Showing Love to Your Valentine - With Chocolate!
© Rachel Webb
Every Valentines day my mother would have a special gift wrapped for each child to show how much she loved us. Dad would get a heart shaped cheesecake with cherries on top! Handmade candy gifts are especially popular and can be a cost effective craft to create and are a wonderful way to show the people in your family that you love them.Here are a few idea's you can try making for your family.
CANDY WREATHS Choose individually wrapped candies that have twist ties on each end like Tootsie Rolls or Bubble Gum. You will need approximately 3 pounds of candy for a 6-8 inch wreath. Foil wrappers are the easiest to work with. Craft stores have inexpensive gold rings often used to make dream catchers or you can cut your own wire and use pliers to connect the ends.
Next cut a 2-3 foot strand of curling ribbon. Tie one end of the ribbon to the end of your wire form. Loop your ribbon over your wire to create a small hole where you will add the candy wrapper ends. Without pulling the ribbon tight, use you other hand to loop your ribbon over the bottom end of the first loop to create a tying method that works like a running loop stitch.
Start with one piece of candy wrapper ends put in the loop and pulled tight, then add two at once. Push the pieces tightly against the first candy. The wax on the curling ribbon will help hold each piece in place so that it is not necessary to tie a complete knot. The candies will automatically spin around the wire for a full 3 dimensional look. Leave a 2 inch gap of wire showing.
After the candy is tied on add a big ribbon to cover up the metal hook closure or 2 inch gap. This may seem time consuming but I have made over 30 myself and after awhile you can complete a 5" wreath in about 20 minutes! Be sure and keep your wreath out of the heat. Candy pieces can be taken off carefully leaving the papers on the wreath to keep it looking nice even when the candy is being eaten.
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