Celebrate the culture of agriculture & share skills (Growing! Cooking! Eating!)

How To Make A Bird-Feeding Wreath

I just made one of these for our office holiday swap. All my wreaths bring the birdies to the yard! Ahem...yeah.

It was simple - though a bit messy. This recipe makes three wreaths.

You will need:

8 cups of mixed bird seed

6 envelopes of clear gelatin (1.5 boxes)

1 cup cold water

2 cups boiling water

corrugated cardboard - enough for 6-10" rings

scissors

1. Cut six equal rings, no more than 10" in diameter each, from the cardboard.

2. In a large bowl, sprinkle gelatin over one cup cold water and let sit for one minute.

3. Add two cups boiled water, stirring to combine.

4. Fold in bird seed, coating thoroughly. If the mixture seems too dry, add water, one half-cup at a time. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes.

5. Lay out cardboard rings on wax-paper-lined baking sheets and, using a spoon, cover each ring with approximately one inch of seed mix. Press the seed mix down with the back of the spoon as you go.

6. Set each completed ring in a cool spot - the fridge, the basement, the garage or outside if you live in colder climates - for at least three hours until set.

7. Working carefully, join two rings back-to-back and tie together using a 1-inch wide piece of fabric or ribbon. Add a spray of greens or berries for color.

8. Hang outside of a window where you can enjoy the traffic of appreciative birds!

Comment by Tory on December 16, 2010 at 1:31pm: can't forget our feathered friends! I love it Cornelia and it's one the kids can help out on too!

Comment by Jennifer Fahy on December 16, 2010 at 3:48pm: I can't wait to put mine up in the yard and do some bird-watching! Thank you, Cornelia!

Comment by Brianna McClintock on December 21, 2010 at 9:33am: made these this morning with my four year old as gifts! cant wait to see how they come out!

Comment by Cornelia on December 21, 2010 at 10:33am: Brianna, that makes me so happy! Please post pictures if you can! Thanks everyone - you're welcome, Jen. Enjoy!

Comment by Cornelia on February 2, 2011 at 5:31pm

Comment by Caroline Malcolm on February 13, 2012 at 5:21pm: I made these for Christmas gifts! I'm finally getting around to posting pictures. Here are two of my favorites:

This first one is for my musician roommate.

This one is for my grandmother. I added an extra "gift" using a Farm Aid Christmas tree ornament.

I will say that this project is MESSY. Be sure to cover your workspace. Never having made these wreaths before, I wasn't sure how much gelatin was too much gelatin. I followed this recipe and I only got two wreathes out of it, even adding a little extra seed, gelatin and water (at first I thought the mixture was too dry, then too wet, then not gelly enough...finally I gave up and made do). The wreaths turned out pretty, and make a nice gift. Be sure to get them outside and eaten quickly...they do become soggy and may grow mold!