I used to be embarrassed about my inability to lavish high-end gifts on the people around me. Everywhere I turned, it seemed there was another person I was supposed to provide a gift for at the holidays, and that list certainly isn’t shrinking. We’ve added teachers to the mix, and have wonderful neighbors and librarians we’d like to show our appreciation to as well. Living within our means doesn’t bother me so much anymore, and through years of practice, I’ve gotten pretty good at coming up with little tokens to share at the holidays that are simple enough to put together at home, unique enough to stand out, and inexpensive enough to spread the love freely. In a word, they truly are enough.

Swee and I put together these birdseed ornaments this morning to share with our friends and neighbors. I thought these would appeal to her because she loves projects, loves watching the birds, and loves to make things for other people. It’s a simple enough process, and she enjoyed stirring all of the ingredients together with the wooden spoon. From there, her attention waned, but that’s to be expected at three. This might be a really good project for a kindergartner, particularly one who likes to get her hands dirty.

This is the second time I’ve made these, and I follow the tutorial laid out here. I shelled out about ten bucks for the supplies, all available at the grocery store on my regular trip. The recipe made eleven ornaments, but they cost far less than a dollar each – I still have half a bag of seed to use in our own feeder, most of the corn syrup, and three packets of gelatine for other projects.

We will let them dry overnight and I’ve printed Becca Kallen’s winter bird ornaments to use as tags. You could also use these free clip art birdies, available this week for download from Creative Market. Tomorrow we will string them on plain garden twine and talk about who we’d like to share them with.