She {hearts} DIY Bird Feeders

One of my kids’ favorite activities is to watch the birds on our back deck. We love to see the bluebird family come visit the bird feeder, or the cardinals pick up the sunflower seeds. We love to see robins splash in the bird bath, and the woodpeckers knock on our hardwood trees.

So with fall weather quickly approaching, the kids and I wanted to make some homemade bird feeders to keep our feathered friends fed for the winter. Nana came for a visit last weekend and we found the perfect time to do this project! We adapted a recipe that I found in a magazine and they turned out great!

If you’d like to make some of these DIY bird feeders, you will need:
- 6-8 toilet paper rolls
- 2 wooden skewers per roll (12-14 total)
- twine
- 1 cup lard
- 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 cups quick cooking oats
- 2 cups cornmeal
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup birdseed

Here are the step-by-step directions:

1. Measure out the lard, peanut butter, sugar, oats, cornmeal, flour, and birdseed.
2. Combine into a big bowl and mix by hand.

3. Cut 12″ of twine (for each toilet paper roll) and tie the two ends together to make a loop.
4. Feed twine into the toilet paper roll so that the loop sticks out one end and the knotted end out the other side.
5. Stick wooden skewers through the toilet paper roll, making sure that you catch the knotted end of the twine to secure it.
6. Fill the toilet paper roll with the bird seed mixture.
7. Freeze (and store in freezer until ready to use)
8. When you are ready to use one, unroll the cardboard toilet paper roll to expose the DIY bird feeder.
9. Hang and enjoy!