Jolly Rancher Ornaments

I was really excited when I saw a craft in this months Better Homes and Gardens that I might actually be able to do and that would be fun to do with the kids - ornaments made out of Jolly Ranchers! (This would also be useful, seeing as how my children have managed to break quite a few glass balls over the past few years.) They made it sound soooo easy - just "spritz" a cookie cutter with cooking spray, fill half way with candy and bake at 350 for 7 minutes.


Well, two days, a ruined cookie cutter and a major laceration later I had successfully made ONE stinking star ornament (and a birdhouse). And even that one had to have a tip repaired. When jolly ranchers are melted then cooled in a shape with sharp points, it's like working with glass. Fragile and dangerous. And really kinda pretty. So we melted and remelted and twisted and shaped and came up with these abstract ornaments instead. And I can sleep easy at night knowing that no one is going to call me up to demonstrate this on national television.

Glittered Spiders

I've been dying for a reason to get some of Martha's glitter and she finally gave me one. Avery and I caught a few minutes of her show on Tuesday and decided that we would take on her Glittered Hurricanes project. Mostly we were enamored by the idea of transforming plastic spider rings into fabulous jewelery, but when Big M. (her prison nickname I'm sure) mentioned that her glitter line was 30% (until sat. 10/18) off we were loaded up and on our way to Michaels. We made the hurricanes (actually a round vase and a votive holder) and then glittered 100 spooky rings. Or should I say one of us glittered 100 spooky rings. A couple of us just enjoyed playing with the ultra-fine and now ubiquitous glitter itself. Boy are we sparkly.