Birdseed Bells

MATERIALS:

• 1 cup Birdseed
• 1/2 cup Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
• 1/4 cup Cornmeal (or Flour)
• 1 teaspoon Unflavored Gelatin (about half a packet)
• 1 tablespoon Light Corn Syrup
• Additional Tools:
• 4.3" Clay Flowerpot
• 24" length of yarn or string
• Wax Paper

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare the clay flowerpot by lining it with wax paper, and then poking through the wax paper at the bottom with a pencil, and out the hole in the bottom of the pot.
2. Fold the 24" length of yarn or string in half and push the folded end through the hole in the bottom of the pot, pulling it through until about a 4" loop is sticking out of the bottom of the pot. 

Birdseed mixture.

• Mix the birdseed, sunflower seed, and the cornmeal (or flour) in a mixing bowl and set aside.
• Measure your 1/4 cup of water in a glass measuring cup. Heat the water just a bit in the microwave (about 30 seconds - you want it hot enough to dissolve the gelatin).
• Mix the teaspoon of unflavored gelatin into the hot water and stir to dissolve.
• Next, add the tablespoon of light corn syrup to the gelatin mixture.
• Pour the gelatin mixture into the birdseed mixture and stir until everything is well mixed.

• Spoon the birdseed mixture into the prepared mold, holding the string up straight as you spoon the mixture around it. Pat the mixture down a bit once it is all in the flowerpot mold. You should have a few inches of string still sticking out when you are done filling the mold.
• Put the filled mold in the freezer for about an hour to harden up.
• Then remove from freezer and pull up on the wax paper to remove the bell from the mold. 
• Carefully pull any remaining wax paper away from the bird bell and discard.
• You may then want to let your birdbell set for about a week to thoroughly harden and dry. This will keep the string hanger from pulling out. If you would like to hang your birdbell before then, you can tie a washer onto the string ends hanging out under the birdbell to make the bottom more sturdy. Trim any remaining yarn pieces under the bell as needed.

NOTES:

This recipe used 1 cup of birdseed and a ½ cup of black oil sunflower seeds for the mixture, however you can also use 1½ cups of just birdseed, or any other mix of seed as long as you have a total of 1½ cups of seed.

Source: TheMakeYourOwnZone