How to Make Your Own Bird Feeder With Natural Peanut Butter
Instead of purchasing a metal or plastic bird feeder, create a biodegradable one using natural peanut butter and a pinecone. Once the birds have eaten their fill, cut down the feeder and replace it with a fresh one. This simple, inexpensive craft project can serve solely as a fun activity or as a window of opportunity to discuss environmental responsibility with your child. It may also introduce an ongoing interest in bird-watching. Your child will have as much enjoyment from creating the feeder, as will the birds from using it.
Things You'll Need
- Cotton twine
- Scissors
- Pine cone
- Natural peanut butter
- Butter knife
- Birdseed
- Plate
Instructions
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Search for a pinecone in your backyard or in a nearby wooded area with your child.
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2
Create a work area. Perform the craft outside where messiness is not a factor, or spread a sheet of newspaper on the floor or a table. The newspaper catches dusty pinecone residue, runaway birdseed and sticky peanut butter hand prints can later be rolled up and thrown away.
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3
Wrap a length of cotton twine twice around the pinecone and knot it. Cut the twine so that the length is 2 to 3 feet after it is tied. Because cotton twine is biodegradable, you need not worry about untying it from the tree when you later remove the feeder. Any remnants disintegrate within a month or two.
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4
Spread peanut butter generously all over the pinecone with the butter knife, pushing extra peanut butter into the cone's crevices.
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Pour 1 cup of birdseed onto a plate. Don and Lillian Stokes from DIY Bird Watching Workshop recommend using black oil sunflower seed. This seed is common in many commercial feeders and attracts a variety of birds.
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Roll the sticky pinecone in the bird seed until it’s well coated.
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Hang the feeder from a low branch of a tree in your yard. Choose a tree near a window or outdoor gathering area for easy bird-watching.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Pixland/Getty Images
