Flowerpot Candy Gift

Anytime you need a last-minute gift for someone, be it a child, a man or a woman, you can quickly make one thats appropriate and inexpensive. Use a clay pot to make an unusual gift that offers flowers and candy for any occasion. Make the bouquet large or small, with regular or sugarless candies, and with an assortment of choices along the way.

Choose the size of pot you want to give then paint or otherwise decorate it in the manner you wish. Stencils make it easy to create a quick design but you can also use paint markers, colored tape, adhesive jewels, stickers or other craft materials. In addition to the pot youll also need a popsicle stick - or craft stick - for each flower you want to make. Paint the sticks green and allow to dry.

Cut a block of Styrofoam to put in the bottom of the pot. Before placing it, wrap it with a piece of colored cellophane, gluing the Styrofoam to the cellophane. Now add some glue to the cellophane so you can affix it to the bottom of the clay pot. Pull the cellophane up so that it sticks out above the pot. Craft foam is really inexpensive and comes in a variety of colors. The foam is found at any craft store and is perfect for making flower petals and leaves. Cut flower shapes with pointed petals, ones with round petals - any number of different flowers. If you want, make large flower shapes, then smaller ones from different colors, and glue them in a stack. This will give the finished flowers more of a 3-d look. Glue a flower design to the end of each stick then use double-sided tape to secure a candy to each one. Use miniature candy bars, individual gumballs or jawbreakers, or even peppermint patties to make the center of each flower. Mix different candies in the bouquet or use all the same candies. Cut leaf shapes from green foam and glue one or two to each popsicle stick. Or, use plastic or silk leaves to create the greenery. In fact, if you want, you can mix some plastic or silk flowers amongst the foam creations for variety. After all the flowers and leaves are in place the candy bouquet is complete. However, you can give it a glitzier look by curling ribbon, taping it to skewers, then positioning the ribbons, here and there, amongst the flowers. Use holiday-theme cellophane, foam colors and candies to make potted flower pots for Christmas, Halloween or Easter. Or, use regular candies and gift the flowers for graduation, a birthday or other occasion. It makes the perfect gift every time!