Easy Crafts for Kids: Homemade Cookie Cutter Birdfeeder
Making birdfeeders with cookie cutters is a simple craft that is oh so cute. Kids love to make them and birds love to eat them, and kids and adults LOVE watching the birds eat them. They take about 30 minutes to make, so this project will hold the attention of even the smallest child.
Materials:
- 2 cups of birdseed
- ½ cup of water
- 2 small envelopes of unflavored gelatin
- Twine, string or ribbon cut into 8 – 10 inch strips
- Cookie cutters
- Wax paper
Start off by mixing gelatin into warm water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Once the gelatin is dissolved remove it from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
Pour the birdseed into a 2 quart mixing bowl and then slowly add the gelatin mixture. Stir until all of the birdseed is coated with the liquid. When selecting the birdseed, it is best to choose a kind with not very many sunflower seeds for the solidity of the feeder.
Lay out the cookie cutters on a sheet of wax paper. This recipe makes 10 birdfeeders, so you need 10 cookie cutters. It can easily be cut in half though to only make 5 birdfeeders.
Once the cookie cutters are laid out, begin filling the cookie cutters with the birdseed mixture. Fill the cookie cutters up about halfway packing it down snugly.
It’s important to only fill them half way so that the ribbon will be in the center of the feeder. Ribbon that is too close to the top of the feeder could cause the finished birdfeeder to break easily.
Tie a knot at the end of a ribbon strip for the loop. Then, while holding the end of the knot into the cookie cutter, cover the ribbon with birdseed to hold it into place. Then continue by filling up the rest of the cookie cutter with birdseed mixture. Make sure to pack it down as tightly as possible, and pay special attention to the corners of any odd shapes it tends to be harder to get the birdseed in those places for the kiddos.
After an hour, the gelatin will begin to firm up. Turn over each of the birdfeeders and press them down firmly from the top. This will level off the other side of the birdfeeder, and will help to make the birdseed more compact in the cookie cutter for a stronger feeder.
Let the birdfeeders stay in the cookie cutters overnight to dry completely. The next morning, the feeders will slide easily out of the cookie cutters, and they are ready to be hung from the trees.
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Comments
Love this idea! I will be making these this summer - my children are older now but I will ask them to help me. I love watching the bluebirds, cardinals and hummingbirds visit my yard each year. Pinned and voted up.
I had fun making these with my four year old daughter as Christmas presents. All was going well until I got ready to give away the ones that we made and wrapped last week. They are covered in mold! Eww.
Maybe would be ok if the went directly outside in the winter.
I am going to file this one away as a Pinterest fail for me:(
- AUTHOR
Thanks much! I'm glad you enjoyed it ishwaryaa22! :)
A cute tutorial hub filled with clear instructions and amazing photos! Belated congrats on winning the hub of the day! Well-done!
Thanks for SHARING. Useful & Interesting. Voted up & pinned
Congrats on hub of the day! This is one of the cutest projects I have ever seen. I don't have kids, but I'm going to to make these for sure. I love the way they look hanging in the tree. Great hub and thanks for sharing this wonderful craft idea.
Something very new and interesting. Will surely try this out!
Voted Up! Never thought of using cookie cutters to make a bird feeder. What a great idea! Congradulations on the hub of the day!
You are right, these are really cute. What a cool project for kids to make a unique Christmas tree ! Fantastic Hub!
Very inspiring hub and you are so creative. Thanks for writing and share with us. Voted up!
Prasetio
This looks great! I am going to try it with my grandkids.
What a wonderful idea!! This will be the perfect way to lure more of our local songbirds (manjiro) to my trees in the morning. Thanks for the easy-to-follow instructions and great photos!
Voted up & useful!!
Hi,
This is something I will make with my neice, or by myself. What a gift you have to think of this for children to make. This will be great for the coming months as I feed the birds who visit from the north all winter.
I voted awesome useful and interesting.
And I tweeted it.
Thanks again and have a great autumn.
Bobbi Purvis
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What a fantastic idea! Great for holiday decorations outside; great for a fun filled kids project; and great because it feeds even the least of these...perfect! I'm pinning it! Thanks for a wonderful idea.
What a clever and fun idea! I love these! It would be a great kid-friendly craft project. Very deserving of HOTD - voted up and shared!
Attractive!!!
Our simple and on some level monotonous life can be more colorful and interesting and vibrant!
I love this! My boys will be making these this weekend and putting them up outside. They will love it!!!! Great Hub! Congrats on HOTD!
Very unique and a most enjoyable hub. Our feathered friends all may need a little help these days because there have been so many hot and dry days all over.
This is such an awesome idea! Lots of fun to do with kids. Rated up & useful.
I absolutely love this idea! I am going to do this with my kids around Christmas time and make a Christmas tree for the birds. What fun!
This is a fabulous nature craft to do with kids! Congrats on a well-deserved Hub of the Day award. :)
What an awesome idea! Great HOTD!
Thank you so much for this great comme and here's to so many more to follow on here.
Eddy.
Pretty DIY products! :-)
This is very clever. When I was a little girl, we made the pine cone bird feeder to hang in trees.
These have taken that activit y to a whole new level. My gandson will be helping me make some of these this winter. Thank you for sharing this and congrats on hub of the day. pinned
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A very interesting activity to do with kids and a very brilliant idea that you have shared. Congratulations on your Hub of the Day as well.
Voted up, awesome and interesting !!!
- AUTHOR
Oh I'm sure he will Mariele...my kids enjoyed it completely!
What a great idea! I'll have to try these with my grandson. He'll love making them.
- AUTHOR
Oh Stephanine...sooo much better than the mess made with animal fat. It is sticky, but not bad at all.
I love this idea. This is much better than working with animal fat to keep everything together. I can't wait to try this. Thank you for sharing.
What a cute idea for young children. If my kids were still young, this is exactly the sort of project I'd do with them. Voted up
This is such an easy, but fantastic idea! Great instructions and images. Voted up and interesting.
- AUTHOR
Thanks much Angelo! They are so simple to make. We had a blast doing it. So glad you enjoyed!
Making these cookie cutter bird seed feeders is a very clever idea. Your article provides the information well, even I should be able to use your idea. Sharing to facebook and pin it. Voted up etc.
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