Feeding Facts ALG and GARDEN WEB. Please reference these sources if you use the above information as presented here in any form or media other than for personal, individual use.

I've had a slinky around my shepherd's hook for two summers now. It has Not stopped the squirrels. At first it did, but they figured out how to leap on putting their little paws in between the slinky rings and scale that shepherd's hook anyway and hang on it, stretch it out, and eat away. This year I found them laying across the rooftop of the bird feeder reaching down eating the cakes. So, I have found that sprinkling a little cayenne pepper on the cakes definitely works! So I put it across the roof too. But it goes away soon because the birds eats it off the surfaces. So I turned to putting olive oil on the post. That works beautifully! Of course, when it rains you have to reapply (we've had a lot lately) & that can be daunting. But Worth It because it is SO Satisfying & Funny to see them sliding down the pole and looking SHOCKED!