Birdseed Wreaths - They're for the Birds! Part 1

I have now been making these birdseed wreaths for 10 years, have made hundreds since then, but here is the post from trial, where it all began, when I first started making them.

I had always wanted to make birdseed wreaths, but never really had a great place to put them.... Here at the new house, we have several mature trees that are great for the birds in all ways, offering food, shelter, and a hanging spot for feeders/wreaths. We also have a lot of fence line, should want to hang some there.

So, I started looking for birdseed wreath recipes online - there are quite a few, it turns out!

I knew that I did not want to do the peanut butter rolls, where you simply smear the peanut butter on a wreathe form and then roll it in seeds. I wanted something healthy, organic, and natural. Here are the three I chose to make and trial with the birds.

VERSION #1

1/2 cup of warm water

1 package of gelatin

3/4 cups of flour

3 Tbsp corn syrup

4 cups of birdseed

Mix and heat the water, syrup, and gelatin in a small saucepan.

Add the flour to the pan and mix. Will be very thick.

This is the 'glue' that holds the seeds together.

Add your seeds and incorporate the 'glue' into all of the seed. Mix well as the flour will tend to goop up.

Push into the bundt pan and let set overnight. (The instructions said to use an oil spray in the pan to help loosen it, but again, I am not sure how good this is for the birds, nor do I have any of this spray stuff at home, so I did not do anything to the pan first.)

To loosen the wreathe from the pan, I simply ran the bottom of the pan under warm water for a bit. Worked like a charm.

My thoughts - This one holds together the best of them all, but the ingredients leave me shaking my head. Seems like 'junk food' for the birds.

The flour and syrup are used to create the 'glue' that holds the seeds together. Everything I read seems to indicate that both items are safe for the birds, though not necessarily the most nutritious. I deleted any items that I thought or read about that might possibly be dangerous in any way.

*Added later note - I never made this wreath again.

VERSION #2

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup suet

1 cup peanut butter

4 cups birdseed

Slowly render the suet (heat it to melt it)

Add the peanut butter to melt it into the suet.

Add seeds and cornmeal, mix well.

Push into the bundt pan and let sit overnight.

Remove as above.

This one stayed together nicely, is firm and looks prettiest colour wise. The peanut butter gives it a nice warm colour)

The suet seemed to settle into the bottom of the pan though and you see that on top of the wreathe when taken out of the form. I wonder if I should have mixed longer, or if it simply was extra and so settled at the bottom?

*Added note - This recipe is the one that I use the most often. I have literally made over a hundred of these to gift and sell over the past nine years.

The settling does not happen if you stir well. Though the birds do not mind extra suet. I used this idea later and came up with a way to use this settling to make 'icing' on the 'bundt cake wreath'.

For this one I used the Martha Stewart recipe on Pinterest.... and a larger bundt pan.

VERSION #3

Suet (rendered)

Dried and fresh cranberries

6 cups birdseed

1 cup nuts Note: please use unsalted ROASTED peanuts, not raw, which may in fact be harmful to the birds. If you only have raw, roast in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Melt the suet slowly.

Add nuts, birdseed and cranberries (if using) to the suet.

Mix well. Let harden in pan, overnight, in fridge or freezer.

I love the look of this one, is very natural looking with the seeds all shiny and glossy from the suet.

However, I find that the sides crumbled a bit as I added the ribbon and hang it up, so it is a big fragile to work with. Am not sure how well it will hold up to the birds and the weather...

*Note - I make this one often and just add a bit more suet or peanut butter to keep it from crumbling on the edges.

The real test will be to see which one the birds like the best! Please stay tuned ....

For Part 2 - Want to know how the three wreaths made out with the birds?

Please see the link HERE!

For and update on how to make your wreath sturdier,

less apt to crack in half, please see HERE!

Thanks for Reading - Happy Wreath Making ~ Tanja