While I’m not a big fan of crafts made out of food, I do love the simplicity of popcorn garlands. We love to mix popcorn and cranberries and then rather than hanging the garland on our tree indoors, we hang them outside as a gift to the animals in our neighbourhood.
Materials:
- popcorn
- fresh cranberries
- thread
- needles
- scissors
Just thread the needles with quite a long thread and tie at the end. Thread the popcorn and cranberries on – a fun way for little ones to practice making patterns! These photos are from last year’s garland making adventure.
For another plant based garland idea, gather a basket of pine cones, small sticks, seed heads, seed pods, etc. and thread them with a needle or tie them onto twine. For the third week of Advent, the light of animals, I have a basket of feathers ready to go that might work their way onto a garland or two, or another decoration depending on what the kids dream up. Yesterday, a friend of ours set up a fun craft to paint pine cones with glitter paint – these are beautiful and would make a lovely garland or Christmas tree decoration.
Other ideas – dip the bottoms of the pine cones in non-toxic paint to coordinate with your Christmas decorations or home, or, try this gorgeous and warm idea to wrap pinecones in yarn (idea and photo from Teal & Lime). This might be happening over here this week, as it’s just too good to pass up – a trip to our local wool shop is in order as I think our stash is low! I’m seeing deep red, teal green, grey, mustard yellow…
Does your family craft any natural decorations over the holidays? Share about them in the comments!
This post has been shared as a part of Simple Lives Thursday and Montessori Monday.