No-Bake Gingerbread Houses for Kids GIVEAWAY!

I first met Lisa Turner Anderson in 1990, right at the end of sixth grade. We had moved into the house right across the street from her and we became fast friends. Fast-forward twenty years and now my dear friend has written a book of her own, and I couldn't be more thrilled for her!

Lisa's first book is No-Bake Gingerbread Houses for Kids. Have any of you ever made a gingerbread house from scratch? I have--years ago. It's a lot of work! You have to make the dough, spread it flat in a pan, use a template to carefully cut out all of the correct pieces, bake it, and let it cool and hope none of the pieces break--and all of that is before you even get to the really fun part, which is the decorating! Lisa's great book features 23 different gingerbread houses that don't require any baking, because they're constructed of graham crackers, cookies, and other things you can buy at the grocery store. You can let the Keebler Elves do all the work for you, while you concentrate on the the fun stuff!

Lisa agreed to do a little interview for us about her new book:

Heidi: What gave you the idea to write this book?
Lisa: I noticed there were no books on the market for gingerbread houses for kids. I also thought there had to be an easier way to make a gingerbread house. I had made the simple graham cracker one before, but I thought there had to be more you could make with graham crackers. So I started experimenting and using other things to build with along with graham crackers. I discovered there's a lot you can do with cookies, ice cream cones, etc.

Heidi: Do you have a favorite house?
Lisa: I have so many favorites! My favorites are probably the windmill with the gumdrop tulips and the tiki hut--those tiki masks were fun to draw. I also love the cabin because it looks so real and so cozy!

Heidi: Where did you buy the candy to decorate your houses?
Lisa: I started out buying a lot of it online, but then I discovered I could find most of it at the local grocery store, Walmart, the dollar store, and the candy store at the mall.

Heidi: Do you have any tips on working with royal icing?
Lisa: I prefer to make royal icing using meringue powder. It contains dried egg whites, so you don't have to work with messy eggs! 

Heidi: Since the book has been published, have you thought of any more houses you'd like to try?
Lisa: I've thought about making some more haunted houses based on movies--like the houses from Amityville and Psycho. I'd also love to do a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired house. I figure long, flat graham crackers would be perfect for that!

Ooh, I love the idea of a Frank Lloyd Wright graham cracker house! You can watch Lisa in action, showing how to make the Old Woman in the Shoe house from her book:

I have a signed copy of Lisa's book, No-Bake Gingerbread Houses for Kids to give away to one of you! To enter, please leave a comment on this post and tell me what your favorite Christmas candy is. This contest will be open until Friday, December 10 at noon MST.

An argument for the lost art of the handwritten thank you note

At my library, there's a section where you can purchase books that have been donated. I always check out the children's books for sale, because the prices are lower than the thrift stores and the books are generally in better condition. The other day I was checking out the new Christmas offerings when a card fell out of one of the books and fluttered to the floor. It was a handwritten thank you note, dated December 27, 1982 and because I'm nosy, I couldn't help reading it. I was so charmed by the heartfelt words that I swiped it to share with all of you. Yes, I stole a 28-year-old card from a book donated to the library. Arrest me now!

Here is the text of the note:

Dear Nancy,

Only a good friend would notice that my keys were ensconced in the same old ring that the car dealer gave me when I first got my car key. At any rate, I've never found a case or ring that I liked any better so I just held onto that one. Your gift is a real treasure--not only because it's heavy, large and easy to find in my purse, but also because it's a continuous reminder to me of the special friendship that we've developed over the past three years. For that, I am most grateful.


So, for you, most thoughtful friend, I thank you for my wonderful heart keychain, but most of all for being the good friend that you are.

Love,
Wendy

The note isn't fancy--the stationery is monogrammed but the words are just written in pencil. It probably didn't take long for Wendy to write but her words are heartfelt and sincere. I'm sure Nancy was delighted to receive such a sweet note from her friend! The sentiment was even charming to me, a stranger, 28 years later.

