Birdseed Ornaments

This year for our little neighborhood gifts we made birdseed ornaments and packaged them in a paper bag printed with a hand carved stamp (designed and mostly carved by B). The bags were sewn shut with red thread.


We used this recipe but after making about eight batches of these, here are some tips:

* I made a couple of batches in mini muffin tins and mini bundt pans but couldn't get them out of the pans for the life of me. I used a silicone snowflake candy mold (I have a 24-cup one) for the rest and they were much easier to remove.

* If you use a silicone mold, place it on a cookie sheet before you start filling it because it's flimsy and hard to place in the refrigerator without something underneath it.


* I used slightly less birdseed (a few tablespoons is all) than the recipe called for because the first batch was very dry and crumbly. When you take them out of the molds there might be some cloudy gelatin on the fronts but it dries clear and shiny.

* I put twine hangers in the middle of the ornaments by filling the molds halfway full, placing the loop of twine in the middle (a long piece that goes to almost the other side of the mold so it won't easily slip out), and then filling it the rest of the way. The birdseed is hard to compress but it helps to use the back of a spoon. Hold the back of the spoon over the area with the twine loop so you don't pull the loop out as you remove your fingers.

{B's hand carved "Sweet Tweets" and bird stamps}

{the finished birdseed ornaments}