I saw these clever DIY bird feeders on Pinterest before Christmas. The pin led me here, to one of my favorite blogs, Eighteen 25. I love it when that happens.
We made them and gave them out as homemade gifts. They are so cute and the kids loved making them. (Anything that makes a mess). And, the people we gave them to, loved getting them! Win. Win. We doubled this recipe and I added an extra envelope of gelatin just to make sure they firmed up. 4 envelopes of gelatin came in my box. 🙂
They would be a perfect mid-winter, snow day activity. Like today!
What you need:
- 3/4 cup birdseed
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 small envelope of unflavored gelatin
- string
- cookie cutters or mason jar lids
- wax paper
What you do:
- Mix together the gelatin and water. Bring to a simmer while stirring constantly until the gelatin dissolved.
- Remove from heat and let it cool for a few minutes.
- Stir in the birdseed. (add a little more seed if there is liquid still in the bottom of the pan.)
- Lay your cookie cutters out on wax paper and fill half way with your birdseed mixture.
- Cut your string and tie the end. Push it down into your birdseed.
- Continue filling with the birdseed mixture, covering the end of your string.
- Push the birdseed evenly into the cookie cutter until it’s all nice and full.
- Allow them to dry overnight. You can turn them over every once in a while so they dry evenly.
- Remove from the cookie cutters (carefully push them out, we had a few casualties)
- Hang them in your trees.
- Or give them as gifts.
Got cabin fever? Check out some of our other favorites. Here are a few simple indoor craft ideas for the kiddos. These all mostly are things you can make with things you have laying around. Spring is coming. Hang in there! 😉
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jamie@eighteen25 says
Reading through your post makes me want to make more of these. Thanks for sharing!
Erin says
Oh wow. Thanks Jaime. I LOVE YOUR BLOG! 🙂
Jennifer HAll says
I love these…but we have pigeons and we don’t want to encourage more!!
Erin says
haha. Don’t encourage the pigeons!!! 🙂 You could give them as gifts to your bird-loving pigeon-free friends.
Kendra @ A Proverbs 31 Wife says
I love doing things like this with the kids. Messy, but fun!
Suzanne says
Thank you so much for this wonderful idea! I am going to make these and hang them out in our trees on Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas to our woodland friends!