When my daughter Anna Belle was 16 months old and just beginning to toddle around, we had a Christmas tree in our kitchen, which had twigs with real gumdrops on them sticking out randomly from the tree. I began to notice sticky spots on my kitchen floor, but didn’t think much of it. Then I began to notice that some of the gumdrops were no longer sugar-coated, but looked shiny instead. One afternoon, I walked into the kitchen and found Anna Belle sucking the sugar off of a gumdrop, while drool ran down her little chin and onto my floor. I’ve loved gumdrops ever since.
Here’s a simple wreath project that features these sweet candies, and it makes a perfect door decoration for the Easter holiday.
Tools & Materials
• Scissors
• Needle-nose pliers
• Wooden toothpicks (107)
• Small gumdrops (140)
• Large gumdrops (120)
• 12-inch Styrofoam wreath with rounded edges
• Red gingham ribbon (30 inches)
Instructions
Step 1: With scissors, cut 47 toothpicks into thirds for the small gumdrops, and cut 60 toothpicks in half for the large gumdrops. Using needle-nose pliers, insert the ends of the toothpicks into the centers of the flat bottoms of the gumdrops.
Step 2: Insert the gumdrop toothpicks into the inner circle of the Styrofoam wreath. Alternate between the large gumdrops and small gumdrops.
Step 3: Begin randomly inserting the large and small gumdrops around the wreath, spacing out the colors evenly. Continue adding gumdrops until the wreath is covered.
Step 4: Loop the ribbon around the top of the wreath, and tie a simple bow at the top, in the same way you’d tie a shoelace.
Step 5: Hang the wreath on your door. (Be sure it’s high enough that toddlers and pets can’t reach it.)
Melissa Skidmore has been making wreaths for the past 23 years, since she and her husband bought their first home. She owns the Etsy shop DaisyMaeBell — named after her three daughters. This article is excerpted with permission from her book Beautiful Wreaths: 40 Handmade Creations Throughout the Year (Skyhorse Publishing).
