Perfect for Valentine's Day, weddings or even your Christmas tree, birdseed ornaments are tasty treats for our feathered friends, eco-friendly and simple to make.
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| Heart-Shaped Birdseed Ornament and Upcycled Tag |
So simple, in fact, a three year old can help make them:
Here's what you'll need to do:
1. Mix together 4 cups birdseed and 3/4 cup flour. Set aside.
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2. Heat 1/2 cup water in the microwave and mix together with 1 envelope unflavored gelatin until dissolved. Add in 3-4 tablespoons corn syrup.
3. Pour the liquid mix into the birdseed mix and stir well.
4. Spray cookie cutters with cooking spray and add in the birdseed concoction. Push down the birdseed to compact it all into the mold.
5. Make a hole at the top of the ornament using a chopstick and slowly push the ornament out onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper or a sealing wrap.
Allow the birdseed ornaments to dry overnight or 6-8 hours.
In the meantime, let's make tags out of toilet paper rolls for the small heart ornaments...
Supplies:
Craft Glue Dots®
toilet paper rolls
tag stencil (2 3/8" x 9/16") + small hole punch OR tag punch
brown ink
small bird stamp
small letter stamps
white cardstock
red cardstock
heart punch (1")
brown buttons
white floss
hemp rope
birdseed ornaments
1. Create six tags per toilet paper roll. Cut one side of toilet paper roll (preferably Scott brand since there's no text on the rolls) and flatten. Trace the tag stencil onto the roll, cut out and punch a small hole at top OR use a tag punch instead of the stencil. Ink the edges of each tag.
2. Add embellishments. Punch hearts from red cardstock and stamp each one with a bird. Cut small strips of white cardstock (3/8" x 1 1/4") and use the letter stamps to stamp "love" onto each strip. Thread each button with floss to make bows. Use Craft Glue Dots® to attach each individual embellishment to the toilet paper roll tags.
Tip: Acrylic stamp not staying on the block anymore? Use a Removable Glue Dot® to hold it in place.
3. Add hemp. Cut 12" of hemp for every tag. String the hemp through each birdseed ornament, then through the tag and tie knot. Trim any excess hemp if necessary.
Wedding ideas: Hang these birdseed ornaments on branches for wedding centerpieces. Give them to guests to hang outside the church after the wedding ceremony. Box them up and send your handmade ornaments home with guests as wedding favors.
The birdseed ornament recipe was inspired by these other great tutorials: Tutorial #1, Tutorial #2.
Disclosure: This blog post was written while participating on the Glue Dots design team.
Related:
Back-to-school project tutorial: Upcycled pencil holders
I wrapped a gift with newspaper and made a box
Eco-friendly scrapbooking: Toilet paper roll mini-album
