Whether you’re throwing a graduation party, a birthday party, or just having guests over for a special dinner you’ll really grab their attention when they see your fabulous table. No matter what foods you’re serving the item that will have everyone gawking is the fabulous bouquet in the center of the table. Not flowers, silly! Candy bars! There’s nothing lovelier than a vase full of everyone’s favorite candy arranged to resemble a vase full of flowers. It’s easy to create the scrumptious centerpiece but don’t be surprised if it gets plucked bare by your guests!
Choose the vase you’ll use for this craft. Don’t select a huge vase if you’re using small candies; don’t choose a tiny vase if you’ll be using giant candy bars. If you don’t have a vase you can also use a Styrofoam cone, a coffee mug, a quart-size decorated paint can or even a deep bowl. There are any number of things in your cabinet that can quickly become the holder for the candy bar bouquet.
If you’re using a tall tea glass as a vase you may not need Styrofoam to hold the candies, but if you’re using something like a bowl, it could be necessary to glue in a shaped piece of Styrofoam. This will be used to hold the various items in place. Now, let’s get started creating the bouquet itself.
Start with actual candy bars for the initial arrangement. Flat candy bars, like Hershey’s chocolate or chocolate with almonds, work great. Laffy Taffy is another good example of a flat-type candy. The flat bars often have a flap on the backside that makes it easy to attach a stick. Cut wooden skewers, or small dowel rods, to create sticks for the candies. Position the stick under the flap on the back of the candy bar and glue or tape down. Clear tape works great for attaching the sticks quickly and allows you to proceed without waiting on adhesives to dry. If there is no flap on the back of the candy simply glue or tape the stick to the backside of the wrapper.
After attaching the candy bars to sticks push the opposite end of the stick into the Styrofoam or the vase. Although flat-type candy bars work well you can actually use any candy bars for this project. After you’ve arranged all the candy bars in the vase you can then add additional embellishments that will complete the bouquet arrangement.
Curl ribbon pieces and glue or tape them to the ends of skewers. Push the skewers into the Styrofoam or vase to give color and excitement to the bouquet. Besides ribbon you can use fake jewels, silk flowers, foil shapes and more. Mix these embellishments amongst the candy bars to form a creation that definitely resembles a bouquet of flowers. Tape tiny candies, like hard peppermints, to the sticks as well. These little candies add interest and keep the entire arrangement from looking like just long, flat candy bars on sticks.
The small candies can be placed at different heights, and the same goes for all the pieces in the arrangement, to create the bouquet effect. Position some sticks to go out and away from the vase and place some candy bars where they just go straight up and down. Ones that go out and away from the vase should do so on both sides, as well as the front and back sides. Most of these should be positioned shorter than the central sticks.
Tie a large ribbon around the bouquet vase or holder. The bow will be the finishing touch to a beautiful bouquet of candy bars that all the guests will love. Place the bouquet in the center of the table and allow guests to select their favorite bar as they ready to leave. The candy bar bouquet is perfect for holiday tables or just to give as a gift to a graduate. Anyone would love to have one no matter what the occasion.
Get busy creating your own candy bar bouquet that will thrill and please the crowd. They’ll be talking about it for a long time to come and you’ll beam with pride every time they do! Share the fun with the kids and let them help. Just watch to make sure they don’t eat the bouquet before it makes its grand appearance!
