Introduction
Christmas is a wonderful time of year to decorate your home and garden with festive trimmings. Many people like to hang Christmas ornaments on their trees and decorate their homes with garlands, wreaths and lights. But why should our feathered friends miss out on all the festive fun? Making Christmas ornaments specifically for garden birds is a great way to add a unique touch to your holiday decor. Birds will appreciate the effort and enjoy pecking at the edible treats. Plus, it can provide enrichment and activity for them during the winter months.
Why Make Christmas Ornaments for Birds?
There are several great reasons to make Christmas ornaments for your garden birds:
- It provides natural food and enrichment for birds during winter when natural food sources are scarce.
- Birds love pecking at the edible ingredients like seeds, fruit, suet and nuts.
- You can tailor ornaments to suit different species by including their favorite foods.
- It’s a fun craft activity the whole family can get involved in.
- Ornaments add festive decoration to your garden and invite more birds to visit.
- Homemade ornaments are inexpensive and easy to make compared to buying commercial ones.
Making edible bird ornaments is easy, rewarding and adds a unique touch to your outdoor Christmas decor. Let’s look at how to make different types of ornaments that your feathered visitors will love.
What Types of Materials Work Well?
There are many edible and natural materials that can be used to make delightful Christmas ornaments for your garden birds:
| Material | Properties |
|---|---|
| Seeds | High in fat and protein – excellent winter nutrition for birds. Types include millet, sunflower, nyjer, safflower, cracked corn. |
| Fruit | Dried fruits like raisins, cranberries, apples, oranges provide natural sweetness. |
| Nuts | High fat content great for energy. Chopped peanuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts. |
| Coconut | Shredded coconut is enjoyed by many birds. |
| Suet | Nutrient-dense animal fat provides lots of calories for insulation and energy. |
| Honey | A natural sweetener that attracts insect-eating birds like woodpeckers and chickadees. |
| Oats | Whole or rolled oats add texture and nutrition. |
| Birdseed | Mixes or individual types of seeds tailored to species. |
In addition to edible ingredients, you can use natural non-toxic craft materials like string, raffia, twigs, pine cones and cookie cutters to shape and decorate ornaments. Avoid plastic, wires, glitter and anything birds could get tangled in or ingest. Focus on 100% natural edibles.
Making Fruit & Seed Ornaments
A simple ornament can be made by threading dried fruits onto sturdy string or twine. Try cranberries, apple slices, orange slices or halves of citrus fruits. These look pretty and provide natural sugars. To add some fat and protein, you can alternate fruits with small seeds like millet and finely chopped unsalted nuts.
Hang these fruited garlands from trees and shrubs. Pick sturdy edible components that will withstand winter weather without getting soggy or mouldy. If you coat fruit slices in vegetable oil before threading and drying, it helps protect and preserve them.
You can also use cookie cutters to cut fruit slices into fun shapes like stars and Christmas trees before threading them. Dried apple slices work well for this. Fresh pineapple slices can be cut into shapes before drying and stringing as well. Get creative with the fruit shapes to add whimsy to your edible bird ornaments.
Making Suet Ornaments
Suet is essentially hardened animal fat, traditionally made from beef or mutton. It provides a concentrated source of fat and calories to help wild birds survive cold winters. You can buy commercially made suet cakes, but it’s also easy to make your own homemade suet ornaments to hang up for birds. Here’s a simple recipe:
Homemade Suet Ornaments
Ingredients:
– 1 cup melted suet or vegetable shortening
– 2 cups birdseed
– Dried fruit like raisins, cranberries, chopped apples
– Nuts like chopped peanuts or hazelnuts
– Oats
– Cornmeal
– Shredded coconut
– Honey (optional)
– Cookie cutters or mold
Instructions:
1. Melt down beef suet or substitute vegetable shortening. Allow to slightly cool.
2. Mix in dried fruit, nuts, seeds, oats, cornmeal and coconut until fully incorporated.
3. Add a drizzle of honey if desired for added sweetness.
4. Pour mixture into cookie cutters or silicone molds to shape ornaments.
5. Refrigerate until hardened then pop out shapes.
6. Make a hole in the top and thread string through to hang.
Customize your suet ornaments by choosing favorite ingredients of the bird species you want to attract. Tailor your suet ornaments to the birds in your yard for best results.
Making Pine Cone Bird Feeders
Pine cones make a fun craft component for DIY bird ornaments and feeders. Here’s an easy pine cone feeder how-to:
Supplies:
– Pine cones
– Peanut butter, vegetable shortening or lard
– Birdseed
– Twine
Instructions:
1. Tie a length of twine around the top of the pine cone for hanging.
2. Spread peanut butter, shortening or lard over each pine cone scale, fully covering the surface.
3. Roll pine cones in birdseed until fully coated. Refrigerate until hardened.
4. Hang your peanut-buttered pine cone feeders from tree branches.
The seeds and peanut butter provide essential fat and protein for visiting birds. You can also roll them in dried fruit bits or coconut for added nutrition and visual appeal.
Making Cookie Cutter Ornaments
For shaped ornaments, cookie cutters make a great mold. Here’s how:
1. Choose desired cookie cutter shapes – trees, stars, bells, etc.
2. Mix together your preferred seeds, nuts, fruit and binder ingredients like suet or peanut butter.
3. Pack mixture into each cookie cutter firmly.
4. Unmold shapes and insert loop of string or twine for hanging.
5. Optional: decorate shapes with dried fruit or nuts.
6. Hang on trees or wreaths and wait for birds to discover them!
Almost any small cookie cutter will work well for shaping ornaments. Get creative with Christmas tree shapes, snowflakes, gingerbread people, reindeer, angels and more. Kids will have fun helping make and decorate the shapes.
