Happy Valentine's Day: Candy Wreath

No other holiday besides Halloween screams, "Give me candy" more than Valentine's Day.  My husband is a true Man's Man, and I don't think a red satin heart shaped box of chocolates would be his thing.  He would definitely eat the chocolate, but not if it was pretty.  Flowers to his office?  No way.  That's not something he's going to tell his golf or fishing buddies about.  But Tootsie Rolls?  Now you're talkin'.  He loves Tootsie Rolls so I decided a candy wreath for his office door would be perfect.  Complete with scissors so visitors could cut off a Tootsie Roll for themselves.  Or he could use the scissors to defend his Tootsie Rolls and keep them all to himself. Little Devil liked the idea so much, we made another wreath with Smarties.  The way to a man's heart truly is through his stomach.  Happy Valentine's Day from The Devilish Dish! 

                   

Gather your materials together...



Remove the hooked part of the hanger
with wire cutters.

On both sides so it looks like this.



Bend the two ends together until
they are attached.  Squeeze tightly.



Shape the hanger into a circle. 
It won't be perfect but get as close as you can.

Choose ribbon that matches the kind
of candy you choose.  You want your ribbon
to be about 5-6 inches in length. 
I wrapped it around a 5 1/2-inch book
several times and then cut both ends.
(A fast way to get a lot of ribbon the exact same lengths.)

Now you've got a pile of 5-6 inch pieces of ribbon.

Tie the ribbon onto one end of the candy. 
You don't have to make a knot,
just make it secure.  This you why you
have to select candy that has a wrapper "tail."

It goes a lot faster if you get this
part done ahead of time.
You can do this while you watch TV.

Start tying the candies onto the wire form. 
Make a knot this time, so the candy is secure.

You can cut the ribbon tails or curl
them if you desire.  I cut mine off. 
They still show a little bit, so make sure
your ribbon is a coordinating color. 

Keep going until your wreath is full. 
You have to keep sliding and
packing the candy on really tight.

Leave a small section to add a bow. 
At this point you can also add a
length of ribbon and a pair of scissors if you'd like.

Hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day!

Candy Wreath
3-4 pounds candy (wrapped with a "tail")
ribbon to match your candy
hanger or metal wreath form (See Note)
wire cutters
scissors
ribbon to make a bow
ribbon and scissors for cutting the candy off  (optional)

Note:  I used a wire hanger as the base for my wreaths.  They use approximately 4 pounds of candy so the finished product is pretty heavy.  You may want to consider a purchased wire wreath form from a craft store.  This would be sturdier, and would hold its round shape better under the weight of the candy.
This is actually not an expensive or time consuming project.  The most time consuming part is getting the ribbon tied on to the candy.  You can have a finished wreath in about 3 hours and the ideas are endless as to the flavors and colors.  Peppermint with a green bow for Christmas would be adorable.  How about a wreath with all bubble gum for a birthday?  You get the idea.  Happy Crafting (AND EATING!)