Hey, crafty mamas & papas! Welcome to our 12 Days of Crunchy Christmas Crafts for the whole family! We’re kicking things off today with a super simple yet amply satisfying craft for bird-watching families! An oldie but a goodie, this craft delivers on all levels; it’s quick, it’s easy, it’s made with natural ingredients, and it serves a beautiful purpose. It’s peanut butter popcorn time!

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Tuppence a Bag

Children have a talent for seeing the miraculous in the simple and the simple in the miraculous. Perhaps this is why Jesus told His followers in Mark 10:15 that “anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Unlike us, a child’s faith is without restraint. Nevertheless, children are more present in the real world than anyone.

There is no struggle in a child to comprehend the supernatural.

And yet, a child’s sights and desires revolve around the simple, everyday sort of miracles:

Miracles like pinecones, each bearing enough seed to start a whole forest . . .

Miracles like corn kernels exploding before their eyes under a glass lid . . .

Miracles like winter birds hopping outside the window . . .

If only we could all continue to see the world this way as we age. If only we could relearn childlike faith and wonderment. Well, here’s a place to start. I think every child and grown adult alike should make at least a few peanut butter pinecones in their lifetimes. The “big” things in life will always be there; relationships, careers, responsibilities, health problems, money problems, world problems. But underneath it all lies the simply miraculous. We just have to reach down through all those layers of the “important,” the “dire,” the “vital,” and find the marvelous pulse of Michael Banks; the pure human longing to simply feed the birds.

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~Peanut Butter & Popcorn Pinecones~

“This is so fun! I bet the birds are gonna devour these, those greedy gobblers!” -Goldilocks, age 6

1.) Assemble supplies.

If using popcorn, pop it now in a pan (according to package directions) with a little bit of a natural oil such as almond. Don’t add salt.

2.) Over a clean tray, drizzle, spoon, or spread the cone with peanut butter.

We like to take turns slowly twirling our pinecones for each other while the other spoon-pours peanut butter into the cracks between the layers in the pinecones.

3.) Sprinkle generously with bird seed.

We love to twirl or spin the pinecone for our kids and let them rain the seed on. This is such a satisfyingly simple task even the littlest crafters can enjoy doing.

4.) *Optional: poke popcorn into the crannies.

5.) Secure twine under the second or third row of “arms,” knot, and hang in a tree or from a hook.

6.) Wait for visitors. Or as my dad calls them, “free-loaders.”

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Thanks for crafting with us today! Hope to see you tomorrow!

Love, ~Candace Arden