Help with stringing Cranberries & Popcorn

I need some help please. DH finally remembered something his mom always did at Christmas time. She died when he was around 6 years old, so he doesn't have alot of memories on specific holidays, and his Father was & is an a--hole, didn't encourage or hardly allow talk of her.

Anyway, his mom would string popcorn & cranberries to put on the tree. My question is do I use fresh cranberries, dried cranberries? Also, I assume I want plain popcorn, no butter flavoring.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I would love to surprise him and add this tradition to our Christmas tree.

I haven't strung popcorn in years! I used to when I was little and put them on the trees outside for the birds on Christmas eve. From what I remember, dried cranberries are best. Use plain popcorn...if you can pop it and let it sit to get stale that usually works better than fresh. If I remember, fresh breaks apart too easily when you try to stick the needle through them.

Have fun! I may have to restart my tradition this year.

I too always used dry cranberries.

I have always used fresh cranberries.

Thank you both so much for quick response. I will let you know how it goes. I hope it will bring back fond memories for my DH. I can't wait to see his face, and tell him again TCS is good for anything you might need help with. You guys rock

I just want to say that is soooooooo sweet of you to do for you hubby.
I hope it means so much to him

Use just plain and not buttered popcorn. Dental floss is great as a thread. I like fresh cranberries but I seem to remember that they were slightly frozen which made it easier and less messy. Make them in short and manageable strands and tie them together.

Afterwards, feed them to the outside birds!

Oh gosh... it's a lovely tradition, but may I suggest you might do it on an outdoor tree instead of inside? We did it once when I was a kid, and within a day or two, we had ants all over the living room!

Originally Posted by butzie

Afterwards, feed them to the outside birds!

Click to expand...

That's if your cats don't eat them first!
My cat has started to eat our fake Christmas tree, so it looks like that won't make it up till Christmas.

Butzie- -Thank you so much for the dental floss comment, I was actually going to ask what I needed to use to string.

CarolPetunia- Also thank you for the heads up on the ants, I was actually thinking I would put the strings in our outside trees. I think it will be different looking as we have palm trees, not evergreens. Living in Florida, makes Christmas different from when I live in MN.

Again, thank you all for for help!!!!

Butzie- -Thank you so much for the dental floss comment, I was actually going to ask what I needed to use to string.

CarolPetunia- Also thank you for the heads up on the ants, I was actually thinking I would put the strings in our outside trees. I think it will be different looking as we have palm trees, not evergreens. Living in Florida, makes Christmas different from when I live in MN.

Pami - I hope it gives him a smile, he needs one this week, he is having to layoff some of his crew & he feels really bad about it. But in this economy, he is having to cut back.

Again, thank you all for for help!!!!