One of my favourite holiday decorating themes this year is winter candyland.
I am really digging the pinks, blues and light greens.

 My goal was to have this theme in my very own living room - however financially it just wasn't the right time.  I really wanted a white tree and after researching how to paint an existing tree and finding a few used ones at the thrift store that looked like they had five layers of nicotine on them, I decided to put it off for this year. 

Then my employer announced an office decorating contest.  My competitiveness level rose. My mind ran with the planning the moment I saw another office put up their very first paper snowflake.  Things may have got out of hand, and I may have been called "bossy" once or twice, but our plan is in motion and I spent the entire weekend up to my elbow in paper mache pulp. 

Things kind of get a little crazy when I have a plan in my mind. EVILBOY wanted to help and it was fine until he put the second strip of paper mache on crooked, then it was game over for him.  Like I said, a little cray.

After a weekend of papering, painting, glue gunning and swears, I ended up with candies and cupcakes and lollipops...none of which are actually edible, but they look really sweet!

Cupcakes:

Materials:
Paper mache
Balloon
Disposable flower pot or flower pot covered in saran wrap
Tissue paper
Sparkly nailpolish
Paint


Optional:
Red fabric
Clear coat spray

These were so much fun to make and so easy (and cheap!).  Everything I needed for this project I had on hand which made it even more exciting.

1. Inflate a standard birthday balloon so it fits into the flower pot.

   I forgot to take a picture of the actual balloon in the flower pot...but this is the half finished product  - just so you get an idea!

2. Paper mache the balloon 
3. While the paper mache is still wet, dab tissue paper strips on top.  You want this part to be a little messy so lay the strips any way you'd like.  I swirled mine in some spots and went crazy..  It was kind of fun.  You will want to brush some of the left over paper mache liquid on the tissue paper edges to hold it in place. Put aside on a rack allowing all areas to air dry (mine took about 12 hours).
   
   
   
   
4. Paper mache the small flower pot.  Mine was plastic so once it was dry it was pretty easy to flex it and get the paper off.  You may want to saran wrap your flower pot to make it even easier. 
   
5. Once everything is dry, use a glue gun (my nemesis) to attach the balloon to the cupcake.  You may want to try to pop the balloon inside the paper mache, you don't have to but I find it gives it a little more cupcakey shape if you do.  I even smooshed ours down a little so it wasn't so round to give it more of a frosting appearance.  I also trimmed the top of the flower pot to make it a little less "flower potty". You may also want to add a little weight to the bottom of the pot or your cupcakes will end up a little top heavy. I added two pennies to each cupcake.
   

   Trimmed flower pot lined with hot (very hot-trust me) glue

6. The best part about this tissue paper method is that you don't have to paint the finished product.  However, it did look a little flat to me, and a test post on Instagram and Facebook had people asking what I was making, so I dug around through my drawers to find something that looked like sprinkles. I found a bottle of sparkle nail polish and it worked wonders on the cupcakes! Not only did it look like sprinkles, but it also gave the tissue paper a shimmery appearance which is what I was hoping to achieve in the first place. 
   
7. This step is optional:  I felt that the cupcakes looked a little bare without a "cherry" on top.  I searched Pinterest for an easy pom-pom tutorial and came across this perfect tutorial and I made my very first and very second pom poms for the top of my cupcakes!
8. Then I painted the "liners" of the cupcake on the bottom and allowed to dry.
9. They were finished off with a clear coat spray to give them some protection. 

Now you have beautiful little cupcake decorations that will brighten up the mood of any Scrooge around the office!
 

Wrapped Candy:

Materials:
Cardboard
Bowl/plate/anything round
Paper mache
Tape
Paint
Cellophane
Elastic
Ribbon


When I first imagined this winter candyland theme, these candies were the first thing to come to mind.  I had initially thought of gluing tissue paper to the sides to given them the wrapped candy appearance, but the cellophane looks a lot more realistic - like the little candies you get when you leave Red Lobster.

1. Trace your plate/bowl/circular object onto a piece of cardboard twice.  
2. Cut another strip of cardboard and make 4 little "spacers" that go in between your cardboard pieces and secure it all together with tape.
   
3. Once you have a solid candy structure, you can begin the paper mache process.  One thing I discovered is that you should protect your structure from getting wet by wrapping it in plastic before you paper mache.  My candies got a little warped from the moisture in the paper mache. I still think they are charming though, even if they did turn out a little lop-sided.

   You can see my little warped candies drying on the pot lid holder from my cupboard

4. Allow the candies to dry (mine took approx 24 hours). 
5. Be creative and paint your candies any way you would like.  I went with the typical candy design but spruced it up a bit with fun colours. I'm sure a red/white striped candy would look amazing, but it didn't quite fit the theme I was going for.  ...Next time!
6. Once the paint dries, you can spray with a clear coat for protection, although this is optional as they will be protected by the cellophane. I did clear coat mine because I already had to clear coat my cupcakes so it was no trouble.  
7. Wrap the candy in cellophane.  I rolled mine in cellophane twice. Gather the sides and secure with an elastic. In hindsight, the elastics did break a lot as I was attempting to get them on the gathered edges.  You may want to use scotch tape.  This part will be covered so however is easiest that can be covered over easily is the best way to do this.  
8. Once secure, you then cover the elastic (or fastener of choice) with a fun ribbon that matches your candy. 
   

 I had a lot of fun making these candies and I had most of the supplies on hand so I spent less than $10 (paint, cellophane, tissue paper - all from the dollar store).