blast from the blog of christmas past

It's been a day of top menshies today. Not only did my hand(made)kerchiefs get a mention on Cuteable (thanks, Lynsey!) but my face popped up on Super Cute Kawaii! (thanks, Claire!). I always knew I was cute, but it's great to have it made official ;) Of course, the post over at SCK wasn't actually about my cute face, but rather about cute holiday distractions and there was a link to my sweet wreath chew-torial from 2008. I thought it would be nice to share it again over here for those of you who didn't visit this blog way back when, in the days when I was skinny and wore the same top I had on two days ago according to the picture... We've been making these wreaths every year since 2007 (we recycle the polystyrene centre, but freshen up the sweets) and I think it is the only bona fide Christmas tradition that Graham and I have evolved together. This year our neighbours said they know it's really Christmas when the gumdrops appear on our door. If you're super organised and have time to spare on Christmas Eve (about 30 minutes if you are a fast cocktail stick jabber) maybe you would like to make one for your door. Here's my original post to show you how.

On 16 December 2008 I said...
I think the festive gumdrop wreath is becoming a Christmas tradition in our house. Fun fun fun and very sweet, in more ways than one! I came across this idea on the internet a few years ago (I think from this lady?) but I can't remember where for sure, so here's my own little how to:

1. You will need...

... a polystyrene wreath, cocktail sticks (snapped in half, hence the splinter that's been bugging me all day), ribbon of your choosing and sellotape. I just put a few strips of sellotape round the baldy wreath where the ribbon will be tied to stop it cutting into the polystyrene. This festive baby is heavy once it's finished!

Of course, you will also need gum drops:

These are not always the easiest to come by here in the U.K. (what is it with making fruit pastilles etc. fruit shaped these days?) but I will share my insider's info with you... Morrisons stock American hard gums which are perfect for the job. I used six packets but Graham and I couldn't resist nibbling a few each and I think the wreath needed them more than our expanding waistlines. I'd recommend getting seven packets, just so you don't have to try quite so hard to resist munching.

What to do:

Stick the blunt (snapped) end of the cocktail stick into the flat base of the sweet and then stick the sharp end into the polystyrene. Keep sticking sweets into the front and sides of the wreath until it is pretty much covered. I should say the gaps don't look this glaring in real life but the flash showed them up.

Eventually you will get...

... a festively sparkling sweet wreath to hang on your front door! Then you can peek out at visitors like a strange little Christmas elf, as I am demonstrating here...

Last year one of our upstairs neighbours told me our wreath had made her smile every morning, which was nice to hear. Graham has been eavesdropping this year and has already heard the wreath love spreading among neighbours and visitors. It's Christmas! Yay!