Making birdseed ornaments (an inexpensive gift for bird lovers)

I had mentioned making some birdseed ornaments last week. There are a few different recipes for these ornaments. I tried two. Both worked well. But I have to say, they took several days to dry, not the 8 hours or overnight that any of the online recipes said. Maybe it's a Seattle thing, with dampness and all. But as I am hoping to use a couple of these as gifts, time for drying is important.

Anyway, the first recipe I tried was for gelatin, water and birdseed, only. I liked this recipe quite a lot, for its ability to hold everything together, and it didn't seize up quickly, so I could take my time making the shapes. The downside was that it seemed to take longer to dry out, than the other recipe I tried. I tweaked the recipe a bit, and have made my suggestions for making these more easily.

Here's the recipe.

ingredients:

4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (2 small packets)
2/3 cup boiling water
2 cups birdseed
string, twine, ribbon

you will also need:

large and small spoons for mixing and filling
parchment or waxed paper-lined baking sheet
non-stick cooking spray
large bowl
pot of boiling water on the stove, for a make-shift double boiler
skewer 

something to shape them:

**best** a shallow measuring scoop -- I liked the way the 1/2-cup, shallow measuring scoop worked, it was easier to un-mold and held together far better than cookie cutters
**I don't have these, but I've read they work well** silicone molds, 1/2-cup
**my last choice** -- cookie cutters, bigger and simpler in shape is better

(note about molds -- for best results, opt for a 1/2-cup, blocky shape, like a shallow measuring scoop or silicone muffin mold. Not quite as "pretty" as shapes like stars, leaves, etc, but the end result will be a birdseed ornament that holds together, well, even for shipping. Save ornaments like the fancy shapes for your own yard, or when gifting in person. The narrow bends in a fancier shape are difficult to pack the birdseed in tightly. My stars and maple leaves were more "crumbly" than the circle.)

1) Pour boiling water into bowl. Sprinkle with gelatin. Stir, stir, stir. If there are clumps of gelatin in the water, place the bowl over the pot of boiling water, and stir until dissolved completely (takes no more than 5 minutes). Remove from stove.

2) Stir in the birdseed, and stir until the gelatin covers all of the birdseed.

If you have soupy liquid at the bottom of the bowl, place it in the fridge for 5 minutes, so the gelatin will begin to set and coat the birdseed, thickly. Stir the birdseed again. If no soupy stuff remains at the bottom of the bowl, your mix is ready to use. (If the gelatin firmed up at the bottom of the bowl, while in the fridge, simply place it on the double-boiler again for a minute and stir.)


3) Spray cooking spray on the inside of the cutters or containers. Mound the birdseed in the mold. Pack the birdseed mixture, very compactly into the containers/cutters, using the palm of your hand for large areas, and the underside of a small spoon for tight corners. (You can also spray a sheet of waxed paper with cooking spray and use that to help press the birdseed into the molds.) Fill small areas of the mold, using a teaspoon, as needed. Then, pack tightly, again. Packing tightly is key for getting these ornaments to hold together.

If using a silicone mold or scoop for your mold --
After about 2 minutes, gently tap the birdseed ornament out of the measuring scoop.

4) Use the skewer to carefully poke a hole in the center of your ornament, all the way through.

If you choose to use cookie cutters,
you'll want to poke the hole in the center, before you un-mold. 

If using cookie cutters --
Before unloading, you'll want to poke your holes, first, while birdseed is still inside the cutter. Use a skewer to poke a hole in each ornament in the center. Then leave the ornaments inside the cutters, for a several hours to firm up. The detail will come out better, if not un-molded right away.

5) Begin the drying process on the sheet of waxed paper or parchment, for the first 24 hours. After 24 hours, carefully move the ornaments to a cake-cooling rack (for air circulation all around). Turn them over, once per day. These will require 5 to 7 days to dry enough to wrap in cellophane or pack in a box.

6) Around day 5, use a yarn needle to thread some twine or thin ribbon through the small hole you initially created. Tie the twine/ribbon together at the top, to form a hanging loop. I added a small bow to the twine, just above the top of the ornament. You could also use a sprig of greenery where I placed the bow.

If shipping these, once completely dried, wrap individually in a sheet of plastic wrap, then overwrap in bubble wrap, and then place in a small box. You will want them to slide about, as little as possible, in transit.

I saved the star-shaped ornaments for our yard, but am gifting the circular ones, as they feel more durable for shipping.


