This is a bit of a departure from my regular posts… thought the topic is mildly connected to food. Candy IS food, right? Maybe according to Buddy the Elf.
And my sister.
Admittedly, I’m not much of a crafter. That being said, when
I googled the cost floral leis, and did the quick math based on how many
seniors I have in my homeroom, I knew I needed to come up with a better option.
Money leis (yes, they're a thing!) are a big deal online, but they were also out of my price range, even if I made them myself. And, I don’t think the kids would be as impressed
with a Monopoly money lei...those colored bills might be cute folded into flower form, but they don't really hold up to real cash money. But even 18-year-old kids love candy.
So that's how I found myself in the candy aisle at Target for 45 minutes while comparing various kinds of candy based on wrapper color, dimension, flavor, and cost.
To construct the candy leis, I purchased a couple rolls of clear cello wrap paper, some curling ribbon, several bags of
prewrapped candy of approximately the same size (i.e. Starbust and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups), double-sided tape, and some grosgrain ribbon. I chose green
ribbon and gold curling ribbon because those are the colors of my school.
1. Cutting the Cello Wrap into Strips: The cello wrap I
purchased was a 40” high. So, I rolled the paper out on my dining room table
and cut the paper the length of the table (which is 60” square, so I knew I was
cutting the same length each time). So, with my first cut, I made a 40” x 60”
square. Then I cut the 60” cello pieces into 4 smaller strips by slicing down
the lengths the “hotdog” or landscape way. So I wound up with 4 rectangular pieces
that were 10” x 60” each. I did that several more to make as many leis as I
needed for my class.
2. Cutting the Ribbon: Then I cut the curling ribbon into 5” lengths. I cut twelve 5” lengths for each lei. I cut the grosgrain ribbon into 12” lengths and I cut as many of those as I needed (1 for each lei).
3. Prepping the Candy: I dumped the candy into bowls (mis en place style) to make it easy to put the leis together, assembly style.
4. Assembling the Leis: For each lei, I place one 10” x 60” piece of cello paper down. I cut 4 small ½ inch pieces of double-sided tape and set them aside by hanging them off the edge of the table so they were ready. I placed two pieces of candy starting about 3” from the end of cello wrap, spaced out about 1-2 inches. I found that 12 sets of 2 pieces of candy (24 pieces total) was the right amount for each lei. I positioned the candy about 1” from the bottom of the long end of the cello. Then, I rolled the cello over the candy and continued to roll, sushi style, until the candy looked like it was in a long skinny cello tube. I secure the tube with the four pieces of tape, spaced out along the tube so the cello would stay closed. Then, I tied the gold curling ribbon between each set of candy.
5. Finishing Touches: To “close” the lei, I brought the ends together, double knotted a piece of gold curling ribbon over the two ends, and then cut the excess cello. I curled each piece of curling ribbon and added a bow made from the grosgrain ribbon at the closing site to make sure it would stay together. And because it looks a little extra fancy.
2. Cutting the Ribbon: Then I cut the curling ribbon into 5” lengths. I cut twelve 5” lengths for each lei. I cut the grosgrain ribbon into 12” lengths and I cut as many of those as I needed (1 for each lei).
3. Prepping the Candy: I dumped the candy into bowls (mis en place style) to make it easy to put the leis together, assembly style.
4. Assembling the Leis: For each lei, I place one 10” x 60” piece of cello paper down. I cut 4 small ½ inch pieces of double-sided tape and set them aside by hanging them off the edge of the table so they were ready. I placed two pieces of candy starting about 3” from the end of cello wrap, spaced out about 1-2 inches. I found that 12 sets of 2 pieces of candy (24 pieces total) was the right amount for each lei. I positioned the candy about 1” from the bottom of the long end of the cello. Then, I rolled the cello over the candy and continued to roll, sushi style, until the candy looked like it was in a long skinny cello tube. I secure the tube with the four pieces of tape, spaced out along the tube so the cello would stay closed. Then, I tied the gold curling ribbon between each set of candy.
5. Finishing Touches: To “close” the lei, I brought the ends together, double knotted a piece of gold curling ribbon over the two ends, and then cut the excess cello. I curled each piece of curling ribbon and added a bow made from the grosgrain ribbon at the closing site to make sure it would stay together. And because it looks a little extra fancy.
Here's the finished product!
