My Crafty Christmas Tree

December 30th, 2008

I love crafts. Having said that I need to clarify this one small point. I really only love really easy simple fast crafts.

I am looking for maximum happiness and minimum time, fuss and mess. I have no patience and so it needs to be quick as I apparently have the attention span of a nat. (Or is that spelled knat?)

This is the faux farm way. Do it quick and easy, have fun, then move on. So here is my craft for Christmas. Luckily it is also my craft for Valentine’s Day with just a quick swap of the candy and shape of the foam. So consider this holiday to be your practice round.

YOU WILL NEED:

Meringue Powder. Get it at a craft store like Michael’s or A. C Moore in the baking section.

Confectioner’s Sugar. I forgot this and thank goodness my little sister has a well stocked kitchen.

A foam shape. Also to be purchased at a craft store. I use the cone shape for Christmas.

Candy. I also forgot this and had to buy candy at the local gas station mini- mart on Christmas Day as there was no other store open in the entire Syracuse area. You will be smarter and better prepared and will buy your wrapped candy a head of time. Wrapped candy is better than unwrapped for every reason you can think of.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO.

Follow the directions on the can to make the icing. Very easy.

Stick some icing on the bottom of the cone and stick it to a plate. Don’t worry – it will come off with hot water.

Slather the entire cone with the icing.

Stick all your candy on the icing in any design you like. Then just let it set -up and you are good to go.

Great for kids, moms and all people who need instant gratification. How crafty easy is that.

Feel free to cover the entire surface if you have enough candy.

Now for Valentines’ Day

If you had a ton of fun doing this then you get to do it again in February. It is a great class project for grade school kids. I got clay pots and topiary foam forms at the craft store. I stuck the topiary form into the clay pot with the icing as my glue. Then I followed all the above directions and used Valentine’s Day candy. The kids loved eating it as much as they loved dispaying their work of art.

On a side note, you will probably have extra icing. Do not eat it – it isn’t all that tasty. Just toss it out or it will just tempt you do do things that you shouldn’t do. We had extra icing and the kids were covering plastic cups with it. They had run out of candy (cause they ate so much during the making of the craft) so they were looking for other things to stick onto the icing. these were some of their ideas. I do not suggest the following foods be stuck on the icing. Interesting perhaps, but really not a good idea.