Tips:

• small-seeded mixtures hold together better, and are easier to pack tightly, than large-seeded mixtures of birdseed
• a sprayed, shallow, plastic measuring scoop worked better for releasing the birdseed than the shaped cookie cutters
• the simpler the shape, the better. Points on the star crumbled a bit when removing from the mold. But the circle held together with much less crumbling. 
• some crumbling is to be expected. Don't assume they are ruined if a few grains of birdseed fall off as you move or turn the ornaments. 
• the ornaments that I made with cookie cutters had to remain inside the mold for a day, in order to release them neatly. This meant I couldn't make multiple stars, the way I could make multiple circles.
• allow to dry for 5-7 days, before wrapping for gifting. After 1 day, I carefully moved my ornaments to a cake rack, for better air circulation. These need to be very dry before wrapping, to prevent mold.
• I used a yarn needle (the kind used for weaving the ends of yarn into a knitting project or for sewing knitted pieces together) to thread the twine through the dried ornament. A yarn needle would also allow you to thread ribbon, easily, through the small hole of the ornament.
• leftover bits of birdseed mixture can be placed in tray-style bird feeders, or in scooped out orange or grapefruit shells, and set out for birds to nibble.

Here's the impressive part:

These retail for about $20 in specialty catalogs for anywhere from 3 to 6 ornaments. This recipe uses about 1 pound of birdseed, at a cost of 50 cents to $1 per pound, plus about 30 to 75 cents of gelatin (depending on how you buy gelatin), and it makes 4 half-cup ornaments. So, no more than $2 for a set of 4 ornaments.

I had all of the ingredients at home for mine, but I estimate that my cost was around $1 for the set of 4. Not a bad savings!

Packaging soup mixes for gifts

I think (but I'm not sure) that this is the last of the gifts that I'll post about this season.

There are a handful of people to whom I am gifting soup mixes, for Christmas.

If you recall, I knitted a set of kitchen wash cloths, and I bought a set of tea towels from Williams-Sonoma to go with the dish cloths, to go to my step-mom. Going with a kitchen/cooking theme, I've made 3 different soup mixes for her, to add to the box of gifts. My soup mixes fall under the category of semi-homemade, as I began with mixes from the bulk bins at WinCo.

Before I began, I checked out various soup mixes for sale at a local holiday store. I noticed that many of these had additional items, suggested to add to the mix. In addition, I was able to gather ideas for potential soup "flavors".

For the first soup mix, I used WinCo's vegetable soup blend, and dried tortellini, from the bulk bins. With these items, I added some seasonings, and a packet of Parmesan, to come up with a Vegetable Tortellini Soup Mix. The suggested add-in for this soup is a can of tomato sauce.

WinCo also sells a bean and tortilla soup mix. To the bean and tortilla soup mix, I added more seasonings, and included a baggie of tortilla chips for garnish. The suggested add-ins for this soup are some diced, cook chicken and a chopped tomato. My name for this soup mix is Mexi Chicken, Tortilla and Bean Soup.

The third soup mix began with WinCo's Beanland soup blend. Again, I added some seasonings, plus some dried onion, and suggested cooking with diced carrot and celery.

I tested out each of these "recipes" a couple of times. I did find that WinCo's suggested cook time was off on all of the bulk bin ingredients, so testing was very important.

As I tested, I kept notes on what I added and the timing. I was able to type of my notes, to include as a recipe for the soup preparation.

the soup mix in ziploc bag, a white lunch bag, the printout of instructions

For the packaging, I was working with supplies I had at home. I didn't want to spend more money on packaging supplies, plus I wanted to use up some of the supplies that I have, already.

What I came up with -- ziploc freezer bags, quart, and snack-size bags, white paper lunch sacks, free online images from the internet, to print out in black and white at home, and red/white twine.

I put the soup mix into ziploc freezer bags, separating any ingredients, into smaller baggies, that needed to be added at different times in the preparation of the soup. Along with the ingredients, I slipped in an extra copy of the soup instructions, into the quart-size ziploc bag.

the packaging part

For the outer bag, I found a lovely vintage vegetable image. I cut and pasted this into a Word document, and just below it, I typed the soup-making instructions. This is my label. I printed this label, cut it out, and used a glue stick to attach it to the front of a white paper lunch sack.

I tucked the soup mix into the sack, folded the top of the sack down, then rolled the rest of the sack with label, around, to make a tidy little bundle. I tied the whole thing up with a length of red and white twine.

