mollie's mom: Candy Canes ( to replace Candy Corn!)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Candy Canes ( to replace Candy Corn!)

I've talked a lot about candy in this blog - corn and canes, that is- but I'm not really a sweets person at all. I love my salty snacks!

This was a little token of appreciation that I made last year for all of my volunteers at church. I make a donation to Murphy-Harpst Home in their honor each Christmas. This home in North Georgia is the last hope for troubled children ages 9-16. It is a beautiful facility and they do amazing work. My volunteers love the thought but I like to add a little something for them to enjoy during the holiday, too. These could have a yarn or ribbon loop and become an ornament or you could just eat them!!

I use two candy canes to form the base. I needed to make about 100 of these ( yes, 100, so this post could also be called "What I did on my Thanksgiving Break!!") The most economical material was a brown flat sheet from Wal Mart. That is my go to fabric for many projects - $5.00 for lots of fabric. I tore it into 1 inch strips and then wrapped the candy canes together (I was the person buying 20 boxes of Candy Canes on the day after Halloween last year). I think I used about 18 inches of fabric for a nice plump body. I hot glued the end but you could just tie the bow to hold it in place. I added a jingle bell, a pom pom nose and wiggle eyes with hot glue. If children were making these then Tacky Glue would work. I printed the Legend of the Candy Cane on a bookmark. On the other side I printed the note saying a contribution has been made in their honor.

Then I cut the tan envelopes on the diagonal and sealed them closed. I put a round Avery circle label on the front and stamped a cute little reindeer on the label. Added a red Sharpie dot for the nose and wrote the volunteers name on the label. I stamped "Joy to the World" underneath the label and slid Mr. Reindeer and the bookmark inside the envelope. Then the hard part - delivering them!!