Stylish feeding

Although you can feed birds all year round – limited only by the choice of feed, according to NABU –, traditionally, just like the Christmas Rose, we tend to associate the Christmas season and winter time with a bird house. This is why we have chosen to decorate our home-made bird house seasonally and place it next to a Christmas Rose in a hanging basket. There are at least as many beautiful ideas for bird houses out there as there are birds species, and there are no limits to creativity. For our bird house, we have opted for an easy and straightforward fretwork project. For feeding birds without a bird house, we put the bird feed in to a Christmas star shape. You can also use muffin paper cases to make fat muffins that are reminiscent of gingerbread or Christmas cookies. Just don’t try any yourself!

And here's how to make the bird feed:

Dissolve the coconut oil in a saucepan at medium heat and add the seeds. Stir and let cool down until the coconut oil is no longer completely fluid and can be filled into moulds without leaking. Make sure to work swiftly since you only have a narrow time window to fill the mixture into the cutters and/or muffin paper cases! Stick the wooden staff into each star to make a hole to thread the ribbon through later on. For the bird fat muffins, use the wooden staff to push one end of the ribbon into the centre of the half-hardened fat-and-seed mixture. Leave to cool overnight and the bird snack is ready to be served!

Tip: For easier release of bird fat stars from the cutters, heat the cutters slightly with a lighter before releasing the cookies.