Popcorn Garlands: Perfect Christmas Projects for the Entire Family!
Have an old-fashioned Christmas with these nostalgic Christmas projects.
Nothing conjures up the image of Christmas gone by than strings of popcorn adorning a tree. These Christmas projects are easy and fun for the entire family. They do take a while to make, but that's okay: Christmas projects are called projects for a reason! You can leave them out for everyone to work at when they have a moment, or stick them together while you watch TV. And when you're finished, you can hang your Christmas projects from the tree so everyone can admire their hard work!
Materials
-Sharp needles
-Thread
-Air-popped dry popcorn
-Raisins (or other dried fruit)
Make It!
Cut a length of thread twice as long as you want your garland to be. Keep in mind that longer thread tends to get tangled. You want to make the garland as long as possible without driving yourself crazy! You can always fit more Christmas projects together later -- no one can tell once they're on the tree. Besides, that's part of the charm of these Christmas projects: they have that homemade look!
Thread the needle, double your thread, and tie the ends. Tie a large knot, because it's going to be holding on quite a bit of weight!
WARNING: If you have pets, create these Christmas projects well out of their reach!
Begin by pushing the needle through a raisin and sliding it all the way to the end, where the knot should stop it from sliding off. If you're using fresh raisins, this can get a bit sticky: slightly old raisins are best. After all, you're not going to eat them!
Once you've slid a raisin into place, slide ten pieces of popcorn after it. Try to pierce the "fleshy" part of the popcorn (the thick white part). You will have some break, but that's okay -- just set them aside and move to the next one. Slide the popcorn carefully over the needle and onto the thread. Popcorn doesn't respond well to rough handling!
Once you've slid ten popcorn kernels on, add another raisin. Continue with this pattern until you near the end of your thread. Cut it free from the needle and tie it in many knots (enough to hold your Christmas projects together). Once you've finished, string them on the tree! If you handle them carefully, you'll enjoy these Christmas projects for many years to come.