Nut Butter Logs
Peanut butter or other nut butters provide excellent nutrition for birds. Make logs by packing nut butter into pine cones or smearing it into the crevices of torn-up pieces of bread. Roll them in birdseed to coat. Hang up with string for birds to nibble on.
Making Bread Ornaments
Stale or crusty bread can be turned into edible bird ornaments too. Here are some options:
– Use cookie cutters to cut fun shapes out of bread slices. Spread with nut butter, coat in seeds and hang with ribbon.
– Bake bread dough into ornament shapes like wreaths or trees before hanging. Birds will gradually peck away at these.
– Tear bread into small chunks to thread onto strong thread or twine alternated with dried fruits and seeds.
The birds will gradually eat the bread and fruit over time. Feel free to get creative with different bread shapes and ingredients.
Citrus Fruit Feeders
Oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit make bright and festive holiday ornaments. Simply roll citrus fruits in birdseed to coat and then pierce with a piece of twine or wire to hang. The fruits add vitamin C and the seeds provide protein for the birds.
Grapefruit halves also work well. Scoop out some of the center and fill with a suet mixture, peanut butter or birdseed before hanging. The colorful fruits look pretty and provide nourishment for your feathered visitors.
Dough Ornaments
Make ornaments from simple bread or cookie dough by shaping it and baking into hardy bird treats. Basic doughs to try are:
– Peanut butter cookie dough with added seeds and dried fruit bits.
– Whole wheat dough with sunflower seeds, oats and dried cranberries.
– Corn bread or corn muffin dough with bits of apple, cranberries and nuts mixed in.
Roll out doughs and use cookie cutters or your hands to shape into rounds, wreaths, trees, stars etc. Bake at 250°F until hardened and hang with ribbon outside once cooled. Birds will gradually pick away at these.
Making Edible Ornament Dough
You can also make your own non-bake edible dough using a simple recipe like this:
Ingredients:
– 1 cup peanut butter
– 1/2 cup cornmeal
– 1/3 cup flour
– 1/3 cup birdseed
– 1/4 cup applesauce
– Dried fruit, coconut, nuts
Instructions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly into a sticky dough. Add more flour if needed for workability.
2. Knead in any dried fruits, nuts or other add-ins.
3. Roll out dough and cut into shapes using cookie cutters.
4. Insert a loop of string into each ornament before hanging outside for birds to eat over time.
This basic dough recipe can be adapted by using different nut butters or grains and adding more seeds or coconut to suit your birds’ preferences. Get creative with the shapes and decorations.
Mini Birdseed Wreaths
Create mini wreath ornaments using simple materials:
Supplies:
– 3 inch styrofoam rings or rings cut from a pool noodle
– Peanut butter
– Birdseed mix
– Dried cranberries
– Ribbon
Instructions:
1. Tie one end of a ribbon through the styrofoam ring for hanging.
2. Spread rings with peanut butter.
3. Roll in birdseed then press dried cranberries into the seed coating for decoration.
4. Hang wreaths outside for birds to nibble on all winter.
These mini wreaths look adorable on trees or wreath displays while also feeding the birds. Customize them by using different seeds, nuts or dried fruits to suit your local birds.
Baking Bird Biscuits
One easy way to make edible bird ornaments is by baking up batches of simple biscuits. Here is an easy recipe to try:
Homemade Bird Biscuit Recipe
Ingredients:
– 2 cups flour
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
– 1/2 cup peanut butter
– 1 egg
– 1/4 cup milk
– 1 cup birdseed
– 1/2 cup dried fruit bits
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, shortening, peanut butter and egg.
3. Stir in milk then add birdseed and dried fruit.
4. Roll out dough and cut into shapes using cookie cutters.
5. Arrange shapes on baking sheet and bake 20 minutes until lightly browned.
6. Cool completely before hanging outside with ribbon or string.
Make a variety of fun shapes from trees and wreaths to stockings and stars. Bake up a big batch to hang all around your garden and yard. Birds will gradually nibble on these biscuits all season long.
Making No-Bake Seed Bars
For an easier no-bake option, you can make seed bars by pressing together a dough of nut butter, oats, seeds and dried fruit. Here’s one way:
Ingredients:
– 1 cup peanut butter
– 1 cup crushed graham crackers
– 1/2 cup oats
– 1/3 cup birdseed
– 1/3 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chopped dates
– Milk as needed
Instructions:
1. Mix all ingredients together, adding milk a little at a time if needed to form a thick dough.
2. Press firmly into a flat pan or mold.
3. Refrigerate until firm then cut into bars or shapes.
4. Insert ribbon and hang outside for birds to nibble on.
No baking required for these simple seed bars. Play around with ingredients to attract your yard birds.
Conclusion
Making your own edible Christmas ornaments for birds is simple, rewarding and adds a unique element to your holiday decor. With a little creativity and some basic ingredients, you can fashion nutritious bird treats in all sorts of festive shapes. Hang them around your garden and get into the spirit of giving this holiday season by creating nutritious snacks to help wild birds survive the winter months. Your feathered friends will be delighted to find these yuletide gifts made just for them.
