Tweet Treats

Winter can be a hard time for our feathered friends so we've been making some bird-friendly festive trimmings to decorate our gardens. These are fun to make and so pretty we thought you might like to make some too.

Pine Cone Bird Feeders

Collect some pine cones and allow them to dry so that they open up. Attach some garden twine to one end to hang them from. Mix together a little suet and some bird seed and push the mixture into the gaps on the pine cone. If you don't have any suet and bird seed you can use peanut butter instead.

Pop-Corn Garlands

You will need plain (un-salted and un-sweetened) popcorn for this project. You might also like to use some dried fruits or berries. Simply take a needle and cotton and thread through each piece of popcorn or fruit in turn until you have a nice long garland. Tie the thread at the end to stop any popcorn falling off.

Bird Breakfast Hearts

First of all you need to form a piece of wire into a heart shape. Floristry wire is ideal but if you don't have this you can use coat-hanger wire instead. When you have your shape ready simply thread on some breakfast cereal hoops. Then twist the ends of the wire together to finish off. When you have got the hang of this you may want to try making other shapes. We like to make star shaped feeders too. 

Mince Pies

This is a nice way to re-use empty mince pie cases.

Simply mix together some lard and bird seed like you did for the pine cone bird feeders. You can also add a few dried fruits, bits of cheese and bread crumbs if you want to. Fill the cases and stand them on your bird table. Leave the birds to enjoy their festive treat.

Remember!

You will need to put your feeders out of the reach of cats and make sure the birds have plenty of fresh water. Don't be tempted to trim your feeders with tinsel or glitter as these can harm small birds and animals. Your feeders will look pretty just as they are.