Heat water (or orange juice) and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved completely and it comes to a boil.
Turn off the heat, add the cranberries, and stir them around in the hot syrup until they are coated well.
Drain the syrup off of the berries. (Place a bowl under the colander to save the syrup for other uses if desired.)
Pour 1/3 cup of sugar onto a plate. Scoop out the sticky berries and sprinkle them in the sugar. Shake the plate so that the berries roll around and get coated in sugar.
Place on another plate to dry completely.
Notes
Don't cook the cranberries in the liquid, you just want to let them get well coated in the syrup and get sticky.
Allow the syrup to drip off of the cranberries before rolling them in the sugar.