DIY Cookie Cutter Birdseed Ornaments
These easy DIY birdseed ornaments make a perfect homemade gift at Christmas. They also make a nice ornament for your tree and serve a functional purpose by feeding hungry songbirds in winter. And all you to make them is a bit of birdseed, some gelatine and a little water.
A Fast and Frugal Homemade Gift Idea
I first tried making these birdseed ornaments for Christmas a couple years ago. The process was pretty easy and I ended up making half a dozen of them as gifts for people. But when I had finished making them, I put them in an airtight container to store them until Christmas. Big mistake.
The container trapped the moisture that remained in the gelatine mix and all of my ornaments went moldy! Needless to say I did not give them as Christmas gifts that year.
I decided to give them a go again last year, but I allowed them to cure in the open air for longer (about a week) and then I packaged them up in little gifts bags with “breathing” holes punched in them. This worked great! My mom still has the one I gave her and it’s like new.
I decided to make another small batch this year to gift to a couple of friends and (one to keep for ourselves). Ours is currently hanging on our Christmas tree:)
I picked up a 15 kg bag of birdseed from Costco for $11.99 (because it was cheaper than the 5 kg bag another local supermarket was selling for $17.99). I got a 12 pack of gelatine for around $6.00, and I already had some cookie cutters, so all in all this project cost me less than $20.00 and would yield at least 60 ornaments before I ran out of gelatin, with birdseed to spare. This makes this a super frugal handmade gift idea averaging around 30¢ an ornament. Box up a pack of 3 as a gift for friends, family, neighbours, co-workers, teachers and bird lovers in your life!
This project is also super quick and easy, and although I prefer to let my ornaments cure for at least a couple of days before I hang them, you could also make this the day before gifting it and it would be just fine. It only takes 3 ingredients (including water) and under 20 minutes to make and uses ingredients you can pick up at your local supermarket (if you don’t already have them on hand).
So if you find yourself a little late on your Christmas shopping or gift-making, these birdseed ornaments make a great last-minute homemade gift idea and don’t require any great level of skill to put together.
So break out your festive cookie cutters and get that list checked off! Or just make a few for the birds, and bring some life back into your own garden this winter. I don’t know about you, but by about February I’m more than ready for spring to make a return. A few songbirds hanging around in winter help me to remember that warmer, more bountiful days are just around the corner:)
Merry making!
P.S. If you love all things homemade and homestead-related, be sure to check out my Free Resource Library where I’ve got free downloadable e-books, guides, templates, checklists and printables to help you create a life you love, from scratch:)
Ingredients
- 2 cups mixed birdseed
- 2 packages powdered gelatine
- ½ cup of water
- Some cookie cutters in various shapes
To Hang the Ornaments:
- A few plastic straws cut into pieces (to form the holes for the ribbon)
- Some ribbon or twine (ribbon works best for hanging outdoors as twine is a more natural material that breaks down in the weather)
Instructions
- Bring ½ cup of water to a slow boil on the stove. Add in 2 packs of gelatine and stir well to combine. Stir until gelatine is dissolved and then remove from heat. Let cool for a minute or two.
- Add in 2 cups of birdseed and stir to mix well and coat all of the birdseed.
- Place cookie cutters of choice on parchment paper and scoop birdseed into the shapes, pressing down firmly with the back of the spoon. Fill the cookie cutter shape all the way to the top and then some, pressing firmly to pack tightly.
- Insert a straw wherever you'd like the hole for the ribbon to be. Then pack birdseed mixture around the straw as well as you can. Use a square of parchment paper to press birdseed into cookie cutter with your hands.
- Let moulds set for a couple of hours while they harden. You can put trays of them in the freezer to speed up this process. Then when they're ready, gently push them out of the cookie cutters and take the straws out. Make sure that the straws have punched a hole all the way through.
- Tie the ribbon or twine through the hole and then allow ornaments to cure in the open air for at least 24 hours before packaging them up in breathable packaging. This can be done sooner if it is a last-minute gift and you're in a hurry. But the longer you can leave them to cure for, the better:)
- Gift to someone special or hang them in your own backyard and enjoy the songbirds all winter long!
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Well, it was no small task, but I FINALLY got everything in my pantry inventoried, organized and put away.
I wanted to share my process with you too, so if you’re interested in getting a full tour of our pantry and seeing how I organize things, click the link in my bio @thehouseandhomestead and check it out on YouTube!
P.S. I know you’re not supposed to stack canning jars as having multiple heavy rows stacked on top of each other can compromise the seal of the jars on the bottom. I avoid stacking when possible, but due to the style of our pantry I have made the conscious choice to stack one row (max) on top of the bottom and always make sure to stack jars of equal or lesser weight on top. And yes, we do have plans to add more shelves soon. Just a disclaimer since I’m sure I’ll get more comments about it;)
Also, be sure to leave a comment and let me know about any pantry organization hacks you use! I’m always looking to improve our system:)
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Finally got around to taking EVERYTHING out of the pantry today and now getting ready to take inventory.
When everything is buried in the pantry, it can be so easy to forget what you have. That’s why I always recommend taking everything out when starting a pantry challenge so you know exactly what you’ve got. I was feeling like we hadn’t preserved enough food this year to get us through the month, but now that I see everything, I’ve got all sorts of creative ideas for how to use up the abundance of food that we have.
