How to Make Easy DIY Bird Feeders

A sweet treat birds are sure to tweet about.

June 30, 2020

By: Caylin Harris

Related To:

This One's for the Birds!

Turn arts-and-crafts time into meal prep for your feathered friends (not to mention some lucky squirrels and chipmunks). These easy-to-make seed ornaments will let your kids delight in the sensory delight of sticky birdseed, while encouraging them to help animals. Unlike a typical bird feeder, these easy crafts look like ornaments and are cute enough to serve as decor when the little birds aren’t getting their fill.

What You'll Need

2 packets unflavored gelatin
Nonstick cooking spray
Cookie cutters
Baking sheet
Wax paper
2 cups birdseed
Skewers
String or ribbon

Step One: Dissolve Gelatin

Bring ½ cup of water to a slow boil and add in your gelatin packets, stir until the gelatin powder dissolves completely. Remove from stove and let the mixture cool for a few minutes.

Step Two: Prep the Components

Using your nonstick spray, lightly grease your cookie cutters. Place them on a baking sheet covered with a piece of wax paper. Separately, stir your birdseed into the slightly cooled gelatin mixture.

Step Three: Shape the Feeders

Spoon the seed and gelatin mixture into each cookie cutter, pressing the mixture firmly into each until each cookie cutter is filled. Slick your hands with oil to prevent their sticking to the seed mixture.

Step Four: Let the Ornaments Harden

Poke a skewer through an area toward the top of each cookie cutter and let it sit in the seed mixture as it firms. Transfer the baking sheet with the cookie cutters to the fridge to firm for a few hours.

Step Five: Add Ribbon

When they’re dried, wiggle the birdseed ornaments out of the cookie cutters, push the skewer through to create a hole and loop ribbon or string through the hole. Let the ornaments dry for another day before hanging them outside on a branch for the birds to enjoy.