How to Make Birdseed Ornaments

 If you’ve visited this blog very much you probably know we love to watch birds at our house. I mean all of us, young and old alike. And we like to feed them and do special things for them…like Mosaic Birdbaths and build birdhouses. We make Birdseed Wreaths at Christmas and also Birdseed Ornaments.

 

Some photos of my birdseed ornaments were in photos of my previous post and so I decided to go ahead, this week,  and share with you how to make birdseed ornaments. It’s very simple and something the children love.   The great things about being a grandmother is coming up with all sorts of the memorable things for the children to do. Making Birdseed Ornaments is one of them.

 

 The Birdseed Ornaments aren’t difficult to make. The hardest part is waiting for them to dry. I usually let the children make these first and then we work on the Birdseed Wreaths made from fruit and popcorn, etc. That way, they have something to do while they patiently wait for the ornaments to dry. And we look for other things to decorate with that the birds may like, too. Like the Nandina and Holly berries we used this year. By the end of the afternoon, we  have everything ready to hang and the children can decorate the tree.

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons corn syrup

4 cups bird seed (I included some raisins and dried cranberries, cherries, etc to the mix….)

Mix all ingredients

Place a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet.

Press mixture into different shaped cookie/sandwich cutters…I like hearts. 🙂

 The mixture must fill the cutter tightly or it will fall apart!   Press mixture tightly into the cutter and then push a drinking straw through center to make an opening for a string or ribbon to hang.

After the cutter is pressed full of seed mixture, ease the cookie cutter from around the ornament, retaining its shape as much as possible. I use the back of a spoon to ease it loose. Don’t forget to use a straw in the upper part to make an opening for a string to tie onto the tree.

Allow to dry.

Dry for 3-4 hours, turn over, dry for another 3-4 hours.

Thread a ribbon, string or twine through the opening you made with a straw  to hang.

 Gather all the children and let them decorate the tree for the birds! Making Memories…..

 See how they’ve grown????

 The birds will love it!

 And about midnight, we had another visitor….Mr.Possum. He loves to eat fruit…..

 Almost as much as the birds….

 

 Happy New Year, Y’all…now go make some memories with your babies….