Christmas Wreath

A simple Christmas wreath with things found outside and around the house.

What you need:
Sticks
Evergreen needles
Needle and Thread
Oranges
Dried Chilis
Popcorn

After perusing the backyard and neighbor's for some twigs and pine needles, I scavenged enough to start the wreath. I started by breaking sticks and laying them out in a circle. If you can intertwine them to stick together, great. If not, thread or string comes in handy to form the base of the wreath.  I stuck in the green pine needles in between the branches and tied on a few with some string.

In order to dry the oranges, slice them thinly and place between two paper towels on a plate.  To expedite the drying processs, I zapped them in the mircowave for 2 minutes to drain a large chunk of the juices.  

After their time in the microwave, chuck them on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet.  Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and place in the oven, flipping every 30 minutes for an hour or until mostly dry.  They will continue to dry out some once you remove them from the oven.

Popcorn can be popped on the spot or the day before as stale popcorn is often easier to string. Best to use plain colonels popped on the stove or unflavored sachets of mircowave popcorn.  With a long piece of thread and a needle, pierce the popcorn until you have a long, delicious rope of popcorn.

to add the semi edible accouterments, thread the needle and begin tying and knotting on around the wreath. I found it easier to pierce the skin of the orange at the 12 o'clock point, take it halfway under the wreath and then at the 6 o'clock point on the peel and then tie it.

Be wary of the chilis and your fingers. When you pierce it and then accidentally rub your eyes 15 minutes later, you will be unpleasantly surprised.

I put oranges on first, chilis second and then strung the popcorn around third as it was the most fragile of the foods. Cook's choice though, use your creativity on how you want your wreath to look.

Hang with string or wire wherever you see fit.

Enjoy and happy holidays!