Show some love for our feathered friends by making homemade birdseed ornaments, or cookies, to hang outside. These cute heart-shaped cookies are so giftable, and a great, economical alternative to candy Valentines!
I searched for a recipe to make sturdy birdseed ornaments and noticed many of them include unflavored gelatin.
*quickly googles “is gelatin ok for birds”*
The gist of the articles I skimmed was that gelatin is not harmful to birds; however, many birdseed ornament recipes list corn syrup as one of the ingredients, and this is NOT good for birds.
The recipe I ended up adapting is from Fountain Avenue Kitchen.
This recipe does not include corn syrup, honey, red dye, or any of the other no-no ingredients the internet says is bad for birds.
Does that reassure you? It was good enough for me!
How to Make Birdseed Ornaments for Valentine’s Day
You will need:
- birdseed (I bought a bag of “basic wild bird food” from my local grocery store)
- heart-shaped cookie cutters
- sturdy string or twine
- unflavored gelatin powder
- water
Make sure to have small spoons, measuring cups, a bowl, and a baking sheet or tray to dry the ornaments on.
Step 1: Mix ingredients
Boil 1/4 cup water and mix with one packet of unflavored gelatin powder. Stir until dissolved.
Add a tablespoon of ice water and let the mixture stand for a few minutes to cool.
Mix gelatin mixture with a cup of birdseed.
The mixture will be a bit wet, and that’s OK. You want to make sure there is enough gelatin to bind the birdseed.
If you really feel the mixture is TOO wet, add a small amount of extra birdseed.
Step 2: Make Ornaments
Cut string or twine into segments about four times the length of your longest ornament. Fold in half and set aside.
Place your cookie cutters on a wax paper-lined baking sheet or tray.
Work quickly to spoon the birdseed mixture into a cookie cutter.
Fill the cookie cutter about halfway, then place a folded string on top.
Continue pressing birdseed into the cookie cutter, filling it to the top.
TIP: Make sure to pack the birdseed in tight so the cookie will come out sturdy.
The girls and I sang “Pack in the birdseed, pack, pack, pack” (super creative lyrics, I know!) to the tune of “Skip to My Lou” while we did this step.
Step 3: Let dry
Place the birdseed ornaments in the fridge overnight, or if it’s cold enough, place in the garage to dry.
Once they are dry, hang them outside on a tree!
Ensuring Birdseed Valentine Success
Here are a few things that are good to know if you are doing this with little kids.
- Unflavored gelatin smells weird. Be prepared for kids to go “Eww, what is that?”
- Birdseed smells a little funky, too, though not as funky as unflavored gelatin.
- Remind kids that this is for birds to eat, not humans.
- The birdseed mixture is really sticky. If your kids don’t like having stuff stuck to their hands, make sure they use a spoon to handle the birdseed. Keep a wet paper towel nearby to wipe hands off quickly before they flail their hands to get it off and birdseed goes flying everywhere.
- Pour unused birdseed into a resealable container immediately. Can you imagine if that giant bag falls over and spills?
- Letting the ornaments dry in the mold will result in the sturdiest ornament, BUT if you must, you can pop them out before they’ve completely dried to make more ornaments.
- Cookie cutters with a lot of sharp edges or detail (like a snowflake or flower shape) are harder to use, and you will lose definition, so keep that in mind when choosing cookie cutters.
- If you want to make a lot of these birdseed cookies, work in small batches so you have time to make them all before the birdseed mixture dries out. We did ours in batches over a period of several days.
- We made our birdseed valentines weeks in advance to make sure they had PLENTY of time to dry. If you’re pressed for time, try one of the other homemade valentine ideas listed below so you are not stressed about the dry time!
Did the Birds Like Our Birdseed Hearts?
The answer to this is yes!
We hung up our birdseed hearts in January. It seemed to take a couple weeks before the birds noticed this new food source.
Once they did, we have birds visiting our trees every morning and evening and at various times throughout the day.
One thing I noticed that I didn’t think of before hanging them up is that the birds need a spot to perch so they can easily reach the birdseed and peck at it.
Although, literally, as I am typing this out there is a bird sitting on top of one of the larger ornaments, happily pecking away at it, so maybe it is not that big a deal!
These ornaments have survived a heavy snow and a few days of strong wind and have held up well.
My girls love looking out the window every day and counting the birds feasting in the trees.
I love that they get a sense of pride from taking care of our little feathered friends.
I hope you try making birdseed valentine hearts this year!
Homemade Valentines and Craft Ideas From EYT
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