Holiday Gifts from Your Backyard

Save time and money with gifts from the heart.

Birdseed Treats

Thanks to cookie cutters, you can offer birdseed for your feathered friends while decorating at the same time! All you need are unflavored gelatin, water and seed mix. Combine the ingredients, spread the mixture onto a cookie sheet, chill and use cookie cutters to make the shapes. Let dry before putting outside or wrapping.

Birdseed Treat Recipe

• 1/3 cup gelatin
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 8 cups of birdseed

Mix gelatin and water on low until gelatin is melted and clear. Remove from heat and stir in 8 cups of birdseed. Stir until it is well mixed and there is no dry seed. Fill cookie cutters with the seed mixture and pack tightly. Then refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Dry on baking rack for 3 days.

Recipe courtesy of Angie Dixon. Visit her Web site to see more of her work.

Birdseed Wreath

To make a wreath, combine the same ingredients used to make the birdseed treats. But instead of using cookie cutters, press the mixture into a miniature Bundt cake pan or another rounded mold. Refrigerate for 4 hours, then carefully remove from the mold. Let it dry overnight, then decorate it with edibles. Or dress it up with raffia, large accents, ribbon or bows.

Bird Ornaments

The holiday season wouldn't be complete without having ornaments! These adorable birds were made with a craft technique called felting.

(In other words, we took old wool sweaters, shrank them down in the washing machine and then cut and decorated them to look like birds!)

From an old scarf to a pair of blue jeans, you can recycle just about any material to turn it into an ornament. Go ahead and get creative!

Learn how to felt by following the instructions on this Web site.

Bulb Kit

Gardeners are always dreaming of ways to sneak in a little winter gardening. Help dreams come true this season by putting together a kit for forcing bulbs. All you need is the bulbs, a pretty container and some simple instructions.

For an extra touch, add a bag of decorative stones. Gardeners can use these to line the bottom of their containers before planting.

Print your own bulb kit gift cards with this link.
Or download a PDF.