Along the same lines as the garland we made this week, this little project is another way to keep our feathered friends fed throughout the winter. Plus it has the added bonus of looking nice and festive for us too.
This time of year birds need extra calories to keep them going through the colder weather so these bird seed ornaments are made with fat and high calorie seeds.
The things you will need for this project are:
- Wild bird seed
- A block of lard
- String
- Festive cookie cutters
The first job is to cut up the lard into 1″ chunks and put into a double boiler. This is just a bowl over a pan of hot water, for the lard to melt.
Stir once in a while until all of the lard chunks have melted completely and take off the heat.
Stir the seed mix into the lard until it is all coated with the melted lard.
Place the cookie cutters onto a lined baking sheet and carefully spoon in the lard/ seed mix. Give them a gentle push into the moulds with the back if a spoon to make sure they are nice and firmly packed in.
Before they set hard, take a skewer and make a hole in the ‘ornament’ so you can thread the sting later.
Now pop them in the freezer to set hard. The fridge isn’t enough to set them hard enough to get them out of the mould in one piece. Trust me, Im still mourning the sad loss of my dismembered gingerbread man ornament ?.
Once they have set firm you can take them out of the freezer and gently push them out of the cookie cutter mould. You will have to use the skewer again to push the hole through again as the lard will see it over on the back, but because you made it earlier it’s much easier.
Thread the string through the hole, making sure you have enough string to tie it onto the tree or bird table later.
Now you can hang them outside for the birds to enjoy.
This is another fun thing to do with the children, but an adult will need to help pour the hot lard.
Have fun making these and let me know how you got on.
Merry Christmas
Sam x