Peppermint Candy Topiaries featuring Lor from Show Tell Share {Handmade Holidays Project No.15}

Welcome back to the continuation of the Handmade Holiday Series featuring STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam. This week we are sharing a total of twenty five inspiring projects to create for the upcoming holiday season.

I’m pleased to welcome our fifteenth guest,
Lor from Show Tell Share

Add a sense of whimsical cheer to your holiday decor with Lor’s Peppermint Candy Topiaries. The larger sized STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam spheres Lor used gives these a grand appearance and makes them perfect for entryways. Please welcome Lor.

Some of my special childhood memories of Christmas center around holiday candy. Peppermint sticks and marshmallow Santas and those creamy bits of heaven called Lindt balls were stocking standards in our home. I would savor my stocking candy for weeks, trying to prolong the magical taste of Christmas. Santa always left Starlight mints for us among the cookie crumbs on his plate, and although I enjoyed them year round, those enchanted drops touched by The Man Himself always tasted special and different on Christmas morning.

Last holiday season my friend brought a peppermint-covered decoration to our girls’ craft night. The sight of her ball brought back vivid memories of Christmas-morning delight and crispy-coolness melting in my mouth. I knew I had to make some peppermint topiaries for my home as well! With her permission, I’m sharing my interpretation of her idea. Thanks Tiffany!

Materials needed:

10″ STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam sphere

6″ STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam cube

Pot or container for the base

Peppermint candies, about 4 1/2 11-oz bags

Red duct tape

1″ dowel

I painted my dowel white, since I wanted a cute, whimsical look to match the red and white candy.

Cut the dowel to 24″. Finding the exact center of the STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam cube, gently twist the dowel into the STYROFOAM™ at the center point until it is firmly embedded in the cube, approximately 4-5 inches deep. Secure the cube into the bottom of the container with hot glue.

To hide the white , I cut a piece of square cardstock to size and let it rest on top of the cube, cutting a hole in the center STYROFOAM™ for the dowel. Before gluing the dowel into the cube, twist the other end of the dowel into the STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam sphere, about 5-6 inches deep. Pull the sphere back off the dowel.

Using small strips of colored duct tape, cover the surface of the sphere. Be careful to leave the hole for the dowel uncovered. Smooth down any rough edges or wrinkles in the tape, and then glue the sphere onto the dowel.

With a glue gun, begin at the top of the sphere and attach unwrapped peppermint candies to the tape. Of course, you’ll have to suck on a few of the chipped mints as you work. Just remember that they won’t taste as good now as they will on Christmas morning. After the entire sphere is covered, spray generously with a polyurethane spray to keep the candies from becoming sticky or melting. Down in these parts we’ve been known to have 80 degree temperatures at Christmas time. That just feels wrong somehow.

I added green tinted glass gems to the top of my cardstock to give some extra sparkle, and a big bow for accent.

Depending on the length of your dowel and the size of your sphere and container, these Peppermint Trees would make a cute centerpiece on a table, a festive arrangement at the base of the staircase, or a welcoming display near the entry. As for me, my trees will be right next to the fireplace, waiting to welcome The Man in Red on his Christmas Eve visit.

Merry Christmas!

♦ For more inspiring projects and crafts ♦
visit Show, Tell, Share
Thanks so much Lor for sharing these fun and festive topiaries. With the variety of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam balls available these could easily be made in a number of sizes for a grand candy wonderland grouping.
I’ll be back in the morning with another round of creative projects to inspire your Handmade Holidays. For a review of all the previous projects in this series simply click the event button above ~ Enjoy.


The Handmade Holidays series is brought to you by
STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam made exclusively by The Dow Chemical Company.
More crafting ideas utilizing STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam can be found on their
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