I enjoy eating yogurt with fruit but prefer making my own combinations versus buying it already mixed, which allows me to control the sugar content and use seasonal fruits. Depending on what I have on hand, I’ll toss in a few almonds, coconut, granola or spices. The other day I added orange segments and cinnamon and was about to toss out the orange rinds when I thought, surely there’s something I can do with this? Which led me to making a bird feeder out of what I would have typically tossed. This is also a fun activity the kids can do during the summer. (Depending on your child’s age, they might need a bit of help with the sharp objects.)
Choose a large orange for this project.
Cut the orange in half and scoop out the orange section. I ran a sharp knife around the inside, cut the segments while they were still intact, and then spooned it out. I then scraped as much of the pulp out as I could with a spoon.
I used a big nail to poke a hole on either side of the orange.
Next I took some kitchen twine and ran it through one of the holes. You can use tape on one end of the twine, which will make it easier to pull through the hole. Once you get one end of the twine though a hole, tie it in a double knot.
Add a bit of peanut butter and spread it around. This will help keep the first coating of seeds adhere to the orange section and be a “surprise treat” once the birds get to it. You can add just enough seed to cover the peanut butter coating or fill it up all the way, which is what I did since we have a lot of birds.
Thread the other end of the twine through the other hole, tie a double knot, and it’s ready to hang.
Super easy, cheap, and green. Our birds enjoy it and I get pleasure from watching them.
And if you like yogurt, try it out with some orange segments and a dash of cinnamon…so refreshing and delicious.
And just FYI…birds can be messy so chances are, some of the seed will fall to the ground. These seeds will sprout so think about that when hanging any bird feeder.