Learn how to make an edible birdhouse – this is a fun craft for you and a superb treat for the avian visitors that grace your garden and backyard! The kids will enjoy this too, so let them get in on the fun..Basically, it’s kind of like how it sounds – the outside sides will be coated with bird-friendly treats and food. Not only a great activity to do, but these make great gifts, too!
Have you ever done the classic pine cone feeder? This project is going to be like that – but with a twist. We’re going to take that method up a notch.
You can start with your own base – You could use an empty paper milk carton (I drink almond milk that is carried in small 1 liter boxes which are the perfect size for this project) That’s what I’ll be using.
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Basically, something non porous will work okay as long as it doesn’t get wet easily – paper milk cartons are coated with something so they hold up well (after all, using one of these to make a homemade birdfeeder is very common.) I’m all for the zero waste approach in the interest of birds. See where I cut a small hole in the middle to look like a real birdhouse.
Some paper cartons also have a round opening on one side -they’ve gotten away from the conventional push-pull of the top seam spout. However, it looks weird so I cut out a round piece matching the opening, after I cut the last two inches of the bottom off, so I could hide that opening.
I also wanted to have the house resting on a platform base to make it easier for those little buggers to enjoy perching – so I used the lid from a coffee can for.that, which I later on glued to the bottom.
If you don’t have anything like that on hand, you can get one of those ready made unfinished wooden birdhouses made for painting that craft supply stores carry, places like Michaels have these, or you can check out some of these here, they are small and would work great for this. Later on I may upgrade to one of these but let’s see how the milk carton holds up.
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First thing you wan to do is to create the “glue” Not real glue but a binding for the food ingredients.
This can be peanut butter, honey or molasses. 1.) Stir two of these together in a small bowl. Check the consistency. If it is too runny add a little bit of white flour to the mixture.(2.) It should be somewhat thick but spreadable with a small spatula.
3.) Take your object and start with one side, and spread the mixture over on it, it should be thick enough to hold other things.Make sure the coat is smooth without bumpy spots. When you get all the sides now you can start to decorate it with food!
We’ll be using regular birdseed for the sides, and for the roof, you can use raisins, coconut flakes, cereal, peanuts, sunflower seeds, blanched or sliced almonds, etc. All of these are safe to feed to wild birds.Drop the birdseed onto the sides of the object (4., 5.). Alternately, you can also pour the birdseed into a plate and press each side of the birdhouse into the seed.
Shake the birdhouse a little, some of it will fall off but most of it will stick. You may want to put something like a paper plate underneath to catch the loose seed. Make sure it is distributed evenly with no clumps.
The roof top can be the most fun part. Remember those gingerbread houses you made as a kid for the holidays? This is going to be kind of like that. Apply a coat of the “glue” mixture up the sides. Start placing the larger food objects like blanched almonds, peanuts, coconut flakes, etc.strategically in a pattern.
It will look just like shingles. Really cool. I’m using peanuts…and arranging them like real-life shingles by forming the pattern. Here is how it looks with the roof peanut “shingles” complete. Take a moment to admire your work, because once the birds see it after you hang it up, they will start to devour all those goodies.
But it gets better, after they’ve had their fun, you can start over, and apply more peanut butter glue and food to it.
It’s the perfect answer to having a functional homemade birdhouse that also doubles as a feeder too you can use it over and over again. So a win-win for you and them, too!
