Don't Throw Out Chipped Coffee Mugs When You Could Be Using Them In The Garden

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If you chipped your favorite mug, don't throw it away. Repurpose it as a fun suet bird feeder in your garden. Suet is a hard "cake," traditionally made from the hard fat around the kidneys of cattle or sheep ... though it can be made of vegetable-based shortening, too. It's typically used in winter bird feeders, because it can melt if it gets too hot. 

Suet can be bought as prepackaged squares, like these C&S High Energy Delight no-melt suet cakes. Or you can make your own by rendering or melting down your own beef fat or vegetable shortening. Just avoid milk products and think twice before using cheese to attract birds to your suet feeder, as certain kinds can upset their digestive systems.

Suet can be good for birds, especially in colder months, because it's high in fat and calories – two things in short supply in the winter. Cold weather is ideal because suet can rot quickly in summer heat. If you've got a cracked mug you want to repurpose, you can turn it into the perfect suet feeder as long as the cup part is intact. It helps if the handle is there as well. All you need for this project is your mug, some sturdy string, your suet cake, and a stick from the yard or an old utensil like a spoon to use as the bird perch. 

First, prepare the suet. Whether you have store-bought suet or just cubes of beef fat, melt it down in a saucepan. Keep the heat on low, so it doesn't burn. If you'd prefer a vegetarian option, you can also use vegetable shortening or make bird food with peanut butter and seeds. Set aside the melted mixture.

Next, pour black oil sunflower seeds in the bottom of your mug. They're the right kind of food to attract more songbirds to the garden. Next, place your stick or spoon down into the cup with the handle sticking out of the opening. This will become a bird perch. If you're worried about the stick moving around while the beef fat or suet sets up, then you can use heavier gauge jewelry wire or a clothesline clip to keep it in place. Then, pour in your melted suet, rendered beef fat, or vegetable shortening.

Once your suet is fully cooled and solid, you'll be ready to take your new bird feeder outside. Slide the cup's handle through a small branch of a tree, or loop some ribbon or twine through the mug and hang it from a tree branch. Then, sit back and wait. Birds of all kinds will flock to a suet feeder, but chickadees, nuthatches, jays, starlings, and woodpeckers might be drawn to it the most.