These are SUPER easy and make great teacher gifts!! The girls in my daughter's Girl Scout troop made these for their parents with mini candy bars and chocolate hearts, that's how easy they are!
For my daughter's teachers, I upgraded to Ferrero Rocher and Lindt truffles. :)
Supplies:
- Individually-wrapped candy
- "Bendy" straws
- "Wet" Floral foam
- A container of some kind
- Tissue paper
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
- Glue stick (Like a kids glue stick)
- Possibly a knife to cut the foam, depending on the foam and container
Start by cutting the short end of the straws in half and bending them, and then cut your tissue paper into squares or rectangles, not too big, but big enough that when you put it behind the candy, the candy looks like the center of a flower and the paper looks like petals. I think mine were around 3x4, but none were measured and they weren't really the same size. For the ones the girls did, they used a single piece of tissue, but the ones I made for the teachers, I used two pieces of complimentary tissue glued together:
My tissue paper
Straws cut and bent
This part should be done by an adult if you're working with smaller children. Lay out 4-6 pieces of candy. Put a small glob of hot glue on each, and then stick the short end of a straw on each candy in the glue:
Next, you want to put the tissue on each candy. If you're using a single piece of tissue paper, the straw should poke through easily. If you've glued two pieces together like I did, it's not so easy. I used a knife to cut a small hole/slit in the paper where I was going to stick the straw to keep the paper from tearing:
Notice the hole isn't in the center. The long part of the straw isn't in the center of the candy, but I want the candy in the center of the paper, so adjust according to your own straws/candy.
Next, to make the paper curl around the candy and to stay in place, use the glue stick to make a circle on the tissue where the candy will go. For the Ferrero Rocher, I made the glue circle just a bit bigger than the little cupcake wrapper the candy is glued into so it would go up the sides some:
Now before the glue dries, slide a straw into the slit (or poke a hole) in the tissue paper and press the paper against the candy, trying to cover the straw:
Front
Back
Now you need to get your container ready. I used pretty Valentine gift boxes. The teacher ones I got from Walmart for around $2; the ones for the troop, I got at the dollar store! For the foam, get the "wet" foam, the squishy foam. It works better with the straws. My dollar store has some of this, and I got three big blocks for $4 at Walmart. Cut your foam to fit the container. If you have to piece some together like I did, glue the pieces together. With these boxes, I just glued the foam down in there. If you're using a vase or a cup of some kind, be sure the foam fits tightly or it will dump easily:
Now start arranging!
I think I used about 17 candies per bouquet for my 6"x6" boxes. Stick the straws in however you like! Fill in with some larger squares of tissue, and you're done!