I like the way these look. A bit homey and vintage. Brown paper bags would also suit this look. This packaging idea could be used for a variety of food-gifts, such as homemade fudge, cookies, mini loaves of quick bread or muffin mixes. It's very inexpensive to make, using a basic home printer for a label, some online images, a small paper sack and a bit of string or twine.

**An update on the birdseed ornaments -- I had one break on me yesterday when I went to pick it up/see if it was all dried. I was squishing it sideways, and it broke.This was the last of the ornaments that I made, it wasn't as thick, and I wasn't able to really pack it well, as I didn't have enough mixture. Plus, I was kind of squishing it absent-mindedly, checking for dryness. (They had been kind of spongey when not dried out.)

The others were fine for wrapping in cellophane and bubble wrap. Just an FYI about really packing the birdseed together.

Also, I read up on using a dehydrator to dry them. This could be really beneficial in damp climates, and especially if you plan on making these well in advance, and wrapping for favors or gifts. Birdseed ornaments seem to be a popular wedding favor, and many brides make these a couple of weeks in advance. Getting them very dry prevents molding. With my next batch, I will try a dehydrator. the suggestion I read was to allow to air dry overnight, then transfer to a dehydrator for 6 hours. then allow to air dry some more for a couple of days, before wrapping. And perhaps, on your gift tag, a little note "handle with care", so recipients don't press or try to squish them.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the week following Thanksgiving

Friday

• leftovers from Thanksgiving, set out for all to help themselves

Saturday

• leftovers, again, from Thanksgiving dinner

Sunday

Today was the day that I simmered most of the turkey carcass. I froze the roasted legs, separately, for making soup, sometime next month.

• turkey, vegetable and noodle soup
• crackers
• the last of the pies

Monday

• leftover turkey soup, extended with another carrot, sliced, and half a baked potato, cubed
• pumpkin bread with cream cheese

Tuesday
Perfect storm re tonight's dinner. I found mushrooms on markdown today. I have some thawed eggs in the fridge that need using. I baked 2 large acorn squash yesterday, and can quickly mash them, then reheat in the microwave. Dinner should be a quick one to throw together.

• mushroom, cheddar frittata
• brown rice
• baked acorn squash

Wednesday

An easy dinner is in the plans for tonight. I've had a busy few days, and I just need easy.

• bean, rice, cheese and olive burritos
• leftover baked squash
• leftover canned green beans

Thursday

Only 2 will be home for dinner tonight. My daughter has her directing debut this evening, and I want to be there to support her in this. So, I'll meet up with the other daughter and we'll use a coupon to get a free sandwich to share for our dinner. I told the daughter, who's directing a one-act play tonight, that I'd bring something for her to eat in the car on the long drive home. That just leaves my husband and son for whom to make dinner. I've got leftovers from last night. I think that will work great.

• bean, rice, cheese and olive burritos
• leftover pumpkin soup that I made early in the week for lunches

Fred Meyer carries one of their store-brand flour tortillas for 99 cents/1-lb package (10 tortillas). On Senior Discount Tuesdays, I get these tortillas for 89 cents a package. The catch is they are often out of these tortillas by the time I get there. So, when I find any, I buy whatever they have. I bought 3 packages this past week. 

These make burritos assembly so easy. I can make bean, rice, cheese and olive burritos, for under 30 cents, each. (1 tortilla at 9 cents, 3 tablespoons cheese at 9 cents, 1/2 cup of homemade refried beans at 6 or 7 cents, 1 tablespoon of rice at 1 cent, 1 tablespoon of sliced olives at about 2 cents = 27-28 cents.) 

That's only $1.50 for the main dish (1 each, and I make some larger, some smaller, depending on who is eating them), on a busy night, for the family. If I add a can of corn and carrot sticks, my total cost for the meal is right around $2. That's pretty good for a quick and easy dinner.

How about you? What was on your menu this past week? Do you have any favorite ways that you use leftovers from Thanksgiving? or do you do, as my family did this last week, and just serve them, as is?