I’m also finding things I didn’t know I had, seeing what I have more than enough of and finding gaps in my food storage. This is one of my favourite reasons for doing a pantry challenge: it’s an excuse to pull everything out and actually see what we’ve got so we know what we’re working with.
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Alright, back at it. Wish me luck!
Have you started organizing your pantry yet??
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🌱 One of the things I get asked the most during the #homesteadpantrychallenge is what we do for fresh veggies. Now, I much prefer to eat seasonally, which means eating the veggies that we preserved over the summer and fall during the winter. But I do start to miss my fresh greens by the time January rolls around.
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And so, I turn to microgreens to provide me and my fam with fresh greens this time of year. They’re not only packed with nutrients (said to be higher in nutrients than their full grown counterparts!), they can be grown on your countertop and are ready to harvest in just a few days!
Not to mention, they taste delicious and look beautiful! I made this cheesy pasta dish topped with broccoli microgreens for dinner and the microgreens (which are just the seedling version of the full grown plant) tasted just like broccoli. Plus, the purple and green colours take an otherwise kinda boring dish and make it pop💥
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To enter to win your own self-watering microgreens growing kit from True Leaf Market, be sure to join in the Homestead Pantry Challenge on Instagram, and to learn more about microgreens AND score yourself a sweet 10% discount off all True Leaf products, make sure you’re subscribed to Modern Homesteading Magazine (discount code is in the magazine and in the delivery email).
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What’s your go-to source for fresh greens in the winter??
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To a new year and a fresh start 🥂
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I'm SO pumped about this year's challenge and I really REALLY hope you'll join me!
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From the “glurp” sound that it makes as it slides out of the tin and into the bowl, to the way the jelly stays formed in the shape of the tin even after it’s out, to the bland boringness of the flavour.
No offence to anyone who loves commercially canned cranberry sauce, but even if you love the store-bought stuff, then you’re definitely gonna love homemade cranberry sauce!
I know a lot of people put orange juice or orange zest in their cranberry sauce, and you can totally do that too! But I’m actually not a fan of the orange-cranberry mix, so my recipe calls for a little cinnamon and vanilla, as well as some sugar to give it a sweet spiciness that goes oh so well with Christmas dinner.
But perhaps the best part is that you’re able to can this cranberry sauce too, which means you can make a big batch this year and have enough homemade cranberry sauce on your shelves to last you multiple holiday seasons! Or you could even give some away to loved ones with whom you’re not able to spend Christmas with this year.
Whether you want to can it for later or eat it fresh or just refrigerate it until Christmas, this recipe is a must-try this holiday season.
Link in bio @thehouseandhomestead to get my full recipe plus canning instructions:)
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I love making my own broth at home because I can pretty much guarantee a good gel and lots of collagen in each batch. Plus I make mine super frugally, with bones and veggie scraps that I save in the freezer.
I’ll be posting my recipe (and canning instructions) soon. Start saving those scraps!
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#bonebroth #collagen #nourish #wholefoodnutrition #homesteadkitchen
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This year, instead of travelling all over the country and running around to every Christmas party and holiday event, we can focus on cozying up at home to enjoy the simple pleasures that this time of year brings.
While gathering and celebrating is a big part of the holiday season, it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to take pleasure in and no way to celebrate outside of parties and get togethers. We can still make the best of what’s left of this year by keeping the spirit of Christmas alive in our hearts and homes.
So that's exactly what we're doing right now: we're cooking and baking all the good food, lighting all the candles and twinkly lights, filling our home with all of the spicy, warm scents of the season and settling in for a long, restful winter ahead.
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DIY Christmas Room Sprays with essential oils, melt-in-your-mouth whipped shortbread cookies, traditional Christmas Eve tourtière wrapped in buttery, flaky homemade pie crust and delicious homemade eggnog to enjoy by the fire... These are a few of my favourite ways to enjoy the holiday season at home:)
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Wishing you tidings of comfort and joy, now and always ❤️
After 9 long months of extreme hand washing and sanitizing, the last thing our skin needs right now is the harshness of winter. But winter is here my friends, and that means it’s time to give your skin a little extra TLC.
I make my own body butter every year around this time, and it’s become my favourite way to moisturize my skin during the winter months. Much like a deep conditioner works on your hair, body butter absorbs deeply into your skin to help moisturize, repair and protect it.
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Click the link in my bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to https://thehouseandhomestead.com/homemade-body-butter/ to get the full recipe and “whip up” a batch today;)
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I’ve rounded up all of my fave kitchen tools, books and home and body products that I use all the time and could not live without (ok, I could live without them, but I wouldn’t want to!) and I’m sharing them all with you in this week’s YouTube video!
Grab a mug of something warm (or a glass of something chilled) and come on in for a tour of all the goods!
Link in bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to YouTube.com/thehouseandhomestead for all the latest videos:)
Thank you for this! I’ve tried other recipes and this is the best. Plus my two year old could help!
We rolled aluminum foil and made our own shapes, it was easy and they came out great.
Worked really well. My chickens love them!
How much powdered gelatine is in 1 package?
The kids made these tonight! Super easy and perfect for young ones to do for indoor activity.