I hope you enjoy making this cute little birdseed ornament recipe as much as the birds enjoy eating them!!! This tutorial is inspired by the “nature themed” Target wedding I posted last week. I showed the heart shaped birdseed ornaments as favors to give to the guests. These would be cute to give as wedding favors, but would also be a fun little gift to give a friend or teacher at Christmas.
Things needed for this project:
Makes 1 Large ornament or 2 med/small size
3/4 c. Birdseed – (I purchased this birdseed mix from Target)
1 sm packet of Knox
Twine, raffia or wire for hanger (don’t use bright colored ribbon, it scares the birds away)
a mold of some sort….. I used a heart shaped cookie cutter
1/4 c. water
Dissolve a packet of Knox in 1/4 c. of water, bring to simmer and stir until dissolved. Let cool slightly.
Add 3/4 c. bird seed and mix very well until seeds are coated. Notice the picture of the birdseed in the pan, I don’t have a lot of excess liquid…if you have a lot of puddling add a little more seed.
Spoon the seeds into a mold, filling it half way up, and pressing down to make sure it is well packed. Lay tied twine on top of the pressed seed, and fill up the rest of the way so twine is fully covered. I put mine in the freezer for a few hours so I could easily unmold the ornament. Let it dry out for a few days …flipping it so it drys out completely on both sides and all the way through. You want it really hard and totally dried out so you can hang it in your tree. Position it in a place where birds can rest and eat.
**I just added a few revisions to the instructions. Someone mentioned in a comment that their ornament got moldy after it was sitting a few days. I haven’t had that happen, but I added that you need to flip it so it dries out really well on both sides and all the way through. Mold needs two things to grow …moisture and darkness.
I’ve never made these in a large quantity and very far in advance. Caution: If you are making these for a wedding, I would suggest doing a trial run. If for some reason you don’t have success making them, I would decide on a different favor for your wedding…I would hate for you to have stress. I plan on testing them myself. The biggest thing I would focus on is totally drying them out, even if it takes a week. After they get hard, I would find a place to hang them all so there is air in between each one and I would store them hanging. I suggest wrapping them in cyclophane with a cute twine or ribbon as close to the wedding as possible. Then all you need to add is a sticker or a cute tag. * You could also place a cut straw in the middle or upper lobe of the heart and press the seed around it. You would remove the straw after it is dry. This will leave you with a hole for your ribbon to slide into. (Just another idea)
If using it as a favor, wrap in clear cellophane and tie with raffia or twine and attach a cute tag.
I snapped a picture of my half eaten birdseed feeder, proof of the birds love!!! :)…. I wish I could catch them in action!!!
I’m linking up to Tasty Tuesday and DIY Day !
Hi, where do you find the Knox gelatin or a similar edible gelatin?
Thanks, J
Hi Jen,
you find knox in the grocery store…usually in the baking isle
I’m thinking of making some of these using my dehydrator instead of a cooling rack or oven. I’ll let you know my results . . .
Jeni…sounds perfect!! Let us know!
What a cute idea! I’ll be making these for my wedding with a custom mold my hubby crafted. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Great website. Just found it.
Just made these for my son’s JK class for Valentine’s Day. They turned out great! Thanks so much for the idea. I ended up doubling the recipe and added two cups of seeds to get the texture right. I look forward to following your sight for more inspiration ; )
I just made these with my son’s Kindergarten class for Valentine’s Day. It worked much better than other recipes that use PB or suet when working with a lot of small kids. They loved it. We used black oil sunflower seeds to make a pattern in the heart after they were filled with the mixture so they each got to individualize them.
I used boiling water to dissolve the Knox (no simmering) and ended up needing almost 1.5 cups of birdseed per 1/4 cup water & gelatin.
My 10 yr old son and I had so much fun making these adorable bird seed ornaments! We are doing a homeschool unit study on birds and this fit perfectly with our studies! Thanks so much for sharing such a simple yet fun project! 🙂
Scotti…your Valentine kid’s craft brings back such wonderful memories!!! Thank you for sharing your measurements and added details… What a cute way to personalize the ornaments!!!
Amy, I love how you incorporated the birdseed ornament in you homeschooling unit!!! I am also happy that you had so much fun!!! Sounds like a wonderful memory making time!!!
Hi! I LOVE this bird feeder ornament. I want to do this with my Cub Scout troop but can not figure out how to get the gelatin to dissolve. We do not have access to a stove, etc. so I would have to do some of the work in advance of the meeting. Any ideas for me?
I especially love this recipe because we have 2 boys in our troop with severe nut allergies so we can not use the ones that call for peanut butter.
Thanks again!
Natalie
Hi Natalie!
I am sorry, I don’t know how to help you. You could always do a trial run and see how long it takes for the gelatin to set up at room temp. or do the type that uses lard or Crisco, but I don’t think those kind get firm.
Natalie
I have a few suggestions for you!
· You could have the meeting at someone’s house
· You could bring in a microwave to heat the water we have a small one that is easy to move.
· If you or one of the other parents that have an electric griddle or an electric stove to just use for that night.
