Pinterest Project: Birdseed Wreath

I've been a little bird-obsessed lately. I love watching the birds come to the feeders, especially in the morning while I have breakfast. V & I both like pointing out the different birds.
Recently I went to a bird banding event at the Burroughs Audubon Nature Center & Bird Sanctuary. It was pretty informative, and a lot of fun. After catching & banding the birds, they let the guests help let the birds go! Here I am holding a Dark-Eye Junco moments before releasing him. He was so soft!

(photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/aerokc/ )

My friend also got this amazing shot of the bird-banding expert being bitten by a male cardinal, who was ready to be released.

(photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/aerokc/ )

After the fun at the Burroughs Center, plus the Great Backyard Bird Count, I wanted to attract more birds to the yard. I have one seed feeder, a thistle feeder and one suet feeder, but that doesn't seem like enough (for me). I saw this very cute birdseed wreath on Pinterest, which took me to the blog post at Under the Table Dreaming.
I was antsy to get started, and didn't have the time to run to the thrift store to try to find a suitable mold (since I don't own a jello mold, or a bundt cake pan). Instead, I used a pie tin, and put a ramekin in the center.

 I sprayed the tin/ramekin with non-stick spray, then added the birdseed mix. To make the mix, dissolve 2 packets of Knox unflavored gelatin into 1 cup of water over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in 2 cups of birdseed. Once the seed is completely coated, press into mold.

 Let the birdseed sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours for the gelatin to set. After 2 hours (or more), remove the wreath from the mold. Take a ribbon and tie it in the center for hanging. 

We placed the wreath in the backyard near our other feeders, and it didn't take long for the birds to find it. The downy woodpeckers seemed especially fond of it. Unfortunately, so did the squirrels. It took 4 days for the squirrels to completely destroy the wreath and cart off all the hunks of seed-gelatin. It was still worth it to see the woodpeckers on the wreath in the morning.
This was a super easy project, and could be made into many shapes. I think it works best in the winter/early spring so that the temps aren't warm enough to melt the gelatin.
Happy Birdwatching!

Project #1 Salt Dough Ornaments

This project was completed a month ago, but I thought it would be a great subject to post about. I found this pin about making Salt Dough Handprint ornaments. The pin linked to Homemade Grit's tutorial. Check out her post to see how her ornaments turned out!

We started with the recipe:
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water

I combined all the ingredients and let my stand mixer (with dough hook) knead the dough for 15 minutes. Then I let my daughter reach in & hand knead the dough just for fun.

 

Next we rolled out the dough and cut it into circles using a plastic cup.

When we had enough scraps from the circles, I rolled them into a ball, pressed them flat & cut another circle.

I took my daughters hand and carefully pressed them into the dough. For the leftover smaller circles, I used stamps (with no ink) to press shapes into.

V enjoyed getting dirty, and taste-testing the salt dough.

We used a straw to cut small holes in each ornament to thread the ribbon hangers through, and I used small alphabet letter stamps to press my daughter's name into the ornaments.
The next step was baking. The tutorial I used for a guide suggested to bake at 300ºF about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden (spray cookie sheet with nonstick spray first). Our ornaments were thicker and needed nearly 40 minutes of bake time. After time was up, I turned the oven off and let the ornaments cool.

The next day, I used a paint pen & some old nail polish to paint in the handprints, my daughter's name & the year. Once the paint was dry, my husband sprayed the ornaments with a clear coat to seal them. Finally I added a ribbon to hang the ornaments.

The ornaments were a lot of fun to make, and pretty easy. They made great gifts for the grandparents this year.