Fall Gardening and Yard Decor Wreath for Birds

Fall is a time of change. The weather is getting cooler, and the trees are shaking off their coat of leaves. This affects no other animal like the one that uses the trees for shelter. Delight your feathered friends by making them a Fall wreath loaded with treats and seeds just for them. You can easily make one in an afternoon and hang them from tree branches or suspend them from a shepherd's hook. If they are easily accessible to the birds, they will love them.

How To Make a Fall Wreath For the Birds--

Materials Needed

Grapevine Wreath Form in Any Size

Packages of Suet Cakes (You can purchase these at your local store. They are sold in blocks that you can use whole or cut into pieces.)

Pine Cones (Use the real thing when making this wreath)

Two Jars of Creamy Peanut Butter (To go on the pine cones and uncovered parts of the wreath for sticking on the bird seed and pieces of suet.)

Bag of Bird Seed (Think about making a different wreath for each of your Fall and Winter birds as most will not eat the same kinds of seeds.)

Two Butter Knives (One for cutting the suet blocks into smaller pieces and one for spreading the peanut butter.)

Red, Green, or Orange Yarn (To tie the pine cones to the wreath with.)

Flexible Wire (For hanging up your finished wreath.)

Step 1: Begin Assembly of Your Wreath

Lay down a protective covering over your workspace, and have your supplies close at hand. Using a butter knife, cut the suet blocks into small, thin squares, and set aside. Go ahead and decide where you are going to hang your wreath and attach the proper length of wire for hanging; leaving enough at the end to secure it tightly to the tree branch or shepherd's hook.

Then take your grapevine wreath and spread the creamy peanut butter all over the front, back, and sides. The smaller children in your house will have a lot of fun helping with this project so get them involved as well. Once you have the surfaces of your wreath covered you can move onto to the next step.

Step 2: Attaching the Pine Cones

When you are done spreading the peanut butter, it's time to attach the pine cones to the wreath. If you can, have someone give you a hand with this step. They can hold up the wreath by the wire hanger so that you can tie the pine cones on without having to worry about getting the peanut butter all over your work surface.

Lay the pine cones on the wreath and tie them down, wrapping the yarn around to the back. You don't want a whole bunch of them, just a few will do. Try placing one at the top, one at the bottom, and one on each side. Tie off the yarn and cut any loose ends as close to the knot as possible.

Step 3: The Finishing Touches

Spread some more peanut butter on the sections of the pine cones. Then take the pieces of the suet that you have cut and stick them onto the peanut butter all around the wreath. You don't have to cover the entire surface, the suet is just a treat.

Once you have the suet positioned, take the bag of bird seed and start pressing it into the peanut butter that you can still see all over the wreath. Make sure to get some on the pine cones too. This can be a bit messy but it's fun and the seed can be swept up easily if it falls on the floor.

Take your finished wreath outside and hang it up. In no time at all you will have some birds begin to start pecking at it. Before you know it, there will be a lot of them that will be eating happily and chirping their thanks to you for such a thoughtful gift.