How to Make Birdseed Ornaments

We decided to make two different types of birdseed ornaments today.  

We have several avid bird watchers in our family and have made a variety of bird friendly gifts in the past.  Last year we made a birdseed wreath (you can check that out here).

This year we wanted something a little bit smaller so we decided to try some birdseed ornaments.  These are great for gift giving or for hanging in your yard and attracting the birds and are easy to make any time of the year!

   Using the same basic recipe as last year (with a few mini modifications) we made a few ornaments:

1. 1/2 cup water
2. 2 1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
3. 3 Tbsp. corn syrup
4. 3/4 cup flour
5. 4 cups birdseed
6. Cookie cutters
7. Straw or skewer (to poke holes)
8. String
9. Cooking spray
10. wax paper or tin foil

We used the microwave the water enough for the gelatin to dissolve (about 30 sec in our microwave).  We then added the corn syrup too.  In a separate bowl we combined the flour and birdseed and then poured the gelatin mixture over the seed/flour mixture and kept stirring until combined.  

We sprayed our hands and the ornaments with cooking spray and laid the ornaments on a sheet of waxed paper.  We then pressed the birdseed mixture into the ornaments; filling them completely.  We used a straw to poke a hole and then carefully pulled the ornaments away from the molded seeds.

We made as many ornaments as we could and then let them dry overnight on our dining room table.  

Once dry we threaded some string through the holes and they're all ready to hang in the trees outside (or to put together in a basket for a wonderful gift). 

We love these ornaments and had so much fun making our wreath last year too but we discovered that the wreath really did not hold up well in the rain.  We realized that these might not hold up much better.

 We were going to make suet feeders but everything I read said they had to be kept cold in order to prevent them from molding and it's quite warm here (plus I would have had to go buy suet).  

 We finally decided to make some pine cone bird feeders; at least we know they'll stand up to the weather.   

For our pine cone/ birdseed ornaments:

1. peanut butter
2. Birdseed
3. craisins
4. Pine cones 
5. string
6. Low temp hot glue gun 

We hot glued some string to the tops of the pine cones for hanging. 

We spread peanut butter on the pine cones using a butter knife.  

Once all the cracks were filled we rolled the pine cones in a birdseed mixture that had nuts and craisins mixed in making sure to cover up all the peanut butter.  

Our Completed Ornaments: