Happy Thursday everyone!  LuAnn here with a Hybrid tutorial and a freebie for SuzyQ Scraps blog readers!

Have you seen Suzy’s super sweet and adorable new release at Scrap Orchard?

Today’s tutorial (and freebie!) uses part of the collection.

Let’s get started!  Here’s what we’re making today (my apologies on the photo – I’m going to re-photo the mug a little later when the sun hits the kitchen side of my house LOL):

These candy bouquets are super easy and fun to make AND a super easy way to try Hybrid out!!

I’ve made these for Valentine’s day, birthdays and baby showers.   They make a gorgeous decoration on each side of the cake and then can double as the door prizes!

Supplies:

• SuzyQ Scraps candy bouquet printables – download the printables
• Regular computer paper or sticker paper (I always use sticker paper and prefer Avery white full sheet label paper)
• Bag of Hershey’s miniature candy bars
• Bamboo skewers (found in the kitchen supply aisle at Kmart, Walmart, etc near the spatulas/measuring spoons approx. $2.00)
• Mug or container of your choice (mine is from the dollar store)
• Floral Foam block, cut to fit snug in your mug  (purchased mine from a dollar store)
• Low temp Hot Glue and glue gun (again, from the dollar store LOL)
• Adhesive of choice if printing on computer paper
• Shredded paper to cover foam in mug (purchased mine from a dollar store)
• Pre-curled ribbons (Like those that you attach to gifts – I bought 3 curled gift bows for a $1 at a dollar store) – in my sample above, I used 17 of them.

1.  Print the labels provided above.  Let sit for about 15 minutes.  Cut labels.

2.  Center letter or image on front of mini candy bar and then wrap edges to the back of bar.  If using paper, wrap label around candy bar and tape to the back of bar.  Foil edges of mini candy bar will be visible when the candy bar is
wrapped.

Please note: there was a discussion in a professional crafters forum one time where it was mentioned that if you are creating food based crafts to sell, like a candy bouquet, the FDA prohibits covering the original candy wrapper.  Consumers must be able to remove your wrapper to see what the original product is.

In the interest of safety, I never use the Mr. Goodbar miniatures in my candy bouquets due to possible peanut allergies.

3.    Working quickly and on one candy bar at a time – apply a stripe of hot glue down the middle of the back of the candy bar.  Start at the top of the backside of the candy bar and apply the glue to the bottom on the backside of the candy bar. Making make sure the candy bar isn’t upside down on the skewer, lay a wooden skewer in the glue while it’s still hot.  Position the wooden skewer so that the tip is very close to the top of the candy bar, but not showing at the top.  This will give it more support when it is put in the mug.  Let dry completely.  Add skewers to the back of all of your wrapped miniatures.

4.  Fit your styrofoam block/shape to your mug/container.  You will want a snug fit.  I had to cut additional wedges of foam to make it fit snugly.  Apply some hot glue to the foam and cover the foam with some shredded paper, if you desire.  I did half of the surface, added paper and then did the other half.
But don’t use too much or it will be hard to push your wood sticks into the mug.

5.  Hot glue your curling ribbons to the bottom of each candy bar in front of the stick.  (Play around a little to see how you want the ribbon to look before hot gluing it in place)  I put curling ribbon on each skewer.   Allow to dry.

tip:  Sometimes I only put ribbons on the candy bars with the letters and leave the extra candy with the “picture” ribbon-less.  Once the ribbon-less ones are arranged in the mug, I pull other ribbons near them to make it pretty.

6. Arrange your candy bars in your mug/container.  I always start with the wrapped candy that will be in the center of the middle row – in this case the bar with the “C” on it.  See photo for reference.

Some of the skewers for the front of your arrangement will need shortened for placement.   The skewers on the sides of the arrangement will need inserted into the mug at a slight angle for a nice curved arrangement of the bars.  Play around until you are happy with the shape of your bouquet.

These bouquets can be created for $20-$30.  What new Momma wouldn’t LOVE receiving one of these while still in the hospital?

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial and the candy bouquet printables.  I’d love to see what you create with the printables so leave me a comment here if you do!

Happy Mother’s Day to you!

LuAnn here with my first blog post (and freebie) as a QT!!  To celebrate the day, I’ve made a printable card that is perfect for Mother’s Day but it’s also generic enough to use for other occasions too!

For the printable, I’ve used SuzyQ’s Sunshine kit and a paper from her Spotty Dotties paper pack that was part of her iNSD grab bag at ScrapMatters where she is guesting in May:

and here’s the printable card I created:

The flower part pulls out of the flower pot to reveal a place where you can write your wishes:

Isn’t it cute?  Click here to download the printable.

The file includes the pieces you need to simply print, cut, fold, glue and it’s ready to give.  Also included are extra flowers that you can add using a pop dot to give it more dimension.   Tie a piece of ribbon around the rim of the flower pot.

tip:  lay the insert on top of your folded flower pot so you can visualize where to use adhesive so that your insert fits inside your flower pot.

I added a little crystal to the center of my flowers for an added sparkle and used my scallop punch border on the lower edge of the piece that creates the rim of the pot.   You could use decorative scissors if you don’t have a border punch.  Don’t forget to ink the edges if you have an ink pad – this will give it some definition!

Hope you enjoy this printable card – if you have any questions about it, please leave me a comment below and I’ll get back to you!

Enjoy!  and Happy Mother’s Day!