Today: Mar 19, 2024

DIY crafts are perfect for the idle hands on campus. Try making these seasonal homemade bird feeders!

Mackenzie Hurlbert – Copy Editor

I don’t know if any of you have ever done this, but I remember making these bird feeders when I was little. They are cheap, easy ways to draw the birds to your yard and they are healthy treats for our feathered friends who are starting to stock up for winter. You can hang them around your yard at home, or you could probably hang them on trees around campus—but you may need to ask permission first. Just a warning: this involves peanut butter and as usual, will get really messy.

 

All you’ll need are:

Photo Courtesy | therapyfunzone.com
The first step in completing the bird feeder is coating peanut butter on the outside of the pine cone.

-Pine cones (any shapes or sizes)

-Hemp string

-Scissors

-Peanut butter (all natural peanut butter preferred)

-Butter knife

-Bird seed

-A plate

 

1) Take your pine cones and using your butter knife, coat the outside of the pine cone with a thick layer of peanut butter. You may want to put some peanut butter on a plate first so you’re not sticking the dirty knife back into the jar.

2) Next, pour a pile of bird seed onto a plate.

3) Roll the pine cones around on the bird seed until they are pretty much covered.

4) Lastly, cut a piece of string and tie it under the top notch of your pinecone.

5)Repeat until you have the desired amount of pine cone feeders and hang them up around your yard.

Photo Courtesy | asmothersinzion.blogspot.com
The finished product of the pine cone bird feeder.

Now you’ve created a healthy meal for some birds by using all natural products (and hemp string that will decompose).

If you want to attract a certain kind of feathered friend, research which seed it is attracted to most and use that to coat the pinecone.

For example, thistle seed attracts finches, while black oil sunflower seed attracts a variety of birds including chickadees, cardinals and woodpeckers. We’re not the only ones suffering from this cold fall weather, so have fun and feed some beaks with this do-it-yourself project.

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