I know that etiquette has become increasingly less formal and handwritten thank you notes seem to be the exception rather than the norm now. It's certainly easier and quicker to dash off a 'thank you' via email, text or Facebook message--in 1982, Wendy didn't have those options! The words in an email can certainly be sincere, but there's just something different about getting those same words, handwritten on a card sent through the mail. In fact, maybe they are even more meaningful now, because they indicate that the sender went to more trouble to send an actual note rather than simply an email.

My Gram with a tiny newborn Maren

My Gram is a thank-you-note-writer par excellence. Her notes are prompt and she has a gift for expressing her gratitude is a most heartfelt and eloquent way. Unfortunately, my dear Gram is ill and I don't know how many more sweet notes I'll have the privilege to receive from her. I do know that one of the best ways I can think of to show respect and honor for her is to be more conscientious about sending sincere, handwritten thank you notes more often; to let people know that I appreciate them and that they are worth my time and effort. It's a small gesture, but one that in my opinion makes this world just a little bit more gracious and kind.

To whom could you send a handwritten thank you note this week?

Crafty Stuff: Button Ornaments

I've got my eye on January 4. It's a long time from now, but that's the day that Maren goes back to school after having been out of school for nearly six weeks. She is on a year-round schedule and her last day was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so she gets the three day Thanksgiving break, three weeks of standard off-track time and the two weeks for Christmas break all stacked together. I love my daughter and I enjoy spending time with her, but six straight weeks of zero Mommy-alone time during the day is enough to make me shed a few tears.

To keep us from going crazy, I'm going to try to have fun activities planned for us to do while Porter is napping. We have a new-to-us Christmas tree this year and it's a biggun'! I'll show it in another post when we get it all ready to go (it needs a new strand of lights) but one thing is for certain--I don't have nearly enough ornaments to fill all 8' of Tree-zilla. Let me be more specific: I don't have nearly enough unbreakable ornaments to fill my tree, so I thought Maren and I could get our craft on and make some fun things together. Ornaments for the tree + fun activities to keep Maren busy=killing two birds with one stone.

I looked through my files and found this cute Martha Stewart project that I'd saved from a while back.

Since I have no shortage of buttons

and plenty of pipe cleaners, I pulled them out while Porter was napping yesterday.

Basically, you fold a pipe cleaner in half and string the buttons on in increasing and decreasing sizes.They really were pretty easy, and Maren needed only minimal help. She loved digging through the bowls of buttons. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree on that count!

We made two Santas, a pair of cute snowmen, a red and white toadstool and a candy cane.

I have a lot of brown buttons so I'd love to make a reindeer but I don't have any brown or black pipe cleaners to use for antlers. I have plenty of white stems, so maybe I can think of a way to dye them. My favorites are definitely the snowmen!

I already have plans for more ornaments for us to make! I'm going to try to only use my existing supplies and not have to buy anything new. Since I could practically outfit a craft store with the contents of my closet and desk, I don't foresee that being too big of a challenge. Next up: sequins and styrofoam. Whee!

Mad for Plaid

I've been thinking in plaid lately. I believe I can trace it back to the basement of the TopShop at Oxford Circus in London, where the "vintage" department was filled with racks of plaid kilts and for the more sartorially adventurous, plaid trousers. Ever since then I've had plaid on my mind, specifically of the classic red and black variety with a bit of yellow and green thrown in for good measure.

A few plaids from my own collection:

Cute ballet flats from Payless

 

Thrifted vintage Kiltie plaid Thermos

Vintage 1970s Pendleton plaid wool cape

I'm wondering if my current plaid obsession will make its way into my Christmas decorating...

DIY Anthro-style butterfly plate

This pretty plate is from Anthropologie. A dinner plate will run you about $16.00.

Here's a similar one I made. I used a yummy antique plate that I found at an estate sale for 25¢ and a package of rub-ons that I received in a swap years ago.

It took all of two minutes to decide where I wanted the images and to rub them on and now I have instant artwork for my wall! The colors are perfect for my front room, and whenever I get around to finally hanging something the wall in there (we've lived here 6.5 years with nothing on the walls in there--I'm obviously afraid of commitment) this will make a nice addition to the gallery wall I've been planning. Not too bad for a measly quarter and two minutes of my time!

