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Category:

animals + nature

hornet’s nest shadow box

by Kaylah Stroup August 1, 2024
hornets nest shadow box

Last summer hornets built a nice big nest on our house. I got stung once and it was enough to keep me far far away for the rest of the season. We could have sprayed them but honestly, after that sting, it felt risky. Neither my husband nor I wanted to go anywhere near them. Instead, we opted to just leave them be and let Ohio’s winter do the work for us.

This spring, after the weather warmed up and we were more than positive the hornets were long gone, we knocked the nest down. I picked it up, fully intending to take it over to my compost pile but my brain screamed “CRAFT SUPPLY!” Hornets build their nest out of saliva and wood pulp. The result is layers and layers of a beautiful papery material. Truly, when I saw it up close, there was no way I could just toss it on the compost.

So, I did what any rational human would do and brought it inside. I shook the nest upside down, from which a few deceased hornets fell out, and removed the nest cells from inside. While all the hornets were dead, there still seemed to be a large number of other small insects. I have a house filled with taxidermy, and pinned insects so bringing weird little live bugs like that inside is not great. I bagged everything up and popped it into the freezer to kill off anything remaining.

hornets nest

The one craft I knew I wanted to do from the start was to make a shadow box containing nest cells, the hornets and the gorgeous papery nest material. I rehydrated the hornets and posed them as I wanted. I used spray adhesive to attach the paper to the cardboard of my shadow box and then glued the nesting cells to that. It took basically no time at all but was so much fun to make. Not to mention, it makes a rad addition to my collection of ‘oddities’!

pinned hornet
hornet's nest shadow box
hornet's nest shadow box

My two favorite details in this project are both easily overlooked! One is the hornet that died while emerging from its cell. He’s just peeking out! Second is the addition of two tiny insects that I found in the nest cell (literally the reason I threw everything in the freezer to begin with!) When I pulled the cells out of the ziplock bag and shook them out, it rained tiny bugs. It was… gross and further proved that it was a really good idea to freeze everything but now dead, they pose no threat. I felt like it’d be really cool to glue a few into the cells since they were a part of this whole thing as well. They’re quite small but if you look closely at the image below you can spot one in the center of the photo.

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â–² Looking to get into pinning insects – check out this blog post I wrote with tons of resources, links + info! â–² Check out my other hornet’s nest project inside the box for my four leaf clover collection!

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FeatherSnap bird feeder review

by Kaylah Stroup July 18, 2024
FeatherSnap bird feeder review

this post contains affiliate links.

I recently got my hands on a FeatherSnap bird feeder. It’s a Wi-Fi connected, smart bird feeder that captures pictures and videos of birds at your feeder. You can even watch live!

I thought it was a fun product idea but I think I underestimated just how much I’d enjoy it. For the past few weeks, I think it’s safe to say, this has been the most used app on my phone. Let me tell you a bit more about it…

smart bird feeder review
FeatherSnap smart bird feeder
smart bird feeder with camera

Some product highlights –

â–´ Photo + video, obviously! The feeder snaps three photos and one fifteen-second video per visit. The video even has audio. The camera is only 4MP but it gets the job done, you can clearly see all who visit.

â–´ Solar powered! The roof has a solar panel so you don’t need to worry about changing or charging up batteries. In the month I’ve had mine, I only had to charge it once and that was when it first arrived. The app makes it easy to see your battery percentage, mine has never dropped below 70%!

â–´ Dual seed bin allows you to fill your feeder with two different seed types.

â–´ You get real-time notifications of visitors to your feeder. Go from “who’s texting me now?!” to “who’s at the feeder?!”

â–´ The app offers a ‘bird book‘ which is where you can keep track of all the different visitors you’ve had to your feeder. It also has a built-in AI feature to help you ID those visitors.

Bird ID, FeatherSnap

â–´ Also worth noting is that because of the size and the way it’s mounted, squirrels don’t make a mess of the bird feed! In the past I’ve owned many bird feeders that hang from trees or shepherd’s hooks and squirrels always manage to spill those because they’re trying to balance on them. This feeder has a large platform that squirrels can comfortably sit on therefore they aren’t doing gymnastics trying to eat and don’t spill everywhere. I know not everyone likes squirrels at their feeders so of course, you can sprinkle hot pepper flakes in with your bird feed to keep them away.

