I made some faux gumdrops for the mini Christmas village this year. They turned out really good and I'm super excited to see them in what I call the "Candyland section" of the village display. Here's a pic from the 2010 display. We lay down a styrofoam base, then add houses and accessories. Then we add snow.
Some folks might use real gumdrops for this, but all the lights get pretty warm and I don't want a sticky soup melting in my house. Plus, I cannot store really candy...that would be begging for a rat and bug infestation.
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| CopelandChristmas.com |
I used two ice cube trays, plaster of paris, acrylic paint, clear glitter, and sewing pins. It couldn't be easier and it definitely brought out my crafty side.
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| CopelandChristmas.com |
I mixed the plaster of paris per the instructions. I filled up the trays and let them sit overnight.
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| CopelandChristmas.com |
One of the funnest parts of the project was the EXPERIMENTATION at the beginning. Before I made the entire batch of gumdrops, I made a few, painted them, then glittered them to make sure I would like them. I quickly realized a few things.
First, filling the trays completely with POP, made the gumdrops a bit too large for what I want. So, I decided to only fill the trays 50%.
Next, it was a pain to paint each one, then set it to dry without smearing the paint off. So, I decided to try sticking a toothpick into each gumdrop after the pop set for about 15 minutes. I was really happy with the toothpick, but I wanted something that wouldn't ruin my styrofoam. Safety pins!!! I'm pretty proud I thought of this. It helped me paint and glitter them in a snap. Plus, the tiny little pinhole won't be noticeable in the styrofoam.
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| CopelandChristmas.com |
I used super inexpensive acrylic paint from Walmart that I already had. I mixed up different tones and had fun with it.
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| CopelandChristmas.com |
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| CopelandChristmas.com |
I think I'll use them to form little fences and borders around the village. I guess I could make gumdrop trees too.
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| CopelandChristmas.com |
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| CopelandChristmas.com |
2 comments:
Where did you get the ice cube trays you used?
Amazon... arrow small ice cube trays. It looks just like this.
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