When I spotted fresh cranberries at our local grocery store here in Kuwait, I grabbed a bag immediately, knowing just how we’d put them to good use. Cranberry popcorn garlands are just one of those things – a craft so classic that it’s a shame to not try at least once.
In preparation for our project, I popped a batch of plain popcorn a few nights and let it sit out on the cupboard uncovered. That’s the key to success with this project… Stale popcorn. It’s quite manageable after 1 night, but after 2 or 3, it’s a breeze. Try freshly popped popcorn though, and you’ll be pulling your hair out in no time!
With the popcorn ready to go, I set it out alongside a bowl of fresh cranberries, some baker’s twine, and an embroidery needle with a fairly blunt tip.
I taped one end of the baker’s twine down to the table, and Miss G got started with threading. She quickly noticed that the cranberries had a ‘dot’ on each end, which made for a good place to start when piercing the needle through.
While the cranberries were quite easy for her to thread, the popcorn was a little bit trickier, so we worked as a team when it came to the popcorn pieces.
We made quite a lot of progress the first day, but left everything set up on our table and added to it over the course of the next couple of days.
By the time we were finished, a few of our cranberries were already starting to shrivel and dry out {though perfectly fine with me – I enjoy the rustic look}, which sparked an idea. Instead of hanging the cranberry popcorn garland somewhere inside where it could potentially drip or begin to smell, why not hang it outside for our birds to enjoy? We’ve been wanting to put out a bird feeder of some sort, but life in an apartment without a patio means our options are limited. I hopped onto a few pretty serious bird watchers / lovers forums, and from the feedback I received, as long as the popcorn is not salted or buttered, it’s a perfectly safe {and often very loved} treat for birds – hooray!
Using a bit of painter’s tape, we hung our garlands on the outside side of our windows, and now we wait. Please come and visit us, little birdies. We have treats for you!
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Jen, did birds come in the end?