Stringing popcorn and cranberries while watching Christmas specials with my mom (aka Mama Cheryl) is a tradition I’ve carried on through the years. I don’t think I've ever skipped a year.
When the girls were too young to use a needle and thread, I'd have them count pieces of popcorn and hand me the cranberries. I’d also let them decide if we were doing five popcorns and one cranberry, ten popcorns and two cranberries, or whatever they decided to keep them interested. This photo brings happy tears to our eyes. The pencil tree was a prop.
When they got older they helped me out. Once in a while, Sean even got into the game. One year I made the mistake of using movie theater popcorn (‘cause it tastes so good 😋) but was so yellow. Never made that mistake again.
Amber is a little sensitive seeing photos from before she was born. There is a seven year difference between her and our first (Morgan). I promised her I'd dig through he archives and find a photo of her stringing popcorn.
My favorite popcorn to use is Orville Redenbacher’s Tender White. The kernels pop big, they are nice and white, and it tastes good! I always buy two boxes or so because we eat more than we string.
We usually sit on the floor because it can get messy. Dogs come in handy for cleaning up the crumbs. Unfortunately, our dogs are not huge fans of popcorn, so I'm in charged of sweeping up the crumbs.
I hope our girls will carry on the tradition. Listening to Charlie Brown music or watching the classic Christmas specials. Cheers to a very merry Christmas! And happy New Year.
🐶 Leela Storm's Suggested Pairings
- 🎵 Vince Guaraldi Trio - Christmas is Coming
- 🥃 Captain Morgan & Spiced Cider
- ☕ Hot Chocolate with Smarshmallows (as the girls used to call them)
✔ Takeaways
- You're going to need to play the entire A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack.
- Don't feel pressured to finish in one day. Sometimes it takes us a week.
- Buy lots more popcorn than you need because you know you'll be eating some.
📖 Recipe
Popcorn and Cranberry Garland
Stringing popcorn and cranberries is a great way to bring the family together and start a new tradition.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 120
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 1
- Category: Prop
- Method: handmade
- Cuisine: american
Ingredients
- 2 or more boxes Orville Redenbacher Tender White Popcorn
- 1 or 2 bags of fresh cranberries
- Needle
- Thread
Instructions
Let’s Get Started
- Start with 4' strands of thread.
- Thread needle and tie off at one end.
Now for the Work
- Strong popcorn and cranberries until a few inches from the end. Tie off or tie to another garland.
- Repeat until you have enough garland for your tree (see notes).
Notes
If I have my tree up with lights on, I add each strand of garland starting at the top and tie them together as we finish.
You can use other popcorn. I just found that Oriville's Tender White works great and is pure white.
Keywords: popcorn cranberry garland
Tell us what you think!