The Bad Parrot

Mary received a parrot as a gift. The parrot was fully grown with a very bad attitude and worse vocabulary. Every other word was a curse: those that weren't curses were to say the least, rude.

Mary tried to change the bird's attitude by constantly saying polite things. Kind words and playing soft music...anything she could think of. Nothing worked.

She yelled at the bird and the bird got worse. She shook the parrot and the bird got madder and more rude. Finally in a moment of desperation, Mary put the parrot in the freezer to get a minute of peace.

For a few moments she heard the bird swearing, squawking, kicking and screaming and then, suddenly there was absolute quiet. Mary was frightened that she might have actually hurt the bird and quickly opened the freezer door. The parrot calmly stepped out onto Mary's extended arm and said:

"I'm very sorry that I offended you with my language and my actions and I ask your forgiveness. I will endeavor to correct my behavior and I am sure it will never happen again."

Mary was astounded at the changes in the bird's attitude and was about to ask what had changed him, when the parrot continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

 I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn yarn wreath with felt roses

2010 seems to be the Year of the Wreath for me. Even though I'll be pulling out the Christmas tree on Friday, I was determined to get this autumn wreath finished so that I could display it for a few days at least.

I first saw this lovely wreath on the blog take heart back before Halloween. I've seen yarn wreaths all over blogland and I was struck by the gold, deep red and ivory color combination of Danielle's wreath. Yellow is not a color I'm normally drawn to but I just loved the warmth of the gold and the contrast with the beautiful russet color, so I decided to throw originality out the window and just copy Danielle completely! I purchased all of the supplies at JoAnn's while I was buying last-minute Halloween costume stuff, but there was one problem: when I got home, the golden yarn I had chosen looked too bright and along with the red, all I could think of was ketchup and mustard!

I meant to exchange the yarn, but my preparations and subsequent trip to London got in the way. I thought maybe I'd just give up and use the wreath form for another project, but last week on a trip to the thrift to check out the Christmas offerings, I found the perfect color of yarn so I decided to go ahead with the project anyway!

I've made a lot of wreaths so far this year, but this one was definitely the quickest and easiest. I followed Danielle's excellent tutorial so I won't retype it here. If I did this project again, I'm not sure I'd use a straw wreath form. I left the plastic wrapper on but it the wreath form itself was so lumpy! In some places the lumps were so bad I had to slit the plastic and remove the piece of straw underneath to get rid of the bumps. I've been using those extruded foam wreath forms all year and they're nice and smooth, so I would have preferred that look but I just wanted to get this one done so I used the straw.

I made my felt roses just like Danielle's and they were also really quick and easy to make. If you're curious about sizing, I used a circle almost the size of a whole sheet of felt to make the largest flowers. I had some green felt in my stash so I added a few leaves as well. I wrapped a piece of crocheted lace around the top to make a hanger and simply slipped the holes in the flowers over my hook to hang it!

This pattern would lend itself to a really beautiful Christmas wreath! What colors would you use?

Sartorial London

One of the things I remember from my first trip to London in 1998 was the difference between how the people there dress and how the people in my hometown dressed. People in London were far more fashionably dressed, and in general were much less casual and much more 'dressy'. That held true for this trip as well.

Because I knew we'd be walking miles each day and spending plenty of time in the (cold, wet, rainy, windy) outdoors, I dressed primarily for comfort rather than style:

Which of course meant that I totally stuck out as a tourist! I so wanted to blend in, but a periwinkle Mountain Hardwear windbreaker in a sea of black wool coats is pretty hard to miss. I saw so many pretty wool coats both in the shops and on the people and I have some cute versions in my own closets that I could have taken instead, but they wouldn't have had the windproof or waterproof qualities of this one.

For shoes, I knew that wearing white tennies is a dead giveaway that you're an American tourist. I don't even own white tennies except to exercise in, but I did have to find a pair of shoes in which I could comfortably walk miles. On my first trip to London, I took a pair of Doc Martens Mary Janes, which while cute, are not exactly known for being soft and comfy to walk in.

