If you’re like me, it’s bittersweet to take down your Christmas tree. We always cut our own tree but by New Year’s Eve, the tree is starting to collect dust. Ornaments are falling off since the kids have run by the tree so much. And the cats have decimated the lower hanging “fruit.” It quickly becomes evident that it’s time!
So, a few years back, after hearing my kids whine about how they want the tree to stay up forever, I started a new tradition. Once my kids heard about this tradition, they were on board.
As a family, we carefully take all the decorations and lights off our tree. We haul it out to our deck where we leave it upright in its tree stand. Then we decorate it again. It’s like Christmas round two! Only this time we use edible decorating for our feathered friends. Since our tree is fresh cut, it stays green for a long time in the cool weather outside giving the birds shelter from the elements. And, the nibbles we provide go a long way toward helping our birds during a time when food is scarce.
With this tradition, everyone’s a winner. My kids are happy, therefore I’m happy. And the birds are happy too.
Here are a few of my favorite (and easy) ways to decorate your bird tree.
Edible Garland:
For edible garland, you can use any combination of fruits and popcorn that you’d like. (I like to use popcorn and cranberries.) Just pop the popcorn, then thread some string and slip the popcorn and fruit through the needle.
Cereal Loops:
Have your kids thread cereal onto a string then tie the ends together. There’s no need for an ornament hanger since these loops fit right over the branches.
Fruit Bird Feeders:
For this, use a large orange or grapefruit that you’ve cut in half and hollowed-out. Punch two holes about a 1/2” from the top of the fruit. Tie a string through each of the holes then tie both strings together at the top. Fill your cup with birdseed and hang it from the tree.
Bagel Bird Bites:
For this project, I like to use plain or cinnamon raisin mini bagels. Break the bagels in half and let them sit overnight. Once they’ve hardened, smear lard on the bagels and then cover the lard with birdseed. Tie a string through each loop and you’ve got the perfect ornament hanger.
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