Popcorn isn't just for eating. Over the ages, popcorn has been used in a variety of ways other than filling the belly during a movie. One that comes quick to mind is stringing popcorn together for decorative garland to go on the Christmas tree. Fun popcorn ideas are just limited by the imagination.

A recent post at the Mommies with Cents website shared some fun popcorn ideas that would be great for families and inspired us to share some popcorn activities we've participated in over the years. The ideas  below work best with hot air popped popcorn.

Create 3D popcorn art

With Elmer's glue and colorful markers, you and your kids can create wonderful 3 dimensional art. Pour popped popcorn on a table and have your kids pick through them. Ask them if they see parts of animals, like a head, body, legs and feets. This is a great imagination builder similar to seeing shapes in the clouds. Your kids will get excited as the shapes come to life. Glue the shapes together and apply colorful eyes with the markers.

Make a popcorn tree

When outside, have your kids pick up a twig with "branches." With glue, apply popped popcorn to the joints of the twig. Once dried, you can "plant" the popcorn tree in a small planter for a decorative display in your home.

Create a popcorn wreath

At a craft store, you can purchase wooden rings of varying width.  You can also purchase actual wreaths made of vines and twigs. Either will do. One way to easily create a popcorn wreath is to spray an adhesive on the wreath and pour popped popcorn over it. Once dried, the wreath will be covered with popcorn. Or, if you want to give the kids a craft they can spend time on, pull out the elmers glue and have them apply the popcorn all over the wreath (the wooden rings work best here). When finished and dry put on a colorful bow.

Do you have any fun popcorn ideas you'd like to share? We'd love to hear them.

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When we received this photo we couldn't stop laughing. What an interesting use of a stovetop Jiffy Pop Popcorn.

In the heartland of America in a state famous for corn, the people in the little town of Sac City, Iowa showed what they are made of. Or, what they can make as a community. A 5,000 pound popcorn ball. Twice before, this town has been in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest popcorn ball. First time in 1995 and again in 2004.

So, what's the recipe for the world’s largest popcorn ball?

• 1,500 pounds of popcorn
• 2,400 pounds of sugar
• 11 pounds of corn syrup
• 100% passion

We’re curious if they used a stove-top popcorn popper or a hot air popcorn maker to pop all that popcorn.

Popcorn pops when the moisture in the kernel heats up. Each kernel requires 13.5 to 14 percent of moisture to pop. On a warm day, one percent of that moisture can evaporate, and that can have an impact on the quality of the pop in a popcorn popper. When three percent vanishes, the kernel can be rendered unpoppable. So to keep popcorn poppable, properly store your popcorn in an airtight container and in a cool cupboard. While any quality container will do, we’ve discovered that a good airtight coffee container works great to keep popcorn fresh.

Share how you keep your popcorn fresh?

It’s amazing how such a little popcorn kernel can explode into something as fluffy and tasty as, well, popcorn. So, how does this delicious tranformation take place? Here’s the simple explanation:

Each kernel of popcorn has an amount of moisture and oil in it. As the oil and moisture heat inside a popcorn popper beyond the boiling point, the moisture turns into a superheated pressurized stem. The heated and softened kernel hull becomes pliable. Once the hull ruptures, the steam expands the starch and proteins inside the kernel into airy and crispy and delicious foam. POP!

Now just add butter and salt or another favorite seasoning and you’ve got a delicous snack.

Watch a popcorn kernel pop in slow motion

Before our family of six switched to popcorn poppers, the microwave popcorn bag was an easy family night ritual. Rip open a box, tear the cellophane, unfold and toss in the microwave for three minutes or until the sound of popping slowed. Carefully rip open the steaming bag, pour in bowl and we’re done.

Sure, the microwave provided us convenience (or so we thought), but at what cost?

Certainly, not at the cost of calories. Microwave popcorn bags can contain enormous amount of calories per serving. According to the Calorie Count website, Orville Redenbacher’s Movie Theater Butter Mini Bags (yes, mini bags) contains 213 calories per serving. Their Smart Pop Butter Mini Bags  contain 110 calories per serving.

Air popped popcorn contains about 30 calories per serving (about a cup). Oil popped popcorn contains 55 calories and lightly buttered 90 to 120 calories per serving. Yes, adding flavor to popcorn does increase calories; however, by popping the corn yourself, you gain control on the amount and type of popcorn seasoning you use. With microwave popcorn, you’re eating what the manufacturer chose to put in them.

And really, we weren’t saving much time with the microwave popcorn bags. Typically, our popcorn poppers will pop corn within five minutes.

After switching away from microwave popcorn bags, we gained another unexpected benefit. The magic of popping popcorn. Quite honestly, there’s enchantment watching that first popcorn pop in a popper, followed by another, then another until finally an eruption of all the corn bursting into fluffy crispy white. This is a performance we miss when the corn pops anonymously in the microwave bag.

It's easy to pop popcorn. Just heat sand in a fire, stir in the popcorn kernals, and there you go. How simple. Of course we have much easier (and more sanitary) popcorn popping methods than ancient Native Americans did.

The most popular method of popping popcorn today is, of course, with the microwave. A visit to the grocery store popcorn aisle will show rows of microwave popcorn. While this is an improvement to the hot sand method, many are questioning the health issues of microwave popcorn. Quite simply, those microwave popcorn bags have got a lot of calories plus an assortment of chemicals.

Step back a couple of decades and you've got a range of popcorn poppers. For the health conscience, hot air popcorn poppers, with only about 30 calories per serving. Oil popcorn poppers for those wanting a bit more taste. Most stores don't carry a good selection of popcorn poppers (not with everyone purchasing microwave popcorn), but that changes online. And the popcorn poppers today are much more sophisticated that those used in the 70's.

For people wanting to duplicate the movie theater popcorn experience, there are several popcorn machines that can bring it home. Ranging in prices from the low hundreds to thousands, these popcorn popper machines can be a great addition to a home theater or game room. And with the right seasoning, you can easily duplicate the movie theater popcorn taste.

So, we've improved the popcorn popping experience from what the ancient Native Americans had. However, they did have something called popcorn beer. We'll save that for another article.