This time around, I bought these Clarks Privos in solid black and they were money well spent! They were incredibly comfortable and never once rubbed and I know I'll get plenty more wear out of them here at home. Towards the end of the trip my feet were tired, but only from being unaccustomed to being on them so much, and not because of my shoes. My shoes stuck out just as much as my coat did to mark me as an outsider--I never saw anyone else wearing anything similar on their feet. Nearly every girl I saw was wearing boots of some type; generally mid-calf, flat heel, black or brown. I've been looking for a cute pair of flat boots but I couldn't guarantee that those would feel good for the amount of walking and standing we did, so I'm glad I had my Privos.

For jeans, I purposely packed my pairs that had both front and rear pockets so I could stash my money/credit card/Underground pass in my pockets and not have to worry about what would happen if I lost my purse. I ended up keeping my little wallet in an inside zipper pocket of my coat, which worked out perfectly because I didn't have to worry about being pick-pocketed and it was so darn cold that I never really took it off! I don't have any dark wash jeans with pockets, so I had to take my medium wash boot cut jeans, another thing that made me stick out. The majority of the jeans I saw on girls were darker wash, straight or skinny and always tucked into boots.

To blend in with the crowds of London girls we saw riding the Tube and walking around the city, here's an example of what I could have worn:

London girl 1 by themerrymagpie featuring a check coat

Important elements: brown mid-calf flat boots. Skinny, dark wash jeans. Super cute long wool coat, scarf, and satchel. The coats we saw most often were black or gray or tweed, but this one was so cute that I included it anyway!

And because I clearly need more ways to waste my time on the Internet, I made another Polyvore set of the slightly more dressy London look:

London girl 2 by themerrymagpie featuring a blue skirt

Similar elements: belted gray wool coat, cute scarf, black flat mid-calf boots, black opaque tights, cute skirt. The satchel would be more realistic if it had a shoulder strap but this version was just darling--look at that bow!

In short, the most important elements of the silhouette are:

1. Boots. Mid-calf at least, sometimes knee-length. Mostly flat heels.
2. Skinny legs: skinny jeans, leggings or opaque tights, all tucked into the boots.
3. Coat: black, gray or tweed wool. Most often belted, frequently mid-thigh length. ALWAYS worn with a scarf.

Even though I was dressed practically and comfortably for what I was doing, I couldn't help but feel a bit frumpy. I totally understand why Becky Bloomwood felt such temptation--there are SO many shops filled with beautiful, fashionable clothes in London! I did manage to find my new favorite store besides Anthropologie: called Noa Noa, they're based in Denmark. The clothes definitely have a Scandinavian feel, were absolutely beautiful, and unfortunately for me, only available in Europe. They were not outrageously expensive if you could do a straight-across pound-to-dollar conversion, but once you added in the exchange rate, prices were pushed dangerously close to ~ouch~ territory. I bought a few things that are lovely and that I hope to be able to wear for a long time, but I'm still pining after these shoes:

Though at $190 + 3% fee for using my credit card in another currency + shipping from England, they might just have to remain The Ones that Got Away.

And now if you'll excuse me, I believe I need to go shopping for boots!

Home from London!

"No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, 
he is tired of life;

for there is in London all that life can afford."

-Samuel Johnson

I didn't get tired of London--but my feet were tired, I missed my kids and my husband and my suitcase was full, so I had to come home. :)

I got home Sunday at around 5 pm (midnight London time) and lasted until about 8:30 p.m. before I crashed, then I woke up at 2 a.m. (9 a.m. London time), bright-eyed and ready to go. Fortunately there were about 1000 items in my Google Reader so I whiled away the dark hours by catching up on what you all have been doing while I've been gone. I had to have a few short naps to get through the rest of the day but I managed to go to bed at a normal time and only woke up a little early this morning, so I think I've shaken my jet lag and I'm back to normal now.

I downloaded my photos this morning so I have a few favorites to share with you:

One of the reasons I wanted to go back to London so badly was because I spent a semester there in college in 1998, studying at the BYU London Centre. That was probably the most FUN four months of my entire life! I made lovely friends, saw amazing sights, learned lots, and didn't have to worry about a darn thing. It was wonderful, and I have so many fond memories of my time there that I still, 12 years later, have dreams that I'm in London. I was eager to revisit this happy place and curious to see how accurate my memories really were. In this photo I'm standing on the steps of the Centre, just before we rang the bell and went inside for a quick look around and to find my photo in the album of past group pictures. I was also tickled to find that my memories of the neighborhood are quite accurate and it looks very much the same as it did then.

