Birthday Candy Bouquet

It's birthday party season.  If you are a parent of an elementary school aged child, you know what I am talking about.  For those that don't, allow me to explain.  The Monkey is in a class that has just over 20 students in it, and she averages a party invite about every two weeks.  More often than not she ends up missing them, due to previous commitments.

But not today!  Today she went to a laser tag party (she's there as we speak) that included a chocolate chip cookie cake.  I'm not sure what she was more excited about -- the cake or the party itself.

I wanted to do something a little bit special for this friend, because she is a "good kid".  You know, she's the kid you want your child to stay friends with for as long as possible.  She's friendly, polite, kind, considerate....just a good egg.  I saw posts all over Pinterest for a candy bouquet, so I decided to make one for her.  Here's how you can do it.

Supplies

(I purchased all of these at the Dollar Tree, so this is not something that will break the bank)

4 boxes of movie theater candy, roughly all the same size

One block styrofoam

Package of crazy straws

6 regular size candy bars

Packing tape, glue, and a piece of cardboard

Line the boxes of candy up so that they form a square (sorry, for some reason I neglected to take a picture of this step).  Use the packing tape to tape the boxes together FROM THE INSIDE.  This way, the recipient will not see the tape.

Cut a piece of cardboard to fit the bottom of your "box".  I used an empty cereal box.  Line the candy boxes with glue, and attach the board.  You will need to allow the glue to set, so walk away and do something. 

Once the glue is set, turn your masterpiece upside down so the board is now on your workspace.  Place the styrofoam inside your candy vase.  You most likely will need to cut it to fit the space. 

Attach the candy bars to the crazy straws with a piece of packing tape.  If you don't have the straws, you can use a wood dowel or a ka-bob stick.  I thought the straws were a fun addition to the craft, and it was something that could be used again.

Once you have the candy bars taped to the straws, you can place the straws in to the styrofoam.  You want to place them as far down into the foam as you can, so they can be stable.  You don't want things to fall apart when you are giving the gift.

The styrofoam looks pretty ugly, so you want to fill up all of the empty spaces.  You can use more candy if you, like Hershey Kisses.  Or you can fill it up with strips of crinkled paper, or even Easter grass.  I had some tulle left over from when I made my niece a tutu, so that is what I used. 



Voila!  You are done.  You have now created your own candy bouquet.  My aunt told me that she found a store selling candy bouquets for $30, which is CRAAAZY to me. This cost me $11 to make, and I'm sure it could even be made for less money if I shopped around.

The birthday girl loved her gift.  The first words out of her mouth were....well, they were "Thank You".  Remember, I just gushed about how polite she is.  The second words out of her mouth were "AWESOME!".

Until next time.....