Feathersnap bird feeder review
Feathersnap bluejays

A few downsides –

â–´ I don’t feel like it’s made abundantly clear that the birdfeeder requires a monthly subscription to view the photos on your phone. I knew that it offered a subscription but I wrongly assumed that made the AI identification available. Without a subscription, the camera still works and you will receive notifications through the app that you had a visitor at the bird feeder but you will not be able to view those images. It is worth noting though, you can install a mini SD card in the camera and check the photos manually but that defeats the purpose of having an app.

At the time of writing this post, the subscription costs $6.99 per month or $59.99 annually.

â–´ Video isn’t immediately available and must be “requested”. I don’t think I would have a problem with this if it worked every single time but alas, sometimes the video just never shows up.

â–´ No way to remove ‘FeatherSnap’ watermark. Not a huge deal but it feels unnecessary to have it stamped on every single image and video, especially when you’re paying for a service.

Final thoughts –

I love this bird feeder. It has turned me on to a new hobby. I’ve always had bird feeders and enjoyed it when I’d happen to catch one having lunch there but this? This is something different! I LOVE watching the birds now.

Does it stink that there’s a subscription? Yes, of course. Like most folks these days, I’m subscription-ed out, man! Buuut, I do genuinely think this is worth it. Even with my small gripes about the feeder and app, I still think the good outweighs the bad. This has brought a lot of joy into my life. I LOVE checking who is visiting after every notification and whew, the thrill of getting a new type of bird? It’s the best.

For 100% transparency, I was gifted this bird feeder as part of a campaign but this blog post is not part of that. You can check out my sponsored post here.

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DIY toad abode

by Kaylah Stroup July 2, 2024

Last spring I picked up a silly little hobby… making toad abodes.

My interest in this started a couple of years back when I had a toad living in a potted plant outside my front door. I posted about how silly it was on my Instagram and the people demanded a home for the little fella! As luck would have it, I spotted the perfect home at the thrift store. It turned into a whole series on my Instagram. We named him Gomez and he brought a lot of people a lot of joy!

Check out some of my favorite posts about Gomez — the day he got his first thrifted home, when he got his name, Gomez getting ready for Halloween.

I knew I wanted to do something toad-related again and to potentially expand on this idea. That’s how I ended up building my own toad abode. I used scrap wood, bark from our woods and my brad nailer. It was super simple, cost next to nothing and was done in no time. Not to mention, it’s the cutest.

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toad abode

Obviously, a toad house isn’t a necessity. They’ve been getting on forever without them but I do enjoy the whimsy. There are few things more exciting than going out and spotting that someone is home and using the tiny house I built.

I have two toad abodes in our yard at the moment. One is in my garden which has an abundance of toads who love my damp soil, all the bugs my plants attract, and the cool shade my plants provide. That house is occupied maybe half the time. There are lots of other spots for them to live in my garden where a giant doesn’t disturb them with a camera.

The second toad abode is located in a potted plant outside of my front door. It’s the more popular of the two. I would venture to bet that it’s because of my porch lights. That home is occupied the vast majority of the time.

DIY toad abode

A few tips for drawing toads to your garden & toad abode —
Provide water sources + offer toads a damp environment. (Even near a downspout is good!)
Shady is best!
Your toad abode needs to be placed on dirt and have no bottom. Toads like to burrow into the cool dirt. They have no problem digging in the mulch in my garden but I do try to pull mulch away from the house so they have actual dirt to hang out in.
Avoid pesticides.

DIY toad house made from bark
DIY toad house made from bark
DIY toad abode inspiration
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my four leaf clover collection

by Kaylah Stroup July 1, 2024
four leaf clover collection

For about five years now I’ve been collecting four leaf clovers. I didn’t have a specific place to put them after they dried. They’ve been shoved into notepads, lost in books, and floating around my office.

While cleaning out my basement I rediscovered a little green metal box. The tools that came in it are long since missing but the box itself? Just something about it scratched something in my brain. I didn’t want to get rid of it.

I decided to line it with a piece of hornet’s nest that had been on our house last year and fill it with my four leaf clover collection.

I’m using a fine line silver permanent marker to keep track of how many are inside. Just over 100 at the moment.

I love how it turned out. I can’t wait to add more!

four leaf clover collection
upcycled tool box
four leaf clover collection

Find previous four leaf clover content here, like the time I found sixty in one month!

