Thursday Tip–A Popcorn Ornament

Want to make something unique that will have the recipient in awe?  Well, have I got the project for you!  Plus, it’s so easy that a 4-year-old can do it (or in my case–two 4-year-olds!).

 Behold the popcorn ornament!

Now, I must admit this creation did not evolve perfectly with the first try! 

It’s funny because at the beginning of this week I had heard a story about perseverance.  How Charles Dickens had written many (like 30+) Christmas stories and today we really only are familiar with ‘A Christmas Carol’.  The lesson was that if he had given up after a few less-than-popular holiday stories, we may never have the classic that so many love to read and watch each year.

Well, this ornament totally fits with this lesson!  Initially I was trying to come up with a gift that Lucas and Addison could give to their friends at Preschool.  I had purchased several clear plastic ornaments (after all we’re talking about 4 & 5 year-olds here!) earlier in the month thinking somehow that would evolve into the gift.  We also had several cobs of popcorn that we had harvested earlier this fall that were now dried out and ready to be popped.  Enter the idea!

 

So what you see here is my failed attempt!  On the left is a totally functional clear plastic ornament.  On the right, the result of popping the corn in plastic not strong enough to endure the heat of the microwave! LOL 

Now, before you think I’m a complete idiot, I will disclose that I did have my doubts about the plastic ornament.  However, my desire for it to be for preschoolers and the fact that I had a few extra ornaments won out on my battle of whether or not it was worth trying.

So we scratched that idea for the preschoolers (went with Jingle Bell necklaces instead).  But I still wanted to make this idea work.  Enter the clear glass ornament!  Winner!  And so that you, my dear friends, do not need to go through my trial and error, here is how you do it:

STEP 1:

Remove the metal hanger from ornament and set aside.  Fill clear glass ornament with popcorn kernels.  Because my kiddos were using kernels from the cob shown above, they lost interest at about 20 kernels!  But if you look at my sample above, you’ll see you could probably add a few more if you’d like it to be fuller when popped.

STEP 2:

Place ornament in a brown lunch bag and close bag.  Place in microwave and heat for approximately 1-1/2 minutes (listen carefully–obviously you don’t want kernels left but you also don’t want that fun burnt smell either!)

STEP 3:

Let cool (it will be hot!).  Then replace metal hanger.  You can add a ribbon hanger if you’d like.  And you can bling it up like I did with a Button and a Sparkle at the base of the ornament.

I hope you give this project a try.  And remember…don’t give up.  Creativity is a journey…enjoy it!  If you have any questions, just let me know.