On Tuesday night, my mom and I went to see Billy Elliot. We'd both seen the movie and liked it, and I liked the show more than I even expected. The boy who played Billy was excellent--it's got to be a lot of work to basically carry an entire stage musical at the age of only 12 or 13!

I'd really hoped to get some thrifting in on our trip--I was on the lookout for charity shops but I only found a few and we only went in one. I did find a great vintage store near the Notting Hill Gate tube station, up the road towards Portobello Road, and I purchased this little green pottery basket. It's by a Scottish maker I've never heard of--Govancroft--but it fits in perfectly with my other green vintage pottery pieces!

On Wednesday we took the train out to Windsor and spent the day in the castle. It was very interesting and we learned all about the Knights of the Garter. This is St. George's chapel at the castle, where the knights are all installed. This was the only clear, sunny (also FREEZING COLD) day we had the whole week and the afternoon light was so pretty on the chapel.

The other highlight of Windsor--my first visit to Cath Kidston. Linda, I thought of you the whole time I was there! It was hard to decide what treasures to bring home but I ended up with this adorable oilcloth Christmas apron and this set of tea towels in a perfect jadeite green. My mom bought a darling purse and I may regret not buying one too.

We loved Cath so much that we visited her store in Chelsea on Saturday, where we found this darling chandelier made of teacups and souvenir spoons.

On Thursday morning the weather was especially terrible, with pouring rain and gale-force winds. Then after a bit it cleared off, so we set out to the Tate Modern Museum and swung by St. Paul's Cathedral since we were in the neighborhood. Although the sun was out, another storm was on its way and the skies behind the cathedral were dark. Coupled with the bright sunlight on the dome, the effect was absolutely striking! We couldn't take enough pictures and I don't think I even captured the magic with my camera. It was breathtaking.

On Friday we visited the Museum of London, but I purposely planned our route to take us to King's Cross station just so we could visit Platform 9 3/4. We searched but couldn't find it (it's actually between 8 and 9, rather than 9 and 10) but my mom was brave enough to ask someone who directed us to it. We met another American Harry Potter fan there and took turns posing with each other's cameras. Thursday night was the big Harry Potter 7 part 1 movie premiere in Leicester Square, and we were within just blocks of it but didn't know! Too bad--we might have braved the crowds to see if we could have caught a glimpse of the movie's stars!

 

For this trip, we did something different--we rented a flat rather than staying in a hotel. Lodging in London is notoriously expensive and the one we found was more expensive than we'd hoped, but it turned out to be really wonderful and I think it was really worth the expense. It was right on Pall Mall, about a four-minute walk to the Piccadilly Circus tube station, a slightly longer walk to Trafalgar Square and just down the block from St. James's Palace. Across the street from our building were some of the most exclusive and hoity-toity men's clubs in London, including the Athenaeum. On the ground floor of our building was a business that sells superyachts, for the uber-wealthy for whom a regular yacht is just too dinky, I suppose.

Access to our flat was via five flights of stairs or the tiniest elevator I've ever seen. I think I've been in bigger phone booths! My mom and I barely fit at the same time, and whenever we rode I had a mini-panic attack from envisioning getting stuck in there, as most times we were entering or leaving the building in the morning or evening when nobody else was around. When we left with our suitcases we had to go one at a time and I had to send our bag of trash down by itself, because I would have had to carry it on my head to fit it into the lift with me and my suitcase and carry-on!

I didn't take as many photos as I had intended, a fact which I may regret later. Honestly, the weather was pretty yucky and gray and frequently windy and rainy--not exactly ideal photographic conditions, not to mention that it's hard to hold an umbrella and work a dSLR camera at the same time! I'll just have to be happy with the photos I took and hope that my memory holds up.

And couldn't Prince William and Kate have announced their engagement a week earlier? Viewing the aftermath of that would have been fun!