Is anyone planning to do something to celebrate the holiday season, this weekend? I'm going to an Advent musical production at our church, on Sunday evening. On Saturday, I will get out the holiday decorations, with the help of my kids. If the weather is good, I have one lone, tree-shaped shrub by the kitchen door, on which I wish to put lights. I made birdseed ornaments, yesterday afternoon. They need to dry, still. Once they are dried thoroughly,  I'll hang them on this shrub, with red and white twine. I have this look in my mind, of how I want this to look. White lights, birdseed ornaments, red and white twine, and red ribbons. I believe that I have everything that I need, here, already.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Feedback on My Handcrafted Christmas Gifts and the Display Soap

As of this past weekend, I have, now, given all of my Christmas gifts. (Yes, the holidays did stretch out well beyond December, for me.) The feedback that I received, post-Christmas, consisted of some pretty good reviews. When giving hand-crafted gifts, I choose recipients who I am confident will appreciate receiving hand-crafted items because they either never craft anything, or they do some crafting, and so understand the work involved. So, that said, here are some of the comments that I received.

From a recipient of spa items -- "wow, you made this?" This individual was particularly delighted with receiving items that I had made, and specifically so, because they were beauty items. A long conversation followed, about how to make a variety of things. And my second-hand information was that she was very impressed with the packaging of the items.

I bring this up because Valentine's day is just around the corner and a sweet little envelope, made from a sheet of a favorite love poem, could contain a handwritten note or card, or homemade treats, to someone special, for very little cost.

Another gift recipient was blown away that you can actually make soap, easily. I explained how melt and pour soap is combined with extra ingredients, then poured into a mold. Most of the people to whom I give hand-crafted soap have no idea that melt and pour soap base exists. So it's always exciting to see their face or hear their voice when they realize that I made the soap. That makes it worth it.

My hand-knit dish cloths were also well-received. This recipient happens to be the person who taught me how to knit, in the first place. So she could appreciate my progress in knitting, as well as the beauty of the pattern used.  I hope they give her many years of good service.

The stand-out comment that I received on the homemade soup mixes was again, about the packaging. Several  people in the room commented on how the packaging looked like something they might see in Williams-Sonoma, possibly due to the coloring (red/white twine, combined with black/white label). In any case, I took that as quite a compliment. 

I received good feedback from two of the recipients of the birdseed ornaments. Again, the families to whom I sent these were impressed that they could be made at home.

I gave a family these individual packages of homemade cocoa mix. I deliberately chose this gift for this family, as I knew they didn't bake many desserts or treats from scratch in their house. They do cook fabulous meal items, however. Baking and other sweets isn't their thing. We had a bit of a conversation about how I made these, combining milk powder, cocoa powder, sugar, chopped chocolate, and adding the candy cane and marshmallows. In their house, at the beginning of winter, they have often bought boxes of different flavors of cocoa mix, such as raspberry cocoa, peppermint cocoa. I've seen these boxed assortments at Cost Plus, at holiday time. This family was delighted to receive the cocoa packages, and informed me the following week that they had all enjoyed them, already. (That's always a good sign when something you've made does get used or consumed.)

And finally, the "display soap". At the very end of the holiday season, I needed a couple more hand-crafted items. So, I made a small batch of molded soaps for two different recipients. The comments that I received cracked me up, on these. Upon receiving, the wife repeatedly said they were too beautiful to use. And I kept reassuring her that they should be used. A week later, the husband told me that they had put the soaps "on display". I just imagined the conversation in their home when that happened, because I recall similar "discussions" and "instructions" in my own home, growing up. You know, when you have fancy soap in the house, someone is the self-appointed "guest soap monitor". As a kid, we weren't supposed to use the guest soap in the guest bathroom. If we really needed to use the guest bathroom (which we were discouraged from doing, but sometimes is a necessity), we were often followed to the bathroom door by my mother, as she would shout out instructions through the guest bathroom door to "don't use the guest soap! That's for company! Use the soap in a dish under the sink." We'd oblige, inferring how important this must be to my mother, as why else would she interrupt some important work in the kitchen to inform us to keep this guest soap pristine. So, the "display soap". 

I did tell our friends to please, use this soap. I can always make more. It really isn't a piece of art, but something to be used. I hope they have all gotten over this feeling like they need to keep the soap pristine. I'll find out when I visit their home, someday. 

I've thought of a twist on this gift, just for these folks, a soap-of-the-month gift, where I deliver a new and different bar of guest soap to them, every month, for the year. Maybe that would take the need-to-save-this-forever thinking out of receiving the soap. Hmm, maybe that could be a retail gift package -- the soap-of-the-month club.

What was my takeaway from my hand-crafted gifts this year? Presentation seemed to really matter. Maybe I have a lot of shallow friends and family. From the product, itself, to the wraps and packaging, how it appeared was the first impression. The other takeaway for me, if I were to seek employment in retail production, I might really enjoy working in the design of packaging.