Birdseed Ornaments

Birdseed Ornaments

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons corn syrup
• 2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin, such as Knox
• 4 cups birdseed

Measure out ingredients before beginning. You can use any type flour. For the birdseed, choose seeds that most appeal to your backyard birds. 

Ornaments could easily be made with just sunflower seeds or millet, or you can customize your blend with peanut chips, sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, cracked corn or dried fruit as desired, as long as the total amount of birdseed is approximately four cups.

TOOLS:

• Medium or large mixing bowl
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 8-12 cookie cutters
• Wax paper
• Nonstick saucepan
• Skewer or similar implement (for making holes)
• String, yarn or twine, cut into 6-8 inch lengths
• Wire cooling rack
• Wooden spoon or rubber scraper

Ideally, the cookie cutters should be an inch thick. The thicker ornament, the more stable and more easily hung it will be. Chunkier shaped cookie cutters work best. They can be either plastic or metal.

The string to hang the ornaments can be any type of string, twine, yarn, ribbon or raffia. Avoid fishing line as it can be dangerous to birds. After the ornaments are eaten, the leftover string can become nesting material for birds.

1. Spray each cookie cutter thoroughly with nonstick cooking spray. If desired, spray the wax paper as well to be sure the warm ornaments do not stick at all.

2. Add water and corn syrup to the nonstick saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add gelatin, stirring or whisking it continually to dissolve. Only heat this mixture until the gelatin has dissolved; boiling the liquid down too far will reduce the quantity available to bind your ornaments, and they may fall apart more easily.

 

3. Transfer the syrup mixture to your mixing bowl and add the flour. Stir mixture until it is well blended; it will have a consistency similar to a medium brownie batter or thick cake batter, and there should be no large clumps. If it is too thick to stir easily, add additional hot water one tablespoon at a time until it is appropriately thinned. Similarly, if the mixture is too thin, add flour one tablespoon at a time to reach the right consistency.

4. Add birdseed and thoroughly mix it with the flour batter to coat all the seeds. This will be a thick, stiff mixture, but it is important to blend it well otherwise the ornaments will fall apart. Spraying a rubber scraper or spatula with nonstick spray for the mixing can help ensure a good mix without too much seed sticking to the utensil.

5. Spray your hands thoroughly with nonstick cooking spray and fill each cookie cutter to the brim with birdseed. Be sure to press seed into every corner of the mold, and press the seed as firmly as possible. The birdseed mixture can dry out quickly so it’s best to cover the mixture with plastic wrap between each ornament.

Fill only one ornament at a time; they will start to dry quickly, extra seed added at the end will not adhere as well to the finished ornament. You may need to spray your hands with nonstick spray after every 2-3 ornaments so the seed does not stick to you.

6. Any extra birdseed mixture you have left after filling all your cookie cutters can be rolled into small balls or patted into small, firm cakes without molds. 

7. Create the holes for hanging each ornament. Press the seed firmly around the skewer, and be sure the hole is completely through each ornament. Place holes approximately one inch away from the ornament's edge.

8. Gently move the ornaments – still in the cookie cutter molds – onto the wire cooling rack to dry. Dry the ornaments for a minimum of 6-8 hours, but 24 hours is even better.

9. Stick the ribbon, string or twine through the holes in each ornament use a wide-eyed tapestry needle to pull the ribbon or string through the hole. Tie knot to form desired loop size.