Bird Seed Ornament Ideas

Pipe Cleaner Ornaments

• Create interesting shapes using pipe cleaners. Depending on the holiday you're celebrating, bend the pipe cleaner into the shape of a holiday tree outline, a pumpkin, a star or other shapes that suit you. Make edible glue from egg whites and either dip the ornament in a bowl of egg whites or brush the egg whites on the pipe cleaner. Dip the wet pipe cleaners into a dish of millet and dry the ornament in an oven for several minutes to set the egg whites.

Bread and Seed Ornaments

• Use cookie cutters to turn old bread into decorative ornaments that you can then coat with seeds for the birds. Cut several slices of bread with the cookie cutters of your choice and brush egg white on top of the bread. Sprinkle birdseed on top of the ornament and bake for five minutes at 300 degrees F. Hang the ornament in a tree near the window where you can watch the birds eat your holiday treat.

Suet Treats

• Get suet at the local butchers for a reasonable price and heat it yourself on the stove top. After it cools, scoop off the solid fat that rises to the surface and use it to create your holiday treats. For this project, you'll need an extra set of cookie cutters that you'll use to feed the suet to the birds. Mix sugar-free peanut butter in equal proportions with rendered suet. Add in corn meal and birdseed, then fill the cookie cutters with your mix and hang outside for your feathered friends.

Pine Cone Treats

• It's not just birds that enjoy birdseed decorations. Squirrels enjoy most of the seeds that birds like to eat. One way to feed them both is to use rendered lard mixed with birdseed to pack an open pinecone. Before you pack the cone, wrap a string under the scales to make it easy to hang. Alternatively, use honey to hold the seeds in the pinecone. Warm the honey slightly before adding your choice of bird seeds, place the cone on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper and fill the cone with your mix. Freeze the cones to keep them intact and hang them outside in cool temperatures.