Consider a fun eco friendly favor for your wedding! Whip up batches of bird seed ornaments and allow your guests to make friends with nature after you say I Do!
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Just a few days ago, Allie got married! As an animal lover herself, she gave her guests bird seed ornaments to hang outside. Ya know, it’s from the LOVEBIRDS. :)
Here’s Allie’s tutorial to create these eco-friendly favors:
Supplies:
- Bird Seed
- Gelatin
- Water
- Wilton 6-Cavity Silicone Heart Mold Pan
- Twine
- Wax Paper
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring Cup
- Tablespoons
- Cooking Spray
- Organza Bags
Note: The following recipe was tripled from what was found online in order to fill 12 heart shaped molds. First, boil water.
Once at a boil, pour 1 1/2 cups of water into a mixing bowl with 3 tablespoons of gelatin. Mix to dissolve gelatin.
Pour 4 1/2 cups of birdseed into the bowl and mix. Note: the mixture will still be a little on the wet side at the bottom, but that’s ok. The water will be absorbed into the mixture after sitting.
Spray the molds with a cooking spray. (not sure if this positively needed, but figured it couldn’t hurt.)
Fill the mold halfway with the bird seed mixture. Place the ends of a cut piece of twine into the mold. This will be used to hang the ornament outside.
Continue to fill the other half of the mold, covering the twine. Allow to sit until it is fully hardened. The length of time may vary but I typically left them at least 4 hours. Typically I made 2 batches a day, one in the morning and one at night.
Once hardened, pop them out and lay on a piece of wax paper. After drying a few hours, stand them on their side so both the top and bottom dries. For wedding favor purposes, allow to dry at least a full 24 hours or more.
To complete for the wedding, slip into an organza bag and attach a tag message.
Tip: When making these ahead of time, and after fully dried, place in a clear tupperware container in the sunlight and not a dark cardboard box in your guest room turned wedding storage room to prevent mold. (learned the hard way on the first batch!)
I was wondering how long before the wedding can I start to make these? in other words, how long do they last? I don’t want to be making these at the last minute. Thank you
We had made these in mid April before her mid May wedding. They were MOSTLY ok, however, we did learn the hard way about boxing them up before they were fully dried and putting them in a dark space. Some grew mold! I’d recommend leaving them to dry longer than you think and storing them in clear bins in the sun to avoid this issue.