Craft Uses for Fresh Cranberries

You never need to waste a bumper crop of cranberries. You can keep cranberries from turning into a jellied sauce by using them in craft projects. Fresh cranberries have a tough quality that makes them better suited for use in crafts than other, pulpier fruits, since they can last up to one week at room temperature. As cranberries come into season during the late autumn and winter months, crafting with them lends a seasonal air to your projects, but throw away your craft when the berries feel soft to the touch, recommends Ocean Spray.

Christmas Garland

Rather than purchasing garland to drape over your mantle or around your Christmas tree, you can make your own. When you use cranberries in a homemade garland, it lends an old fashioned touch to your home decor, and it comes at a lower price than commercial versions of garland made with expensive beads.

Classic cranberry garland can engage everyone in the family, as they string cranberries onto thread or fishing line. Add popped popcorn kernels between the cranberries for a red and white homemade garland. When finished with your cranberry garland, hang it from the branches of your Christmas tree, drape it over the fireplace mantle or wrap it around the railing down a staircase.

Table Centerpiece

These bright berries make an eye-catching table centerpiece. Cranberries add more color to a floral display, especially when paired with bright red flowers. Replace the water in a vase or decorative bowl holding flowers with fresh cranberries.

Use clear, decorative bowls to get the greatest color effect from the cranberries in the centerpiece, and use silk flowers to prevent wilting as your arrangement will not have water in it.

Cranberry Ornament

Save money on your Christmas ornaments this year by making your own. Cut out a star shape from a piece of heavy cardboard. Punch a hole in the top and tie a loop of ribbon through the hole. Use craft glue or a low temperature glue gun to attach fresh cranberries to both sides of the ornament. Wait until the glue dries on the first side before gluing cranberries on the opposite side. Hang this ornament on a Christmas tree or as a decoration anywhere in your home. For a shimmer effect, spray a light coating of spray-on craft glue over the cranberries on the finished ornament and sprinkle silver or gold glitter to lightly cover the cranberries.