Outdoor “CANDY”! A Christmas Decorating Idea

If you’d like to try making a whimsical outdoor decoration, this one is easy!  Hopefully, you have a Michael’s Craft Store near you where they have very large, lightweight, hollow plastic balls in stock for the holidays.  They remind me of over-sized ping-pong balls and come in different sizes.  They offer them in red, white & green colors.  I’ve been in their stores a couple of times this year and have noticed that no one is buying them and I think it’s because they don’t know what to do with them.  However, I have an idea for using them to create large, whimsical outdoor candy blow pops and I’ve included directions for you (below).  If you don’t have a Michael’s near you, just locate a party store or Dollar Tree and use rubber balls instead.

You will need: Large hollow plastic balls (Michael’s) or rubber play balls in red and green, wired ribbon, clear cellophane (the kind you wrap “gift baskets” with or use pre-formed “gift basket” plastic bags (Dollar Tree), PVC pipe (cut in equal lengths; I chose 3 ft. for my garden) to be used as the lollipop stands, large suction cups, strong adhesive, wired holiday ribbon, thin wire or pipe cleaners.

Directions: After securing each plastic or rubber ball to the suction cups (add glue to suction cup AND ball for more stability), glue the bottom of the suction cup to the top of each PVC length & allow to dry well.  Cut a large piece of the cellophane (large enough to cover the entire ball plus 8” extra).  Center cellophane over top of ball and secure all ends underneath the ball, around the PVC or wood stick, with a piece of wire or pipe cleaner.  Complete your holiday lollipops with a bow tied around the wire to hide it.  Repeat.  Hint: I used shrink-wrap bag & a blow dryer to suction the shrink-wrap to the ball only for a more air-tight design.