For Sophie’s birthday party, I decided to make a Dum Dum topiary. I got the idea from this post on dollarstorecrafts.com. I thought it’d be neat to sprinkle some Tootsie Roll Pops in there because I like those. π Here’s what it looked like:
From April 2010 |
A few things about this craft. For one, when I looked back at the post that inspired this idea, I clearly got too big of a Styrofoam ball to make it. I tried to get a ball that was proportional to my container. This means that I ran out of candy when making it! Also, once I sent Rick to the store to get more candy, I still ran out! So the topiary had a bald spot, seen here:
So yeah, it used way more candy than I thought it would. I just tried to turn it so that you didn’t see its bald spot. Mistake #2 was that I tried to outsmart myself. I didn’t want to get a dowel because I’d have to cut it to size and also the dowels are unfinished. Instead, I bought a pack of plain colored pencils in the dollar section of Michaels. Well, the pencils really weren’t long enough, or thick enough. So I taped two together with an overlap a little bit. This was an ok fix. It probably would have been better if I’d added a third or fourth one, but it worked.
Mistake #3 was that the cute little Pooh container that matched Sophie’s high chair decorations for the party was not heavy enough. I needed to at least put something heavy in the bottom to counterweight that heavy ball of candy on top. So the topiary was a little bit tipsy. But again, it worked well enough.
In spite of these mistakes, I think it turned out really cute and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again! Just next time I can learn from my mistakes and make it better. And maybe now someone else can learn from these mistakes too.
That is pretty awesome, Jess, despite its first-time foibles. π
Thanks! I think it actually turned out pretty cute in spite of its flaws. π And I still have a ton of candy leftover. I brought it all to work and left it on my desk for people to grab as they walk by.
We wouldn’t have known about the flaws if you hadn’t written about them. π
True. But I hoped to help others who may want to make a similar craft avoid the mistakes I made.