Donate Gingerbread Houses and Christmas Wreaths to the Birds and Squirrels

The holidays are over and many have decorations that will not stay preserved until the next season. We make gingerbread houses every year only to end up throwing them in the trash when the season ends. This year an idea came to mind that we could donate our gingerbread houses and Christmas wreaths to the birds and squirrels.

I won a natural Christmas wreath just days before the holiday ended. While talking to my hair-dresser about how I might recycle the wreath, she suggested putting suet on the wreath and then use the pine-cones as feeders by covering them in peanut butter first--then rolling the cones in birdseed. The birds can perch on the wreath to eat their treats. Remove the wires holding the wreath together when the birds have finished with their feast. The wreath will eventually decompose and return to nature as soil for plants.

Donating your gingerbread houses and Christmas wreaths to the birds and squirrels is not only tasty for them but will give birders something to do as well. My partner has made our yard into a bird sanctuary. We have nearly twenty feeders and growing. He bought a book which easily identifies birds in our region. When he sees a bird at the feeder, he flips to the color section in his book and quickly finds the bird and its migration, moulting, mating, nesting and feeding habits.

He is also a photographer and loves to take pictures of the birds. I often use his photographs in my own articles. Let's just say that the gingerbread houses and wreaths make good photo opportunities with the birds and squirrels. Some birds like to set up home in the house before pecking it to pieces. Pick off the hard candies before putting the house in the yard. Better yet, plan ahead next year and decorate the house with more nuts, dried fruit, berries, cracked corn and seeds. Candy is dandy, but slivered almonds and Chex cereal make better roof shingles. Likewise, pretzels make nice door and window frames plus they are good materials for building fences and other yard decorations.

Get children involved from the start. Help them understand why they are using these natural materials so they can become conscious of green living at a young age. I believe this will be a fun lesson on recycling for the whole family and would even work in a school setting.

Winter season is the best season to feed the birds and squirrels because food sources are few and the critters need to reserve energy. Recycle your Christmas decorations instead of throwing them in the garbage. Mother Nature thanks you.