I'm off to London to see the Queen

This little blog has been quiet for a few days because I've been making lists like crazy and packing to get ready for my big trip to London! I leave for the airport in a few hours and my tummy is doing flip-flops--a combination of excitement and nerves.

My flight leaves around 5 pm and arrives in London at 9 am local time, which translates to 2 am my time. I'm hoping to get some sleep on the plane thanks to my little friend Ambien so I that I'm not a total wreck tomorrow--I'm only there for 6 days so I can't afford to lose any precious time to jet lag.

I'm taking my iPod touch with me so hopefully we can find some free wi-fi and maybe I can even post once or twice. When I get back I know I'll have plenty of photos to share and I'm determined to find some good English junk to bring home--wish me luck!

Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today

My hair's still green. Three days straight of going to bed with green hair will do that to bleached blonde highlights I guess, even if you use lots of shampoo. Wanna know why my hair was green for four days?

I'm finally living out my fantasy of having group Halloween costumes! It helps to have a husband who's willing to go along with just about anything and kids who are still young enough that I can talk them into dressing up the way I want. :) We decided a few months ago that for Halloween this year, we would dress up as characters from our family's favorite TV show, Phineas and Ferb.

The Mister was evil genius Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz

complete with a Nerf gun  "-inator"

I was Ferb

with green hair courtesy of a can of green hair spray paint (I looked forever for a wig but never could find one)

Maren was Isabella

in a dress made from one of my tank tops, a spray-painted vintage buckle, a wig and a homemade pink bow headband

And Porter was Perry the Platypus

in a costume that I conjured from thin air! Well, not so much thin air as polar fleece, felt, and a ping pong ball.

I actually made Porter's costume all by myself with no pattern and I don't mind telling you that I'm a little bit proud of it. I used an existing shirt and pants of his to get the size and drew my own pattern. I sewed a matching hood and attached two halves of a painted ping pong ball with painted eyeballs that pointed in opposite directions for authenticity. I used tan felt to make his tail and sewed across it in a crosshatch pattern with brown thread and pinned it to the back of his pants. The bill and feet were made from yellow felt and the bill was stuffed with batting. It was pretty darn hilarious and anyone who has seen the show knew exactly who he was supposed to be!

We got good mileage out of our costumes, wearing them for what felt like three days straight but was actually five separate occasions over four days. The only things we had to buy were my green hair spray, The Mister's lab coat (something we can probably use again or resell), a $6 Wal Mart wig and $5 white turtleneck for Maren (which she can wear this winter), the Phineas doll (since we ran out of family members) and the materials for Porter's costume (the hood & tail are detachable so he can wear the fleece suit this winter). It all turned out just exactly like I pictured it in my head and we got so many fun comments from people who knew who we were supposed to be!

Maren already told me who she wants to be next year, so I have a whole year to keep an eye out for the right pieces at the thrift stores--it should be fun!

Halloween 2009
Halloween 2008

Technical difficulties

I'm dying to show you all our Halloween costumes and tell you why my hair is STILL green, but darn it if I didn't run out of photo space on Blogger at the most inopportune time! I've purchased more photo storage space but it hasn't updated yet, so I still can't upload any photos. Don't give up on me--I'll be back as soon as I can!

House of 3 Halloween banner

I know we're in the final stretch toward Halloween, but I still have things to show you that I've made--this October has been almost unmatched on the level of crafting I've managed to squeeze in. One of my favorite projects was this cute Happy Haunting banner.

The banner pieces are actually a printable purchased from House of 3. The printable pdf file is only $4.00 and you get the images for both the small banner (seen here, the letters are about 2.5" tall) and the large banner (letters a bit larger than a playing card). And the bonus is that you can print as many of them as your little heart desires--use them for gifts, send them in swap packages (that's what I did), so it's really an economical little project.

