by Vickie Marcy

Created on: March 05, 2009   Last Updated: March 07, 2009

Pine cone bird feeders are not only easy to make, they're fun for kids of any age. The ingredients are pretty standard as far as pine cone bird feeders go, but I've put a new twist on mine, and added another type of pine cone bird feeder that is different but still good for the birds. Before we begin, a couple of important items to note: Birdseed comes in a variety of mixes but try to avoid mixes with red millet because the birds don't like it. If the seed mixture contains safflower, niger and sunflower seeds, you'll get a nice variety of birds. Downy woodpeckers, cardinals, chickadees and goldfinches are a few of the beautiful birds that are attracted to the mixed seed.

It's important to remember that birds need more food and fat during the cold winter months, so using peanut butter as one of the base ingredients will cover the fat issue. I only use peanut butter in really cold weather because it won't spoil or become rancid before the birds strip the pine cone of it. In warmer months, a mixture of oats, chopped peanuts, yellow corn meal and enough water to hold it all together is my favorite. After the mixture is combined well, I cover the pine cone well and roll it in bird seed. Whatever type of ingredients you use, they seem to stay together better if you let them set out overnight on a counter.

Before you start to assemble your pine cone bird feeder, take care of your pine cones. Picking pine cones up off the ground is one way to get your pine cones, and being the frugal person I am that is my favorite method of gathering them. If you would rather gather than buy you pine cones, remember to do the following: Gently wash and rinse your pine cones, pat them as dry as you can with paper towels or old rags. Preheat oven to 225 degrees, line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper and bake your pine cones for about two hours. This will open the pine cone more and get rid of any little pests that might have taken up residence deep inside your pine cone.

You will need the following items: fishing line or pipe cleaners, peanut butter, honey, dry oats, yellow cornmeal, honey, chopped dried fruit, bird seed mixture, paper plates, spatula or clean Popsicle sticks, and newspapers or an old sheet. Mix about one cup of peanut butter with 1/2 cup honey. Stir to blend, add oats, cornmeal and dried fruit to make a stiff mixture. Working with about three feet of fishing line, secure line to pine cone by tying around top of pine cone. If you're using pipe cleaner, twist

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