Birdseed Ornaments | DIY

Every winter, when I was a kid, my father would make birdseed feeders from clay flower pots which he filled with birdseed and lard, and put a stick in the center of the pot (for the birds to cling on while feeding). The feeders where then hung upside down into the tree in front of our kitchen window.
It's funny how these memories sometimes come back to us years later, isn't it? This year, however, I decided to revive this tradition and make my own birdseed ornaments. Partly because this is the first time since forever that I live in a place with a tree (or anything really) near my window to hang birdseed ornaments in.

The ornaments are very easy to make and take only like 10 minutes to make, if you don't count the cooling time. I added some fresh fruit to mine, because most birdseed mixtures don't but there are birds that feed from fruit rather than seeds and nuts. I thought my birdseed ornaments should have something for every bird. Aaand they also look way better than the versions you can buy in the supermarkets. Here's how it goes:

What you need:

muffin tin
fabric ribbons or fabric strips

birdseed (I used a mixture of this and this and so far the birdies seem to love it)
1 apple
1 orange
handful of cranberries
lard (coconut oil works as well, smells better, but is also much more expensive)

How it works:

1. Cut the fruits in tiny pieces. Mix the birdseed and the fruit in a large bowl. Tie the ends of the ribbons together to form loops. The larger the knot gets the better.

2. Fill the cups about halfway and then add the ribbons. It is important that a good length of the ribbon lies inside the cup to prevent the ornament from falling to the ground when the birds are pecking away the seeds.
Then add another layer of the birdseed and fruit mixture until the cups are full. Press the seeds down a bit with a spoon to make the ornaments more compact.

3. Melt the lard or coconut oil and fill the muffin tin cups carefully using a tablespoon until the cups are filled to the brim. Leave the ornaments to cool down for an hour and then pop the whole tin into the freezer for a few hours or overnight.

4. To remove the ornaments put the muffin tin, cover a few centimeters of your kitchen sink with hot water and put the muffin tin in. Remove the ornaments quickly and put them back into the freezer until you need them.

5. Hang the birdseed ornaments into bushes or trees!