To make my banner, I printed the letters on white cardstock and cut them out (I think this banner would look really neat printed on fabric too!). The original letters had a bit of brown shading around the edges but I wanted them to be a bit darker, so I used brown craft chalk around each letter. I hauled out my sewing machine and stitched them together along the tops, spacing them evenly. When they were all done I thought it needed a something more, so I sprayed the whole thing with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl. The moisture did make my letters curl a bit but I don't mind and I like how it's a bit blotchy. You can see a bit of the shimmer at the top of the N in this photo; it's subtle, but really pretty. If you wanted more sparkle, you could use glass glitter or Stickles glitter glue to accent each letter.

I punched holes in the end letters and hung them with black seam binding lace on the mirror in my entryway. I like how the colors of the banner match the colors on my antique oyster plates, silhouette coaster plates and the vintage group photo. It was a fun, easy project and this definitely won't be the last printable I purchase from House of 3!

Gummy Candy Kabobs

Dear friends, there are a few things you should know about me.
I love:
1. Candy
2. Festively colored candy that matches the upcoming holiday
3. Gummy candy
4. Food on a stick

So when I opened up the October Better Homes & Gardens magazine and saw this page, I about passed out. (I can't save the photo to show here and my scanner's on the blink, so click the link and go check it our for yourself. I'll wait!)

See what I mean? The gummy candy kabobs checked every box on my list up there, so I knew I had to make some for myself.

The best part for a candy freak like me was shopping for the candy, of course.

Sources: Wal-Mart for the orange slices, caterpillars, and peach rings, Target for all other candy. Blackberries and sour jelly pumpkins from bulk bins in Target candy aisle. Lollies and pretzel bags from Michael's. Not shown: Peeps ghosts, also from Target. (I tried to stay away from black licorice-flavored candies which made finding black treats a lot trickier.)

Some tips:

• If you use the pretzel bags, keep in mind how low you can push the bottom candy and still have it fit in the bag.
• Spray the skewers with non-stick cooking spray first; it helps the candy slide a bit easier
• Gummies with a layer of white marshmallow on the bottom (rings, frogs, caterpillars) are tougher to poke through. The worms were easier.
• The licorice I used was the Australian-style, which comes in all kinds of flavors (and hence, colors)
• For the top gummy, only poke the skewer halfway through so the pointy end doesn't come out the top.
• Peeps ghosts were darling on the skewers but just a smidge too wide for the pretzel bags to fit over easily, so it was a struggle to get them bagged neatly.

Aren't they cute? The bright colors and shapes are so fun and festive. Maren helped me pick out the candy for each skewer but she was a bit too young to make the kabobs herself. I would recommend this project for kids a bit older who a) have stronger hands and b) won't stab themselves accidentally with the skewer. Maren did help in checking the candies for freshness and quality by sampling them liberally.

When I was waiting in the checkout line to buy the pretzel bags at Michael's, I noticed these lollipops with long skinny plastic sticks and thought perhaps I could make candy kabobs on those as well. They were only 39¢ each so I grabbed three to give it a try. They actually worked really well because the candy slid easily over the slick plastic stick, and they already have the cute lollipop at the top. The ends aren't sharp, so for some of the tougher candies I poked a starter hole with a skewer.

Gummy candy kabobs would make a cute centerpiece for a party! For my photos I poked mine into a piece of floral foam in a crock that totally doesn't match--I was in a hurry and it already had the foam inside, so I grabbed it--but if I were doing it for a real party, I'd use a cuter container and hide the top of the floral foam under a layer of something like crinkled shredded paper. The BHG article suggests using a vase with jelly beans to anchor the skewers. The lollipop kabobs didn't work well for this application because after a little while the plastic sticks bent and they splayed out to the sides of the arrangement.

I'm kind of obsessed with this idea now and I want to make gummy candy kabobs for every occasion! Gummy and chewy candies are available in all sorts of colors, flavors and shapes and they make those Peeps for just about every holiday now. I'm having visions of an arrangement of skewers made solely of those great big gumdrops (last year's gumdrop craft) and I'm obsessed with the idea of making rainbow kabobs with a giant marshmallow at the bottom to act as the cloud. I have no occasion to make them for but I just think they'd be so pretty!

What occasion would you make gummy candy kabobs for? What kind of gummy or chewy candy is your favorite? Would it be wrong of me to plan an entire party around my rainbow gummy kabob idea? ;)