Pinecone Birdfeeders {Tutorial}

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pinecone bird feeder covered in bird seed

Did you know that February is National Bird Feeding Month? Honestly, I didn’t either, but it ties in perfectly with this super easy craft, don’t you think?

kids prepping bird feeder
I filled the bottom of a shallow pan with some birdseed. I love foil roasting pans for jobs like these (I use them for everything from marble painting to paper making, and we always are able to reuse them dozens of times before they finally lose their shape and need to be recycled. I pick them up at the Dollar Tree where they’re 2/$1). A shallow cardboard box or box lid would also be perfect. The boys loved the sensory aspect of sifting through the birdseed, picking out the corn and sunflower seeds, and sorting the other seeds into different sizes.
child spreading peanut butter on pine cone

We selected a couple of pinecones that we collected on our last nature walk, and the boys got to work covering the pinecones with peanut butter.

pine cone bird feeder being made by small child
little boy eating peanut butter off of knife

(Be sure to sneak huge amounts of peanut butter when you think Mom isn’t looking!)

boy rolling pine cone in bird seed

Once your pinecone is completely covered with peanut butter, place it into the tray of birdseed. We chose to leave the very top of our pinecones un-peanutbuttered for easier handling and ribbon tying later.

rolling peanut butter pine cone in bird seed
Roll the pinecone around in the birdseed until it is completely covered.
child decorating pine cone bird feeder
diy pine cone bird feeder

Tie on a ribbon, hang it from your favorite tree, and wait for your feathered friends to come and feast!

birds sitting in tree above houses
bird eating seed from bird feeder
birds flitting to homemade bird feeders
birds enjoying bird seed feeder
yellow bird sitting on top of bird feeder
(Looks like they like the sunflower seeds!)
kids driving toy cars over bird seed in trayOh, and be sure to spend the rest of the afternoon playing with the extra birdseed. It makes a fantastic arena for monster trucks 😉
toy car in bird seedI think I may need to resurrect the idea of a sensory bin for these guys! They loved playing in tubs full of dry rice and beans when they were toddlers, but I didn’t realize how much fun they still have with stuff like this, just in completely new and imaginative ways!
signature of Heidi from Happiness is Homemade

 

16 Comments

  1. Made these with honey instead of peanut butter as the parrot family in Australia love the sweet taste. I also added a little pollen powder into the mix , also in shot supply during the winter, but also during our mammoth bush fires over summer.

  2. How exactly did you tie the ribbon? Just around the whole top? Or just on one of the leaves, so called. It don’t break?

  3. What a great idea. I Will be doing some today. I absolument love it. And it saved money on bird feeders which is not cheap.

  4. Love this idea,your boys did a great job,hope they did not over indulge on the peanut butter,my favourite.

  5. Do you think these are freezable? We gathered many smaller pinecones today from the yard. I want to do the crafty portion now, but perhaps freeze them for later use when the snow is really flying in Ohio!

    1. I have never tried to freeze them, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. If you give it a try, please come back and let me know how it worked!

  6. Hi there,
    My name is Amy Greenberg and I am the co-founder of a website called The Grandparents Guide. You can check us out at http://www.thegrandparentsguide.com. I love this idea that you have posted. I would love to use the ideas/images. We would create a direct link to your website, adding you to our FB page and possibly our newsletter, offering you the opportunity to get some exposure from our viewers.
    It would be fantastic if in return, you could let some of your viewers know about us by highlighting us in some way.
    You can email me at amy@thegrandparentsguide.com

    Please let me know if this sounds interesting to you.
    Thanks,
    Amy Greenberg
    Co Founder
    The Grandparents Guide

  7. Oh I absolutely love this! I have a toddler that is OBSESSED with crafts…with spring around the corner, this is perfect. Thank for sharing!

  8. we lived in the neighborhood for 4 years, and never once have i ever seen either of those types of birds. weird! my house always got the pigeons-go figure!

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