Decorating Beautiful Birdhouses With Edible Bird Seed Glue Craft
This is a craft from way back. I’m bringing it out of the archives today with some updated pictures and more fun! The kids were so excited to see the supplies for birdhouse decorating sitting on the counter. They bugged me every day about it, until we finally had a free day to get our crafting on. It’s such a fun winter craft. I also think this would be a great craft for fairy parties! Not to mention a great gift for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas! Perfect for bird lovers. Here’s the older post with updated pictures…
Last winter (2012), while we were perusing the shops at Yankee Candle Village, I saw the most beautiful birdhouses I’d ever seen! They were wooden bird houses intricately decorated with various berries and bird seed. They really caught my attention. I immediately snapped some pictures for future “craft idea” reference! When I got home, I looked up “bird seed glue”, and found several variations. I located the one that I thought would be the easiest, and most fun with the kids, and I’ve been waiting for a free day to get crafty with bird seed! Finally, yesterday, the stars aligned and the kids and I were able to create some fun and easy bird feeders for our feathered friends! We had so much fun doing it. Here’s the recipe, and some how to pictures on Decorating Beautiful Birdhouses With Edible Bird Seed Glue!:
This is definitely a craft for all ages. I have just as much fun as the kids making my own design!
*The birdseed glue will even last through a normal rain. I’m not sure about really rough weather. Ours have been sitting outside on a rainy day, and they are still intact.
Bird Seed Glue Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup of flour
- 1/2 cup of water
- 3 T corn syrup
- 1 package of Knox Unflavored Gelatine
Birdhouses and Decorating Ideas:
- I found my birdhouses, and moss at Michael’s Craft Store
- Don’t forget birdseed – I like to get black sunflower seeds and wild bird food mix
- Berries are always great for adding color and the birds can eat those as well
- Here’s a link to fruit that the birds will eat: Click here
Now:
- Grab yourself a large bowl and pour in your flour. Add the water and mix
- Add corn syrup and mix
- Finally, stir in your gelatine – whisk together until the lumps have smoothed out
Decorating:
Set the stage for kids:
- Before you hand out the supplies, you might even want to spread a plastic tablecloth on your surface. That would make clean up a snap! 🙂
- Give each child a birdhouse and a tray of various bird seeds and berries
- Scoop out some glue for each child – if you don’t have the handy dandy divider trays (found at Wal-Mart) then bowls and cups will do the trick
- Let the kids use plastic, or butter knives to spread a good amount of glue onto their bird houses (we started out with paint brushes, but quickly moved onto spreading utensils)
- Then they can just start adding the seeds and berries!
You can probably tell by the pictures, but we spread the glue on pretty thick.
This is my 5 year old’s creation from 2012. She’s turning 10 soon How did that even happen?!
Here’s a recent one from last week. My seven year old decorated this light house. The birds are enjoying all of the yummy seeds.
- Here’s another kid creation. Don’t you think that these would make cute fairy house party crafts?
These are older pictures from 2012
- As you can see…you can get really carried away with creating! Have tons of fun with your Edible Birdseed Glue Craft! It’s one of my favorites.
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Here are some more ideas for bird seed glue and the recipe I found:
"Keeping it Simple, because who has time for complicated?" Hi! I'm Melissa, a mom to 4 cute little rugrats, a Volunteer Field Editor for "Taste of Home" Magazine where I review and create recipes, a former elementary school teacher, and the owner of Kid Friendly Things To Do. This is where I love to share all things fun and simple for the whole family (with kids in mind) - Recipe Creations, Crafts, Game Ideas & Fun Foods for Holidays and Special Occasions. Please, come on in... 
Did you have to let one side dry before turning it to do another side?
Oh boy…it’s been a while, but I believe (after I took my photo of the cranberries) I stood the house up so it was upright, and just did it all at one time. The paste is nice and thick. You can really lather it on, and it will hold a lot of seeds and other fun fruit like orange wedges! If you are worried that your decorations will be too heavy, and drop down…then I would do it in stages. I am impatient, so I know I did not do that. This is such a fun thing to do with or without the kids. As you can see…I got a little carried away with my creation! 🙂 I hope you enjoy this recipe and activity. Good luck! 🙂
how can I make a bird seed glue waterproof for outdoors use?
Hi Terry. That’s a good idea. I found an article that might be helpful. Here it is: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Waterproof-Glaze-for-Painted-Bird-Feeders I hope this helps! ~Melissa
Wow, this is a really cool idea for birdhouses. My grandmother loves watching birds flying around in her yard. Having an eatable birdhouse would probably bring even more birds to her home. I wonder if you can buy ones like this online.
We gave ours to my dad who is an avid bird watcher. He loved them. He set out immediately placing them near his picture window, and made a follow up call to say Thanks. You can buy them online! I found them on Amazon, and I’ll include the link to them, above for you. hmm…maybe I should start selling them too. 🙂