DIY Old-Fashioned Popcorn Garland

SUPPLIES

• Popcorn

• Thread

• Needle

• Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make your popcorn. You can do this day of or a few days before.

   • Prepping popcorn in advance allows it to get a bit stale so it isn't so brittle when you're stringing it!

2. Thread your needle, I like to double mine up. Be sure to tie a solid knot at the end and leave extra thread on each end for attaching to your tree!

3. Thread a piece and push it all the way to the end, test if your knot is secure. Continue adding popcorn kernels, pushing them down the string once you get a several threaded - it saves time to push several, rather than one-by-one.

4. Continue threading until you have the desired length. Tie another knot at the end.

5. Add these garlands to your tree, or hang on your wall and enjoy!

The Hunt for a Christmas Tree

This weekend, Peter, Piper, and I woke up early, put some hot coffee in our insulated coffee mugs, and hopped into the car, bound for the mountains.

The goal: acquire this years Christmas Tree!

Fir the Forests! 

Here in Colorado, you're allowed to chop down your own Christmas tree! The permit is usually about $10 (ya, it's super cheap!) and you get to have a day outside hiking, enjoying some fresh winter air, in search of your tree!

This is far and away my favorite way to get a tree. They're small and practical, very inexpensive, 100% organic, and you get to go into the mountains instead of some random parking lot where someone's going to try and get $100 out of you.

Some may wonder: isn't it good to not cut down trees in our national forest?

The answer is yes, but you have to remember that federal forests and parks are heavily managed. Forestry work is constantly being done to mitigate fire risk, and Christmas tree chopping actually aids this work! You can only take trees  6 inches or less in diameter, so you're not taking any oldies, and selectively cutting the smaller trees can help limit the amount of forestry work that needs to be done in a location.

The Hike

We found ourselves in Winter Park, CO, buying our permit and heading into a few of the approved chopping areas in the  Arapaho National Forest.

This area is well maintained for Christmas tree cutting. The forest service roads are plowed and there are designated parking lots. Even though the roads were plowed, they were still quite an adventure to travel! When we reached the spot we wanted to head into, there were a few other families around. I realized that lots of people have been doing this for many years. They bring stoves and roast marshmallows and drink hot chocolate.

We put on our jackets and started off into the woods. Our dog, Piper, absolutely adores the snow and was having an amazing time romping around in the forest! We ended up finding a tree that was growing under a large stretch of power lines. This is an area that is going to be cleared one way or another by the power company to maintain the lines properly. We hope our tree would prefer to be a Christmas tree than just chopped down to protect the lines.

Our tree fit perfectly into our small, one bedroom apartment! It's about 8 feet tall, but thinner than traditional Doug Firs and Nobles. It's some sort of pine, though I haven't ID'd it to species. It's about 8 feet tall and probably 3 across at breast height. We're incredibly happy with it, and now our apartment smells amazing! 

How to Have a Zero Waste Christmas Tree

There are multiple ways to have a zero waste Christmas tree. Here are some options for you if you're trying to green-up your Christmas!

Acquiring The Tree

1. Cut your own!

   • Here in Colorado we have the option to pay $10 to go cut down a tree from most National Forests. The tree must be 6 inches or less in diameter and cut 6 inches or less from the ground. 

   • Christmas tree cutting is done in designated areas and helps mitigate fire risk!

2. Find it Local

   • I know this isn't possible for everyone. But if you can find a tree at a local Christmas tree farm, or at your farmer's market, these are more likely to not have been trucked for thousand's of miles to reach your household. 

3. Plantable Trees

   • You may be able to buy a living evergreen tree w/ the bulb at your local gardening store. After the holidays are over, take it outside and plant it! 

4. Artificial

   • I don't recommend artificial trees, simply because they can contain PVC or lead and are often made in non-fair trade factories abroad. However, if you really want one, I'd recommend finding one used or vintage!

5. Non-Traditional

   • The possibilities for non traditional trees are really endless! I recommend doing some searching on Pintrist for inspiration! 

Zero Waste Christmas Tree Ornaments

1. Dried Fruit

   • This is the type of ornaments we went with this year! They were super easy, and look great on the tree! Checkout my DIY on how to make your own!

2. Twig Ornaments - DIY

3. Crocheted Ornaments - DIY

4. Wine Cork Ornaments - DIY

Zero Waste Tree Garlands

1. Popcorn Garlands - my DIY

   • Also a super easy (and yummy) decoration! I made a bunch of stove-top popcorn, and invited a few of our friends over for a couple drinks and garland making! It was easy and really fun!

2. Felt Garlands - DIY

Christmas Lights

Oh dear, Christmas lights. 

This was by far the hardest thing to figure out how to do, and I'll admit my own solution was not perfect. Second hand Christmas lights usually aren't working correcting and can take a significant amount of time to go through and find faulty bulbs.

What I'm trying for now are minimal-plastic LED lights. These are more energy efficient, and should last for a very long time! While they are not plastic free, they are not insulated the same way that traditional lights are, so they have much less plastic.

I think you could go no Christmas lights if you're feeling committed to the cause. If anyone has a better answer to this particular problem I'd be happy for the suggestion!