On the agenda was to make decorations for the tree which would look pretty and feed the birds.  But, mostly, we were all there to eat, chat and play.

Although it was more serendipity than strategy, I had about a dozen decorative gourds and a pumpkin left over from Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations.  I used a jig saw to cut the gourds in half, and then a drill to put 2-3 holes in each one for the string to hang them.  It was impossible to cut the gourds any other way and the drill and saw make quite a mess so definitely do this step outside!

We didn't have any playmates over who were allergic, so we were able to use 

peanut butter, honey, bird seed, nuts and mini bagels to make our ornaments (bird seed is notoriously dangerous for anyone with nut or seed allergies so use cereal if you're hosting kids with allergies and, of course, avoid any nut butters).  

The easiest and most successful ornaments were mini bagels smeared with peanut butter, dipped in bird seed and hung with a string on the tree. We also filled ice cream cones with peanut butter and then sprinkled them with seed and stuck them in the branches.

The gourds were simply filled with a little honey and bird seed.  These would actually make a nice gift for a teacher or neighbor since the gourds last fairly long outside.  

We also made some holiday garland with rigatoni noodles which was cute until we tried to use a pastry brush to add honey and seed to it.  Messy.  I also made a version of rice krispie treats using bird seed instead of cereal...the treats were a big favorite of the birds but just looked like globs of goo on the tree.

For the snacks, we made vegetarian chili with cornbread croutons.  We also made a slow-cooker applesauce and served it with homemade gingerbread cookies.  We roasted the pumpkin seeds with a little sea salt.  And, then we had mulled apple cider and Honest Tea juice pouches.

The birds are happy and our little tree looks colorful and festive.