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Popcorn - it’s a staple snack if you’re going to the movies. And with the invention of microwave popcorn, people can make their own in a jiffy. However, most people don’t think about using popcorn for crafts.

Here’s how to make a fun popcorn picture. You’ll need the following things:

• Popcorn
• Construction paper
• Glue
• Crayons or marker
• Scissors

Make a big bowl of popcorn. You’ll need enough for the artwork and enough to snack on!

Using your crayons or markers, draw a picture on a sheet of construction paper. Think about making a picture of a mountain and the sky. Create the mountain using markers and crayons or torn pieces of construction paper glued to the main sheet. Draw a picture of a cloud and glue popcorn inside the outline of the cloud. It will give your popcorn picture dimensions.

For those who love plays on words, you may want to create a picture of a frying pan sitting on flames. Place pieces of popcorn popping out of the pan and landing in the flames. The picture can be named “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

Try gluing a bunch of popcorn together in the center of the paper. Draw legs underneath it and the head of a sheep on one of the ends. Make grass for the sheep to be standing in by cutting slits in a long strip of green paper. You can create an entire herd of sheep by placing groups of popcorn around the page.

Think about white things you see in nature. Many trees or plants which are blooming have white blooms. Apple trees are one type of tree that comes to mind. Make a tree using brown paper and glue it onto a sheet of paper or paint a tree on the paper. Cut out leaves or groups of leaves. Glue groups of two or three pieces of popcorn around the tree as blossoms.

Create a picture with white flowers by making the grass as described above. Draw stems and leaves for the flowers. Glue pieces of popcorn onto the tops of the stems to create the flowers.

What else can you make using popped popcorn as an element for the picture? Use your imagination and see what else you can come up with.

Learning how to make a fun popcorn picture isn’t difficult. Of course, once you’ve popped your popcorn, you may find you have eaten more popcorn than you’ve placed in your artwork. This isn’t such a bad thing to happen but it may make your pictures look rather sparse!

You can get even fancier by coloring your popcorn for your popcorn craft. Following is a recipe that candies your popcorn in different colors:

Ingredients

• 4 quarts popcorn
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• food coloring

Instructions

1. In heavy saucepan on medium heat melt butter then add sugar, corn syrup and salt.
2. Increase temperature to medium high and bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar.
3. Once mixture boils, add in food coloring and stop stirring.
4. Boil for 5 minutes (Do not stir). Mixture should be about 250-260 degrees.
5. Remove from heat and carefully stir in vanilla and baking soda.
6. Working quickly and while mixture is foamy, pour mixture over popped corn and gently stir to coat popcorn.
7. Place popcorn into a large roaster or rimmed baking sheet (lined with parchment paper or sprayed with cooking spray) and bake at 200° F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

This craft project is not only fun to make, it's delicious too!