Love watching the birds flock around your back or front yard and need more ways to draw them in even if you don’t have warm weather? Then you have to learn how to make your own birdseed wreath! It’s would make a great gift for any friends who are bird lovers too!

With just a handful of ingredients and tools, you’ll have the perfect DIY birdseed wreath for those birds to come to your yard to enjoy in under a half hour! That’s it, no crazy tools, no crazy ingredients and no hours spent crafting the snack for your favorite feathered friends.

And, you can use the same recipe to make small hanging bird seed ornaments if you prefer! I made both and will show you just how easy this is!

EASY BIRD SEED WREATH RECIPE INGREDIENTS

This project is really easy and you probably already have the ingredients needed in your pantry!

• Birdseed
• unflavored gelatin
• flour
• light corn syrup
• fresh cranberries
• water
• nonstick cooking spray
• parchment paper

When combined, the unflavored gelatin, flour, corn syrup and water form a “glue” that holds the bird seed to a shape. For the wreath, I used this bundt cake pan. And, here’s a set of heart shaped cookie cutters.

How to Make A Birdseed Wreath

You can find the detailed and printable recipe below.

Once you combine the above ingredients, you add the bird seed and mix it thoroughly with a wooden spoon so the bird seed is evenly coated.

Now, it’s time to add the bird seed mixture to your bundt pan or cookie cutters. This is when you will want to add cranberries if you like.

I did spray my bundt pan with nonstick spray just to be safe. But, did not use any on the cookie cutters and they still came out easily.

CAN I USE FROZEN CRANBERRIES?

Now, where I live, it’s hard to find fresh cranberries after Christmas. So, I used frozen cranberries that I purchased at WholeFoods. I would NOT recommend using frozen berries! Why? Because when they thaw, they get mushy!

I found this out the hard way when I found a pool of cranberry juice under my ornaments as they sat on my countertop to harden! I ended up putting them in the freezer until I was able to move both the wreath and ornaments outside.

You can see where the cranberry juice colored the bird seed on both the ornaments and the wreath in my photos.

HOW TO PLACE CRANBERRIES

If you do have fresh cranberries, place them in rows in the indented ridges of the bundt pan. I also used them on two larger heart cookie cutters as shown above.

For the cookie cutter ornaments, fill the center with the bird seed mixture and press into place. This will hold the berries to the outer edge of the ornaments. And, for the wreath, I just carefully added the bird seed mixture over each cranberry row one at a time to hold those berries in place.

If you are making both the ornaments and the wreath be sure to double the recipe below. And, be sure to fill the cookie cutters completely and press (like you would when making Rice Krispee treats).

Then, add the remaining bird seed mixture to the bundt pan. If you are only making the wreath or only making the cookie cutter ornaments, you will just need a single recipe.

For the cookie cutter ornaments, use something to make a hole near the top for hanging. I used the pointy end my meat thermometer! Just make sure, whatever you use, that it goes the whole way through!

DO I HAVE TO REFRIGERATE THE WREATHS?

Let the wreath and ornaments sit on your kitchen counter until they have completely hardened for 6 – 24 hours. It’s not necessary to put them in the refrigerator or freezer. I only did this because of the frozen cranberry issue!

HOW TO GET BIRDSEED WREATH OUT OF PAN

Once hardened, you can remove the wreath by turning the bundt pan upside down. I just sat mine on the countertop and it came right out! Be sure to place a sheet of parchment paper underneath the pan.

Just loop any ribbon or twine around the wreath for a beautiful presentation and hang outside. If possible, keep the DIY bird seed wreath in a protected area so it lasts longer.

HOW TO GET THE BIRD SEED ORNAMENT OUT OF THE COOKIE CUTTERS

To remove the bird seed ornaments from the cookie cutters, I just pushed on one side and the ornament slowly came out the other side. I didn’t have any breakage when I took them out of the cookie cutters.

I used a heavy weight red and white twine for the ornament hangers, as shown above.

MORE TIPS FOR THIS GREAT ACTIVITY

• I used nonstick cooking spray on the bundt pan (even though it is a nonstick pan).
• I did not use any spray on the cookie cutters and the ornaments were still pretty easy to remove. But, would have been easier if I had sprayed the insides of the cutters.
• Make sure you place a sheet of parchment paper under the ornaments before adding cranberries or bird seed mixture.
• I used heart shaped cookie cutters to make the bird seed ornaments. They are perfect for the Valentine’s Day holiday, but you can use any shape! I just happened to have quite a collection of heart shaped cookie cutters!
• Since the temps are below freezing here right now, they seem to be doing well outside. But, once the temperatures rise, they will likely fall off. But, the good thing is, cranberries aren’t necessary to make the wreath or the ornaments.
• If you don’t want to use your bundt pan, you can most likely pick up one from the thrift store for pretty cheap.

WHAT OTHER ADDITIONS CAN I ADD?

Looking for some more ideas to add to your edible bird feeders? Adding any of these would be a great idea:

• a cup of peanut butter mixed into the mixture- creamy is better
• black oil sunflower seeds
• red millet or white millet (very popular and one of the favorite foods of popular birds)
• crushed up blocks of suet
• some black ebony wheat
• canary grass
• leftover roasted pumpkin seeds
• buffalo berries
• Indian corn

Adding any of these additions to your edible birdseed wreath can make this a really colorful wreath. Keep in mind that if you add a lof of these additions, you may need to decrease the amount of bird seed you planned on using, unless you just plan on making more ornaments or some more back yard feeders.

Now that you see just how easy it is to make this fun project, you can easily make a beautiful edible bird feeder for your yard with just a few natural ingredients. You’ll be able to enjoy it for weeks, or even months!

All you need is a few supplies and some patience. I promise you won’t regret making these unique creations! Once your bird feeder wreath is finished, sit back and enjoy as you watch the wild birds come to feast on your creation!

printable bird seed wreath & ornament recipe

This easy project would be so fun to do with kids! And, would also be fun for them to watch the birds enjoying their treats!