DIY Popcorn Garland

Making a Popcorn Garland is another very nostalgic activity for me. I remember when I was very little going over to my grandparents house and making popcorn garland’s for their Christmas tree. We only made them a couple of times but it is a memory that has stuck with me. So this year I wanted to bring that those memories and be a little nostalgic by making a popcorn garland for our tree.

As I am sure you have figured out making a popcorn garland is completely gluten free but also so so so easy to make. You literally need 3 things and you probably already have 2 in your house. You may even have all 3 items. However, even though you requires so little items, the affect that a popcorn garland has on a tree is magical.

We also colour theme our tree, so this year we went with red and gold. Plus we always add in those unique or one off ornaments. Most of ours are Disney or Marvel ornaments, with some sentimental ones mixed in. Matt and I (Karlee) have a tradition every year of gifting each other a new ornament. Which has resulted in us having a fair share of ornaments. I also sometimes will grab some extra while I am Christmas shopping or gift Matt more than one.

Popcorn Garland Tips

1. Don’t pop too much popcorn. I know this sounds like a no brainer, but we popped 3 times as much popcorn than we needed. You will feel like you need a low, and you may if you have a huge tree or are decorating multiple trees. But trust me, you don’t need as much as you think. We will be composting the rest of ours.
2. Use an Air Popper or no oil. If you plan on saving your popcorn garland to use for many years, you will want to pop it without any oil. If you use oil and then want to save the popcorn garland, the oil will go rancid and be bad. You will not be happy next year when you take it out to decorate. We plan on composting ours after this year and probably making a new one next year.
3. Store popped popcorn in a small tub. We popped out popcorn in our whirley pop and then dumped the popcorn into small rubbermaid containers. This way it is all contained and we could put lids on it at night. During the day we left the lids off for it to go stale and then put the lids on at night so the dogs couldn’t get into them and it didn’t attract any unwanted guests. This also helped the hubby know not to eat it, compared to if it were in a regular bowl.

What’s Needed:

• 2 cups popcorn kernels
• medium – large sewing needle
• clear fishing line (we used 6lbs)

How to Make a Popcorn Garland

1. Pop the popcorn in your desired appliance. We used a whirley pop on the stove and popped it in batches.
2. Pour all of the popped popcorn into tubs to store the popcorn. Leave uncovered during the day for 3 days. Cover at night if you’re worried about pets or attracting unwanted critters. Let the popcorn go stale.
3. Once popcorn is stale. Take your sewing needle and thread the clear fishing line through the sewing needle. We used as much fishing line as we felt comfortable with dealing with at a time without it getting tangled. We doubled the line and tied a large knot (you may have to tie multiple knots) at the end and cut it off there.
4. Start to thread your popcorn onto the thread. Be careful not to prick yourself with the sewing needle. Make sure you thread the popcorn all the way down the fishing line until it reaches the knot at the end. This may be a bit difficult because you’re threading the popcorn through two fishing lines since they were folded and knotted off together. Also take care to not tangle the fishing line.
5. Once you have threaded the entire line with popcorn tie off the end with the needle and cut off the needle and excess thread.
6. Repeat steps 3 – 5 as many times as needed until you have created enough popcorn garlands to wrap around your entire tree.
7. Wrap around the tree and enjoy how they look.

Well there you have it. Super easy and looks great on any Christmas tree. You can make these popcorn garlands as a family or by yourself. I will warm you that it gets a bit messy so you may want to assemble them overtop of the tubs or a counter. We had to vacuum many times while making them, but that’s what dogs are for right?

If you’re looking for other holiday DIYs make sure to check out our Easy DIY No Sew Fleece Blanket. You may also like this delicious Strawberries and Cream Trifle that is great for any holiday table.

Storing: Store in tubs or freezer bags taking care not to crush them in storage. Take out next year and enjoy again. If you’re disposing of the popcorn garland, cut the spot near the knot and take all the popcorn off to compost.