Holiday Popcorn Ornaments: No Salt Needed

There's plenty of different ideas that come to mind when it comes to making popcorn ornaments for this Holiday Season. This can become a wonderful tradition that you can pass on to your children and then their children. Best of all, it's fun for the entire family, doesn't take much time to make, and it is all too easy to make. And there is no butter or salt needed to make these beautiful popcorn decorations.

Popcorn Garland
What is needed:
Sewing Needle
Heavy Thread
White Popcorn
Fresh Raisins
Fresh Cranberries
(Letting the raisins and cranberries set and get dried out could cause them to be hard and difficult to thread.)

1. Pop the popcorn! You will want to choose a white colored popcorn, no butter is needed. Using buttered popcorn will make it greasy to touch, which gets messy as you're stringing it on the needle and thread. It will also have a not so pleasant smell after a while. SO using white, flavorless popcorn, will prove to be a better choice. No salt is necessary, so no need for this one.

2. Choose the string. A heavy thread will work better to keeping all the popcorn on without breaking. Cut a length that is fairly long, but still short enough to manage. If it gets too big it might be difficult to place around the tree. Using shorter lengths will be easier to work with, and after they are all strung, they can be tied together.

3. Thread the needle and the popcorn. When placing the needle through the popcorn, try to stick it through the largest part. Using a smaller bump may not stay on the string as well, or as long.

4. Make your own design. There is no wrong way to strand the popcorn. Try a few different ways, or imagine what the finished strand will look like, and then pick a pattern that best works for you. One patter is to strand a few inches of popcorn, then switch to a couple cranberries and raisins, then a few more inches of popcorn. But maybe you are using a few different pieces, or smaller strands, so picking the best pattern really depends on what you want it to look like.

5. Tie the knot. At the end of the strand, tie a knot, make it large enough, and kind of tight against the popcorn, so the pieces won't slip off or slide. If you want to tie strands together, you can tie a knot on each end of each strand, leaving some extra string hanging loose. Then tie those loose strings together tightly.

6. Decorate the tree. The final step is to wrap the garland around the tree, high enough that maybe your pets won't eat the popcorn. If gifts are going under the tree, the strand should rest on the bottom branches rather than hang from them. This will prevent popcorn falling, smashing, or the strand breaking.

Popcorn Ball Ornament
What is needed:
Styrofoam ball (choose desired size)
White popcorn
Toothpicks
Ribbon
Scissors
Glue (glue gun or super glue)

1. Pop some popcorn. Again you should use white, unsalted popcorn to avoid grease and smells. When making these ball ornaments, you will want to use the fully popped popcorn, and not the half popped pieces or kernels.

2. Break the toothpicks. You can break them with your hands or cut them with a knife, scissors, which ever way is easier for you. There is no need to keep the ends smooth while breaking.

3. Stick the popcorn. Put a dot of glue on the end of the toothpick then poke it through the back of the popcorn, in the middle of the biggest bump. This way the "flowered" end is looking out.

4. Loop the ribbon. Using plenty of glue, loop your chosen ribbon to the top of the styrofoam ball. This will act as your ornament hanger.

5. Stick the styrofoam. Put a drop of glue on the end of each toothpick as you stick them into the ball. Place the popcorn sticks as closely as possible so no styrofoam shows through. Repeat this until the entire ball is covered with popcorn.

6. Decorate the tree! Using different size styrofoam balls will give you a variety of ornaments. You can even use spray paint on the popcorn ball if you wish it to match certain decorations, or even glitter. Just be cautious around pets and small children, using paint or other products may be harmful.

Popcorn Wreath
What is needed:
Popcorn
Toothpicks
Ribbon
Glue
Paint
Glitter (optional)

This is similar to the above project, but on this particular one you will want to purchase styrofoam circles, like an "O" symbol.

1. Pop some popcorn. Using white, unsalted popcorn to avoid messes and smells. Again you will want to use the fully popped pieces rather than the half popped.

2. Half the toothpicks. Break or cut the toothpicks right in half, doesn't have to be exact or a clean break.

3. Poke the popcorn. With glue on the end of the toothpick, stick it straight into the back of the popcorn, on the biggest end, right in the middle.

4. Glue the ribbon. This will act as your hanging strand. Just glue this onto the styrofoam piece, and have a loop at the top so you can hang your ornament.

5. Poke the styrofoam. With a drop of glue on the end of each popcorn stick, stick them into the styrofoam. As close as possible. Use as many pieces as you need to cover the entire surface.

6. Paint it. Spray paint the wreath a green color, any shade. But lightly, there's no need for several coats. You can even hand paint a few pieces of popcorn red and add these to act as holly. And if you add some glitter this will glisten from the lights on the tree.

7. Decorate the tree! After it dries completely, these make beautiful ornaments for your tree. Just make sure it's out of reach of pets and children, because of the paint it will be harmful to eat.

Happy Holidays!