I spent this afternoon making a gumdrop wreath.
I learned a lot. If you think you may want to make a gumdrop wreath, I have some helpful suggestions to make your experience more pleasant than mine.
1. Buy at least 60 oz. of gum drops for a 10-inch wreath. Otherwise, you’ll have to drive back to Hobby Lobby for more. On a Saturday before Christmas, there are few busier places on the planet than Hobby Lobby. There are closer stores, but you want the same size and brand to preserve uniformity. Nothing screams Amateur! more than irregular gumdrops. Then again, nothing is more amateurish than a gumdrop wreath. If you can’t sew, cook, knit, floral arrange, bake, paint, sculpt, crochet? You can stab candy with little sticks.
2. When you insert the halved toothpick into the styrofoam, don’t use your thumb and forefinger. It’s amazing how fast blisters will pop up. The good news is on the way to Hobby Lobby, it occurs to you that it would be more pleasant to put the toothpicks in the foam with needle-nosed pliers!
3. Do not let your 3-year-old and her imaginary friend, Golden, help. Golden will need a snack. She prefers white gumdrops above all other colors. The 3-year-old will load a sandwich baggie with white gumdrops while you are busy halving toothpicks and gazing at your new blisters.
4. It’s heavy! Reinforce the styrofoam with masking tape where you wind the wire for the hanger.
5. Decide where you will hang it before you go to all that trouble. I made my wreath and then thought to myself: Now what? I walked around my house looking for places to hang it. I tried the kitchen, but it seemed to get lost. Bathroom? Over the washing machine? I settled on the front porch, which means tomorrow I fully expect to see a plain white styrofoam ring hanging by a sad green wire. Squirrels. We’ll see.
The tutorial that inspired me is here if you want more official directions. My only quibble is it suggests 3 pounds of gumdrops. No! I used almost 4.5 pounds on the wreath. The remainder was gobbled by children, real and imaginary.
It was somewhat fun to make. I am very proud of the finished product, which makes the silliness of running out of gumdrops and nursing blisters worth it in the end.
If you want to see Martha Stewart’s rendition of a gumdrop wreath, click here.
Golden approves, so her mom can make that version.
Looks adorable and SWEET!
.-= Minnesotamom´s last blog ..Baby on the Way =-.
Very nice! I see some white ones that Golden missed. “Marie” lives with us. I wonder if she and Claire would like making a gumdrop wreath? 🙂
.-= The Casual Perfectionist´s last blog ..You’ll notice he didn’t question the fact that I communicated with the aliens. =-.
Love it. My oldest daughter has a thing for gumdrops, maybe I could find gumdrops at costco and then I’d have enough gumdrops to make a mini version, b/c I know someone would be eating 2 for every 1 that went on the wreath.
.-= Denise´s last blog ..Returning Home, Fingers Crossed… =-.
Oh my, oh my, wouldn’t I love to make one of those…but now that the children have flown the coop, it would be too obvious who ate up half a wreath’s worth of drops….
.-= Gretchen Joanna´s last blog ..In which I am given a prize for my Scribbling… =-.
Yours is much prettier than Martha’s.
.-= Joanne´s last blog ..To Snip Or Not To Snip =-.
Hahaha we bought twenty million gumdrops to decorate Christmas balls last year – saw them on the Crafty Crow and they looked so cool. We started strong, everybody was armed with a polystyrene ball and toothpicks and gumdrops… well eventually we decorated half of one ball for photographic purposes and umm ate the rest – still have the polystyrene balls though!!! Have a great week!!!
.-= se7en´s last blog ..The Week That Was – 2.23 =-.
It looks professional to me. I didn’t even know Hobby Lobby sells candy.
That’s really cute, but it looks like lots of work!
.-= Melanie´s last blog ..Christmas Veggies =-.
So cute! Do you think if the squirrels don’t get it, you could save it for next year?!
.-= Kristin´s last blog ..Oh the Weather Outside =-.
I’m so afraid to make one of those. Because I just KNOW my kids would notice day after day the missing gumdrops and ask who ate them and I’d have to fess up to it. Unless maybe I sprayed some really toxic stuff on it, then I wouldn’t be constantly tempted. MAYBE.
.-= Sarah@Clover Lane´s last blog ..On Judging…Out of the My Head and Onto the Blog…Finally! =-.
I love this and I love Golden.
.-= Heth´s last blog ..Winter: The Real Story =-.
Very pretty. Although I just know if I tried it the gum drops would get sticky and melt and then we’d have ants braving the snow just to have a lick. Can you tell I was deeply traumatized by ants as a child?
.-= Mary´s last blog ..December 10, 2009 =-.
You totally outdid Martha.
Just sayin’.
.-= Sara Joy´s last blog ..Aligned =-.