Craft Tutorial: Candy Apple for Teacher

My son started pre-kindergarten today and, just as when my daughter went to pre-k, I wanted to send a gift for his teachers.  I was inspired by something I had seen on Pinterest, posted by Cute As a Fox blog.  I highly recommend checking out her tutorial as well for other ideas and pictures of the various steps.  As much as I liked the craft I did for my daughter, there was little she could do to help.  These are much easier to do with a child, so they can feel like the gift is really from them.

What you need
- red ramekin (I picked up a 3-pack at The Dollar Tree)
- red candies (I used gummy raspberries, but you could also use jelly beans, M&Ms, or any other red  candy)
- a lollipop (I used a red Tootsie Pop)
- plastic wrap
- a brown marker
- green ribbon
- spray adhesive (regular glue will work as well)

Directions
1) Color the bottom half of the lollipop stick brown.  This is a great task for the child to help with.  I marked the line and had him color in from the line to the bottom of the stick.
2) After the marker has dried (they dry pretty quick), lay out a square of plastic wrap.  I used about a 10" square (I guestimated, no need for a ruler).  You will then put 1-2 handfuls of candy in the center of the square.
3) Take the lollipop and place it in the center of the candies, stick side down.  Then gently poke the stick through the plastic wrap.
4) Carefully gather up the edges of the plastic wrap, forming a ball.  Twist the plastic wrap so that it is tight over the candy and then place it in the ramekin, twist-side down.
5) Cut a 3"-4" piece of ribbon (longer if it is a thin ribbon or if you did not color far enough up on the stick), trimming the ends at an angle.  Spray the ribbon with the adhesive and wrap it around the stick, like the memory ribbons, so that the ends are not stuck together. (It is ok if the ends stick together, they just look more like a flag, than a leaf.  The one on the right in my picture is done that way.)  If you have white stick to cover, wrap the middle of the ribbon around the white part and then stick the ribbon together, like in my apple with the light green ribbon.
6) We did not include name tags, but you could easily add one by attaching it to the "stem"  or around the ramekin.

Craft Tutorial: Candy Pencils

I saw these candy pencils on the Thrifty and Thriving blog and decided to try something similar for my Janelle's 3 new pre-K teachers.  Yes, I am still homeschooling my other children, and after this year, she will also return to being homeschooled, but we felt it was in her best interest to attend this pre-K program so we enrolled her.  Now, back to the tutorial.

These pencils make cute teacher gifts, but I also think they are just as cute for students.  In the original design, the other blogger used card stock and rolls of Rolos candy.  Unfortunately, the procrastinator that I am, I did not give myself enough time to go shopping for supplies and use what I had on hand or could buy at Wegman's.  This means I used construction paper and rolls of Mentos.  The other option I had was to buy a bag of individually wrapped Rolos and stack them together, but honestly, I did not feel like doing that, so I used the Mentos.  Plus, the fruit Mentos have a shiny pink wrapper that I used in place of the pink cardstock, to serve as the eraser.  So here is how I did it: 

Materials
1 roll of Mentos fruit candy
1 Hershey kiss (I used caramel filled because I wanted the tips to look like wood, but I think almond would have looked better)
1 sheet of yellow construction paper
a small strip of foil
1 glue dot
clear tape
black marker

1) I peeled off a small amount of the out wrapper of the Mentos in order to have more of the pink wrapper showing.  However, when I looked at the finished pencils, the eraser I like the best is the one with just a little pink showing anyway (the one for Miss Frenchesca).  So this step is optional.
2) Use a glue dot to stick the Hershey kiss on the opposite end of the roll of candy.

3) Measure your piece of construction paper to wrap around your pencil, ensuring that it wrap around the part where the Hershey kiss meets the Mentos, as this is the widest part of the pencil.  Also, you want to be sure to measue the paper long enough to cover where the Hershey kiss meets the Mentos, but not too long.  My lest favorite pencil tip is the one where I covered most of the Hershey kiss (the one for Miss Frenchesca)  Use regular scissors to cut the long side and pinking shears, or other zig-zag style scissors to cut the short side.  If you do not have zig-zag style scissors, regular ones are fine.
4) Write the recipient's name or your message in the middle of the paper with the marker.
5) Carefully and evenly, wrap the paper around your pencil and secure with tape running the length of the paper.  I started at the pencil tip and ran most of the way up to the top.  I left a small amount untaped at the top though because when you tape the foil on in a minute, that tape will cover the missed parts.

This is where you can really see the difference in using Rolos versus Mentos.  Rolos are slightly wider and therefore a better size match for the Hershey Kiss.  In order to have tapering pencils, I had to make them the same girth from tip to end, thus making my "eraser" look small.
6) Take a small piece of aluminum foil and fold the ends under or use scissors to trim off the serrated edge.  Wrap around the eraser end of the pencil, covering where the paper and the eraser meet. 

You are now finished and can present your gifts.  These did not come out quite as nice as I had hoped, but maybe I will continue to work on them for future gifts for the kids.  If I can figure out how to make them look better, I will be sure to update this post.