Last Minute Love

Well, folks, Valentine's Day is tomorrow. If you have been a Last Minute Larry, no need to fret! There are plenty of shops that will be open late for you procrastinators looking for an expensive gift, and I'm pretty sure Hallmark will be able to hook you up in the early AM if necessary. However, if you are looking for a tiny something, a handmade little crafty something, maybe for a kid or a pal, here you go. These little bird seed valentines make a great last minute craft project for your kiddos and work as a sweet gift at the same time.

I found several recipes online for making bird seed cakes, but some of them actually required baking, and some included weird ingredients. I ended up with a modified version of a recipe like this one from Folk Lifestyle, a blog to which you will now become addicted. You're welcome.

Anywho, I had to add an additional ingredient to the mix because we happen to have a squirrel issue. By issue I mean serious-frigging-problem-with-giant-house-cat-sized-squirrels-who-dig-up-and-eat-anything-they-can-get-their-dastardly-paws-upon. So I added a generous 1/4 cup of red hot pepper flakes. Take that you little punks. We made lots of sizes and shapes, including bird seed beads in my mini muffin tin. These we strung along a length of twine and tied up in a tree as garland, hoping the little birdies would feast. Sadly it rained like crazy that night and most of the seed cakes dissolved and fell in a heap to the ground. I suggest hanging these outside where they won't get too wet:)

If you plan on giving these as gifts, decorate them with little tags! I stamped ours on plantable seed paper and tied them up with baker's twine. They just happened to fit into the heart printed treat bags I send out with my shop packages. Kismet!

Birdseed Ornaments
Ingredients:
3/4 cup of all purpose flour
4 cups mixed birdseed
5 Tbls. corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup red pepper flakes
wax paper
baking sheets
baking molds/muffin tins/cookie cutters
a chopstick
ribbon

Preparation:
Line your baking sheets with wax paper. Spray any tins or cutters with cooking spray. Place cookie cutters on the wax paper. In a large bowl mix all ingredients until sticky and combined. Pour into molds/tins/cutters and press firmly. Poke a hole with the chopstick for hanging your ribbon. Let sit for 3 hours, remove from tins and flip over, let sit another 3 hours or until very dry. Add twine, ribbon or string to hang.