· Or do this as one of your activities for a camping trip (of they are old enough that you do the camping trips) and use the campfire. Then you are already outside and no mess and you can just hang them up before you leave if you want or just take them home.
Hope these suggestions help!
This is a great tutorial! I made these as favors for my daughter’s 2nd birthday party, it was a sweet bird themed party so these as favors were perfect! I did 10 medium sized heart shaped ones, used 3 packs of Knox with 3 – 1/4 c water, and almost 3 cups of birdseed and they turned out great! Thanks!
Hi Krystal!! Your daughter’s party sounds adorable…. What a cute theme! I’m glad you loved the feeders…and thank you for commenting:)
Hello ! Looking to make 100 of these as a Graduation favor – Has anyone tackled a big quantity yet and if so – do you have any tips other than concentrating on the drying ?
Thanks so much for the birdseed ornament directions. Can’t wait to try making them. God bless you!
This is a really neat idea. I like it. But I’m wondering what can be used in place of the gelatin (it’s not vegetarian). I’m going to have to research and find a substitute. Thanks!
I am SO MAKING these. I live in the middle of 5 heavily wooded acres, we have tons of birds.. and I would love to hang some of these so we could easily watch the birds! Thanks
Enjoy making these Johannah!!! Your birds will love them!!
I was wondering if there is any molding issues??? I want to make these for my wedding favors. But don’t want them to mold if I make them to far in advance.
I’m not sure if anyone had any issues with mold or not. The only way I
would make these for an event is to make sure they are dried out really really really well.
I would wrap them the day before the event.
My grandson and I just finished making the first of twenty of these adorable ornaments. Josh will be using these as Christmas gifts. We used Christmas cookie cutters. Thank you for the beautiful idea.
lynnuel, what a fun project to do with your grandson! Don’t forget to let them dry out really well!! I Merry Christmas!
i am getting ready to make these with my daughter for favors at her 8th birthday party! we can’t wait to see how they turn out! after reading about the mold, i thought i might make a suggestion… i know when you buy these homemade, they say that if you wont be using them right away then to store them in the freezer. maybe that would help with the mold. after drying them 100%, the freezer might be the best place to store them until use. just a suggestion! thanks for the recipe. i’m sure the kids will love them :0)
emily
Hi Emily,
I’ve never tried storing them in the freezer after they are fully dry. The only thing I did notice when I did the freezer method before fully dry…was condensation after they came out of the freezer. Hope they work out well for your daughter’s party!! What a fun idea for a birthday!
These are too fun! We are making them right now for my daughter’s class for Valentine’s Day! 🙂 Do you think a dehydrator would help the drying process? Just wondering. I plan to store them hanging until we need to bag them up, but thought I could speed the drying process up. Thanks again for the great recipe!
Yes, I think the dehydrator would work great!!! The dryer the better!! How fun!! What cute Valentine gifts!!
I would like to make these at my sons K party… Do you think they would be dry enough to send them home after making with instructions to the parents to continue drying out at home? If so, should we wrap them in wax paper?
Kerry, maybe you should do a test trial and see how they are after however long of a time period the party would be…it seems like they would be dry enough to send home with instructions to continue the process, but I can’t be for-sure..
Hi there! Could you please let me know the qty/weight of the gelatine you used? We don’t have (as far as I know) Knox gelatine on Australia so just using my regular pantry one but not sure of qty to use?? Thanks!
Does anyone know if the birds actually like eating these? Has anyone seen the birds eating them?
I don’t know about anyone else, but our birds eat them.
You might want certain seed based on where you live.
Will try these soon!! I think they are adorable!
I just made mine about an hour and a half ago and they seem like they will be very flimsy. Is this because I didn’t pack them tight enough (they were sticky so this was hard for me to do), or because they haven’t dried fully, or because my gelatin:bird seed ratio was off?
Has anyone tried baking these in the oven at all to help them dry? (It’s humid here so I didn’t know if they would dry properly)
ah, never mind–I tried it again today and they were perfect!! I used too much birdseed for the amount of gelatin last time. This time, I put them in the fridge for a few hours and they set great! Thanks for the great craft idea!!!
Oh good! I’m so sorry that none of us had replied to you yet but I’m glad it worked out Lauren! I will let Rene know. 🙂
Nancy–thanks for your response–no worries 🙂
But…Uh oh–me again–They came out perfect, but saw today that I had some of them grow a white furry mold :(. I’m making these for my wedding favors (July 27th!) and am a little panicked. They are super cute, I just wonder what I’m doing wrong (and it was only on a few of the bunch that grew mold). I put them in the fridge to set, then put them on cookie racks until very very dry, and then hung them in my laundry room downstairs (air conditioned). I was able to save a good number, so I just put those in tupperware in my fridge…but any suggestions???
Thanks, sorry for the long post, but I love these and really want them to keep until the wedding!!!
Lauren, I’m so sorry that you had some of them get moldy! The best suggestions we have is to make sure you are flipping them as they dry so that both sides get dry and the moisture doesn’t have a chance to turn into mold on the side they are laying on. Another suggestion would be to maybe hang them up to dry on a clothes line or something? I really hope it works for you. Many of the comments above have some suggestions on combating mold as well. Please let us know how it goes!