Cranberry crafts bring color and texture to any decor.
Fresh cranberries are a fun and inexpensive way to add color to your holiday decor. You can use them in a myriad of ways, including on your holiday tree, your table settings or on your fireplace mantel. Stringing cranberries is a fun family tradition, although older siblings should help younger ones with needles or craft wire. Let the kids make some of these fresh cranberry crafts to use as decorations in their bedrooms or have them make some for gifts for friends, babysitters or teachers.
Garland
String fresh cranberries on heavy cotton thread to create garland. Thread cotton thread onto a needle and push the needle through the center of each cranberry. Continue until the garland is the length you want. Cut the thread and knot the end so that the cranberries don't fall off. Create a pattern by adding glass beads at regular intervals. Use the garland on your holiday tree, your mantel or wind it through evergreen garland. Create tiered garland by using three lengths of cotton thread strung with fresh cranberries and tied together at the ends. Layer this tiered garland over your window valance or hang from your mantel for a unique holiday display. Add more dimension to your cranberry garland by adding lengths of cotton strung with cranberry at various intervals for a look similar to icicle lights.
Snowflake Ornament
Create star ornaments with a Styrofoam ball covered in glitter and 24-gauge crafting wire. Push the wire through the Styrofoam to create the spokes of a snowflake. Make the wire spokes vary in length and string fresh cranberries onto each spoke. Push the cranberries onto the wire, piercing the cranberry through the center. Push the cranberry down the wire until it's snug against the Styrofoam ball. Continue to add cranberries until the wire is filled. Once the spoke is full, bend the end of the wire into a hoop so that the cranberries don't fall off. String an ornament hook through one wire hoop and hang the ornaments from your tree or in your windows. Simplify the ornaments by bending the wire into a simple shape, such as a heart, and string the cranberries on the wire. Hang this ornament by a cranberry colored ribbon.
Tablescapes
Dress up an ordinary candle with fresh cranberries on small pins pushed into the candle. Push the pins through the cranberry and into the candle to secure the cranberries in place. Create shapes such as stars, trees or hearts, or create rows or columns with your cranberries. Create a candle charm by stringing three to five cranberries on 24-gauge craft wire. Push the wire through the center of the cranberry and slide the cranberry down to the end of the wire. Add three to five cranberries to the wire and bend the end of the wire so that the cranberries don't come off. Wrap a ribbon around the candle and push the other end of the wire through the ribbon and into the candle, securing the cranberry charm and the ribbon in place. Let the cranberries dangle from the candle. Fill a small bowl with fresh cranberries and set the candle inside of it.
Topiaries
Create a topiary with fresh cranberries. Start with a Styrofoam shape and cover it with cranberry colored ribbon. Cut wooden toothpicks in half and insert one end of the toothpick into a fresh cranberry and the other into the Styrofoam shape. Work in circles and place cranberries as close together as possible. Add dark green leaves or small evergreen branches for added dimension and texture. When making small topiaries, set them on top of tall candle holders to add height to them.
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