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A fun treat to make for your feathered friends.
I was trying to figure out how to make some winter bird seed treats for my Mother and Uncle for Christmas, and came across this tutorial. In the pictures above, the one with three bells shows one layer, two layers, and three layers.
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Nat L. added Bird Seed Bells Treats to pet stuff
02 Jan 22:53
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Step 1You will need this for the "edible glue":
3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup water, 3 Tbsp corn syrup, and optional packet of unflavored Knox gelatin for extra holding power
Mix this up for your glue, and I had probably six cups or more of a wild bird seed and raisin mixture (this is what I had on hand). You can add lots of other stuff, check out the link above for that. I used a paint brush to paint the glue onto the peat pots. A single recipe made enough for about 15 pots the first time around. -
Step 2Paint the pot-all around the outside of the pot with the glue that you just made. I did need to put in a tiny bit of extra water into one of my batches to help to make the paint "paintable".
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Step 3Here it is all painted on.
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Step 4Now,put your hand into the pot, and dip it into your bird seed mixture. I dipped first and then just poured the seeds onto the pot to fill in the empty spots-don't forget the top. I then put them on some wax paper.
Now let them set for 4-6 hours to harden....yes, let them sit. -
Step 5Now here is from left to right, one layer, two layers, and three layers. Three layers id kind of heavy, so I didn't make too many of these.
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Step 6Now that you've gone to the store yet again and finally remembered to get your cranberries (hehe), string them onto a piece of heavy thread-I used five berries for this.
Put knots at both ends, with a knot in the center somewhere so that they hang out of the bottom nicely when you put a heavier thread up through the center of the pot. I used a piece of wire to put the heavier thread around the threaded cranberries so that there are two ends of the heavier stuff up through the hole. I did need to put LOTS of knots in the underside of the pot so that the heavier thread wouldn't just go through. I hope you can understand this-now that I write it, it doesn't sound so simple. If anyone comes up with an easier way to do this or to explain it, PLEASE let us all know!! -
Step 7OK, here's me putting the heavier stuff (a cotton crochet thread) through the top-maybe you can see the huge knot I made after putting it around the thin thread with the cranberries.
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Step 8Now here it is!! You can either tie a knot at the top of the heavier thread, or wait to tie it onto a tree branch. It's kind of cute, and just in time for all of the snow everyone is getting right about now.
If you've got the supplies, this is something to do whilst you are stranded at home because of the snow. I will need to make more, too because I'll need to put some out, and I oroginally made them for Christmas presents.
Now let"s see some of your versions of this fun project!!
sorry.. just sorta confusing to look at a long list of ingredients.
anyway, looks tasty!
I might make some for the birds that will be looking for food in the rain..