Birdseed Tossing Cones

(This week I'm going to begin a series of projects that were done for my daughter's wedding.  I realize that a lot of you home-style blog surfers aren't going to be particularly interested in these undertakings, however, the internet has been an INVALUABLE source of information, inspiration, and resources for getting all of the wedding preparations together.  In that vein, I too, would like to provide these posts in hopes of inspiring, or making someone else's planning EASIER.)

These birdseed tossing cones, the first task to be shared,
were born of necessity, panic, and fatigue.   Necessity:  Wednesday--Wednesday!-- at dinner Healthy Chick (maybe I should rename her Newlywed Chick?) said she would like birdseed, rice, or bubbles as she and her Darling Husband were heading off after the wedding.  Panic:  "What???  You never mentioned this before!" (that would be my internal voice).  Fatigue:  I couldn't imagine making another trip to Micheal's or JoAnns before the wedding (on Saturday).

Most of you know how a DIYers mind works...  Get an idea, surf internet, form game plan, Go!  (Or, surf, then idea/inspiration...)  I knew I wanted to make a ready-to-toss cone and use birdseed.  (Easy.  Right?)  That evening I was surfing the 'net and looking for cone patterns.  I found a couple making a standard round cone.  I was going to go to Tuesday Morning the next day, 'cause it's relatively close, to get wrapping paper for the cones.  My mind was still whirring of what supplies I might have at home, when I remembered I had a surplus of FREEZER PAPER.  SO, I got that paper out and tried to make some cones (I started with about a 6" square).  That paper was so stubborn that I could NOT get it to make cones without struggling and ending up with a small hole at the bottom point.   Back to surfing...I found some fabric cones that mentioned folding the fabric.  That was my "ah-ha!" moment.  Folding, it was.  Here is the how-to:

Freezer Paper Birdseed Cones

Materials:

• Freezer paper
• cutting mat*
• ruler*
• xacto knife*
• glue, or 
• mod podge and paint brush 

 Unroll freezer paper.  Measure and cut into 6" strips with xacto knife.  Make as many strips as you want to work with (I worked in ten-strip "batches.")  Stack strips and cut into 6" squares.  My freezer paper was 18" wide, so it I got three squares per strip.  Cut all of the strips into squares.  Fold into roughly thirds, as shown.

Use your paint brush to apply mod podge (or run a bead of glue) to edge of cone.  Fold over and press to adhere.  Done.

Fill with 2-3 tablespoons birdseed.  My 4 lb. bag of birdseed filled about 65-70 cones using 2 tablespoons, each.  Freezer paper bonus:  You can't go wrong using classic white--they're for a wedding, after all, right?  (Plus, I thought they resembled calla lilies when stacked in the basket.)  I also liked that they were paper on the outside, but waxed on the inside where the birdseed was and had more stability.  If you (or I) had more time, I think they would look cute with a rubber-stamped heart on the front, or a rotary stamp design along the edge.  I tried to use decorative scissors for the top edge, but the paper didn't cut well.  I did not fold the tops over, the cones were deep enough to keep the seed in them. 

TOTAL COST = Less than $3

TOTAL TIME = Just over an hour for about 84 cones

I could have made 130-140 cones total for under $3

*Do NOT be tempted to "give it a 'go'" with scissors.  These tools will help you over and over again with multiple craft projects.

This is a great "use what you have" project (freezer, brown craft, book pages, wrapping, or scrapbook paper).  Here are some other ideas I found after I made mine:

bird seed cones

If you have the time, this is another darling idea.   These were made with 5" squares.

 butterfly rice tosser

click photo

Next up:

Table numbers.

I'm sharing:




This is also linked up to The Wedding Bee