Advent Shadowbox: Day 4, A Birdseed Wreath

November 30, 2011
4th Day of Advent
25 Days ’til Christmas

FEED THE BIRDS

Here’s the interior of today’s Advent Shadowbox:

And here’s how it looks from the outside:

The recipe on the card is taken from the fabulous birdseed wreath tutorial on The Dereila Nature Inn website. This is the wreath that I made as a test product last night:

And this is how it looked beside the Advent Shadowbox this morning:

Weather permitting, we’ll be setting this large wreath outside for the birds this afternoon. It’s quite heavy, so we’ll likely lay it on the bird bath and spy on it from the back windows. [UPDATE: We put the wreath out this morning – see below!] This afternoon, as the birds feast, we’ll make ornament-sized versions of the wreath recipe for our tree and for gifts using cookie cutters as our molds. Perhaps we’ll give them to teachers with our canned goods from our “Summer of Funner.”

Here’s a copy of the printable instructions given on the The Dereila Nature Inn website. If you click on their link, you can view a fantastic photographic tutorial. Please do check out our inspiration!!!

Birdseed Wreath
(as presented by The Dereila Nature Inn)

Ingredients (recipe may be quartered or halved):
8 tablespoons cold water
4 – 1/4 ounce packages Knox unflavoured gelatin
 1 1/2 cups water
8 cups birdseed

1. Empty the 4 packages of gelatin into 8 tablespoons of cold water in a large bowl.
   Let the gelatin sit for 1 minute.
2. Meanwhile, boil the 1 1/2 cups of water. Add the boiling water to the gelatin and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until the gelatin has dissolved.
3. Stir 8 cups of birdseed into the gelatin, mixing thoroughly.
4. Let the mixture set for a few minutes, then stir again.
   Repeat this process a few times allowing the seed to absorb the liquid.
5. Spoon the mixture into a greased bundt pan.
   Put in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
6. Remove the wreath from the mold by inverting the pan and tapping along the bottom. The pan may need to warm to room temperature before the wreath will come out.
7. Allow the wreath to dry overnight or longer if necessary.
   Placing it on a cooling rack will help the air circulate.
   The wreath should be very solid when completely dry.
8. Use several strands of raffia, twine or strong string to form a loop to hang the wreath.