DIY Bird Feeders
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With snow on the ground and freezing temps, it’s hard for our feathered friends to find food. You can make your own suet feeder to hang in your gardens or you can gather the kids and make your own bird feeders.
I love making these into whatever cookie-cutter shapes I have and the birds love them.
All you need is for this project:
- 2 packs of Knox gelatin
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups of bird seed
- cookie cutters
- wax paper or cellophane or cookie sheet
- scissors
- twine or ribbon
Mix 1/2 cup of boiling water with the Knox gelatin and stir until mixed well. Let it cool just a bit but not too long. It hardens quickly. Add your birdseed and mix well. Don’t put too much bird seed or the shape won’t hold. I used a birdseed with a lot of sunflower seeds since I was trying to attract the songbirds. The birdseed with a lot of smaller seeds compacts much better in the cookie cutters and children have an easier time working with it.
Lay out your cookie cutters on wax paper, cellophane, or a cookie sheet sprayed with a little cooking oil, and just spoon in your mixture to fill the cutter. Pack it in pretty tight so it will hold its shape after curing. If you notice, there are dog bone cookie cutters. Ernest T. Bass, Boxer extraordinaire, said it’s very important to let the birds know there is a dog around here!
Take your straws, cut them into 3 small pieces, and put one in each filled cookie cutter. Make sure it goes through the other side. You could also use chopsticks or anything else that will make a hole. Let sit for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, slowly push each hardened bird feeder out of the cookie cutter, remove the straw, and add your twine or ribbon. They are now ready to hang in the trees or bushes or wherever your birds love to be. Don’t forget to call them for dinner!
Even though this mixture is rather sticky, it feels like glue, it’s easy to clean up with just warm soapy water.
TIP: If you have never used Knox gelatin before, you should find it with all the Jello items in your grocery store. But, I found that the Knox gelatin was hard to find in my area and I had to order it from Amazon. I have found that very small cookie cutters, especially those with a lot of corners, don’t work as well keeping their shape when they are ready to be removed from the cookie cutter. Imagine all the different shapes to make at different times of the winter season.
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These are so smart! Plus, who doesn’t love the sounds of birds singing int he garden. Great idea!
Thank you Tori. I love watching the birds in my yard. Wish I had more to enjoy.
Awww! That’s so kind of you Tammy…to feed the birds when they find it hard to find food in winter 🙂
You’ve got a nice big garden out there. Kudos to all your effort!
Thank you Nita. I love watching them and wish I could attract more species. But, we don’t have the trees to attract birds like I wish and palm trees aren’t a favorite for many birds to go to.
Brilliant! I love the shapes! Thanks for joining us at the #HomeMattersParty! We hope to see you again next week 🙂
Thank you Kristen. These are always a hit with the birds
So fun! I am pinning. Thank you!
Thanks Elizabeth
what an awesome idea! those seed bells cost a couple bucks, you could make a dozen for that yourself! These would be so fun to hang around the neighborhood when taking the pups for a walk!
Main reason I started making my own because the others were a bit pricey. Thanks for stopping by Kristina
These are so great! My girls would love to make them. Thanks. I have pinned to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board.
Thanks Brandi
What a cute idea! These would look adorable hanging from tree branches. Such a fun craft to do with kiddos too, and then watch to see the birds come and eat their handy work! Thanks so much for linking up with us at Motivational Monday! Hope to see you again next week! 🙂