Did you know that February is national bird feeding month? Probably not. But I did because I have a bird crazy kid who lives at my house. Remember when we drove up HWY 101 and had to hit all the bird watching spots? Yep. We know all about birds at our house :)
For the past couple of years we have talked about making bird feeders but just never got to it. This year we decided to make it a priority. It is really simple to do, so I feel silly we took so long to do it.
I had read on several sites that you should use plain gelatin. I used two of the little packs from the box (I used the Knox brand) and added 1 cup of water. I heated it in the microwave and then added the bird seed. I didn't want it to be too runny but I think I ended up adding a little bit too much because the more delicate cookie cutter shapes didn't hold up as well as the chunkier ones did.
I added the seed mixture to snowflake cookie cutters and to snowflake silicone molds. Place a straw into them to create a hole. Let them sit overnight to dry.
I really love my Snowflake Silicone Mold. You can get them on Amazon. (affiliate link)
We had fun hanging them all over the yard. The boys got out the binoculars and waited for birds to come. They sat for over an hour (getting along and happy) watching and chatting about birds. It was fun to make them and it provided an activity after as well. Win, win.
Do you have any bird lovers at your house? Have you ever made bird feeders? I had considered making the peanut butter ones and wonder if the birds might like them better. If you have experience with either kind I would love to hear!
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hey girl- love this idea! My husband and I have a bird feeder (looks like a cabin) We haven't used it in a long time because of the squirrels eating a lot of the food! We still have it hung up on the tree because it still looks pretty! But... do you know what we can do to stop the squirrels from eating it? I love watching birds at a bird feeder it's so cool!!
We don't get squirrels here so if one showed up my boys would go nuts! I am not sure how to deter a determined squirrel. Maybe the birds will just have to be OK with sharing :)
I hope your bird lover has checked out the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website. They offer lots of information, and also some fun bird cams.
birds.cornell.edu/
They also have a couple of pages on what, and what not, to feed birds.
allaboutbirds.org/types-of-bird-seed-a-quick-guide/
allaboutbirds.org/suet-mealworms-and-other-bird-foods/
I'm amazed you don't have squirrels. I wish I could send you all of ours. Well, they are kind of cute, when they're not being pests.
They also have an app that I downloaded about a year ago when they first came out with it. It helps you identify birds. He knows most of them in our area (probably all!) but we use it on road trips when we are in a new state or area.
My brother lives at the mouth of the canyon and he gets squirrels in his garden. He doesn't think they are very cute!
Beautiful, I used to make something similar with my Grandmother!
We use a window bird feeder and my kids LOVE it. We sit and watch the birds at the window and it's so much fun. My sons are 2 and 4 so I tell them they have to be really quiet and still so we won't scare the birds away. It's a perfect way for me to get a few minutes peace. I may try to make one like this though because they'd LOVE this project.