Check out my tips for pressing plants here.

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2023 bouquets // pt. 2

by Kaylah Stroup July 31, 2023

orange juice vase

Part two of my little ‘photograph every single bouquet I make this year’ project! Quite fun to see them go from almost exclusively yellow/white to exploding with color. This project is only just getting started and I already feel a huge amount of satisfaction. There is truly nothing like growing your own flowers.

See part one of the bouquet project here.

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one of the best things about spring…

by Kaylah Stroup April 14, 2023
spring pepper with vocal sac inflated

Spring peppers! Pseudacris crucifer.

Without a doubt, one of my favorites sounds ever is the spring peeper. Their chirping call marks the beginning of spring. This is what home sounds like to me.

Spring peepers breed in early spring, typically March and April here in Ohio. Males call from the water and surrounding vegetation to attract females. Their call is a series of high-pitched peeping sounds. Check out the video at the end of this post to hear them!

Their call can reach over 90 decibels which considering that noise above 70 dB may start to damage your hearing over a prolonged period of time is pretty dang wild. It can even be heard up to two miles away. Somehow I got lucky enough to have them basically right outside my bedroom window. I promise that is not sarcasm. It’s the best noise to fall asleep to!

Although I’ve lived near peepers my whole life, last year was the first time I ever actually saw them in my action. Even when calling, they can be incredibly difficult to spot.

After seeing them last year though, it’s now become my spring mission to hunt them down and photograph them in action. It’s incredible to watch them up close!

Shot with a Canon 7D mark ii and a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.


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2023 bouquets // pt. 1

by Kaylah Stroup April 11, 2023

Each year I try to take on some sort of year long project. In the past there have multiple years I did Project 365. In 2023? I am going to take a photo of every single flower arrangement I make!

For years and years, I always said one of my life goals was to live somewhere that I can grow flowers just for the sole purpose of picking and enjoying indoors. In 2021 I made that goal a reality by starting one heck of an awesome garden! The first year I wasn’t so great at cutting my flowers. I just wanted to enjoy them in the garden. I am definitely getting more and more comfortable stealing stems though. It’ll be even easier if I make it into a little photo project too, right?

So, here we go! The first six arrangements of 2023.

Clearly, right now the only thing I have blooming is daffodils. I almost backed out of this project thinking it might be silly if I’m just making arrangements from the same flowers over and over again. BUT I actually think, with time, that will be what makes it really fun. Throughout the series you’ll be able to see what I’ve got growing during a specific period and the main colors and flowers in my bouquets will slowly evolve. xo

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spring so far…

by Kaylah Stroup March 25, 2023

Spring has officially sprung and my goodness, it feels good to get outside again.

Since the beginning of this blog, each year I’ve written about how excited I am for spring. It just never ceases to make me feel refreshed, especially now that I actually own property. There’s just so much to look forward to.

It’s been spring for less than a week and in that week it feels like so much has changed! My daffodils are getting ready to explode. The peepers started making noise (truly the best noise to fall asleep to!) I’m seeing more bunnies in the yard. It’s just such a treat to watch the yard wake up and know that in a few short months I’ll have a garden FULL of flowers, as well as a lush green yard.

Anyway, there’s nothing I can say here that I haven’t already said in one of the other twenty spring posts I’ve written in the past. I really just wanted to share some photos from the last week.

Shot with a Canon 7D mark ii and a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

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lunch – a photo series

by Kaylah Stroup September 23, 2021

Taking full advantage of the end of summer, I headed to Lowe’s to check out their clearance perennials. I scored a handful of plants that don’t look so great today but will be beautiful again come spring. I also found a small pal to bring home, a praying mantis!

I placed him in my garden and got to work planting my clearance scores. Afterwards, I ran into the house, grabbed my macro lens and set out to get a few glamour shots. What I captured might just be my favorite photo series of insects that I’ve ever shot.

Shot with a Canon 7D mark ii and a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

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I'm Kaylah! Renovating a 150-year-old home in Northeast Ohio. Likely found in my garden.

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THE DAINTY SQUID
  • blog
    • all the posts!
    • stroup mansion
    • some of my favorite posts
    • plants + gardening
    • beauty, fashion + hair
    • reviews
    • window shopping
    • explore everywhere
  • about me
  • contact
  • shop