Homemade Pinecone Feeders

For a Cub Scout project, we made pine cone bird feeders. Instead of just smearing peanut butter on the cone and rolling it in bird seed (messy with 8 - 7 year old boys) I tried something new. I found a recipe that uses half peanut butter, half shortening and 1/2 cup of birdseed. I did:

1 c shortening
1 c peanut butter
1 c bird food


Mixed it all up and the boys used plastic knives to smear it on. No birdseed mess on the floor and there wasn't anything wasted. The birds liked it too, because we hung up three outside and they were empty in a matter of days. I saw chickadees near them, downy woodpeckers and even a sparrow or two munching.