Delicious candy crafts to make, not eat, this fall

Get creative with fall crafts, including some with food and candy. (Photo: Bee Felten-Leidel / Unsplash)

Halloween and Thanksgiving will look different this year – perhaps very different.  Because of a global pandemic, we need to be careful and creative about how we celebrate.

Mint wants to encourage more creativity – by recommending three arts and crafts that are created with candy. Pick up the necessary sweets at a community Halloween or buy it at a supermarket or dollar store. Make sure you buy enough to munch on as you are working.

These activities are not specifically for Halloween but they could work at a Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos, Harvest or other celebration too.

Create a wreath using gumdrops or hard candies. (Photo: Joyful Scribblings)

Gumdrop decorator wreath – This beauty works equally well for fall, for the December holidays or a birthday.  Step by step instructions on creating it may be found on A Pretty Cool Life blog. And remember, this wreath must stay inside; outdoors and the squirrels or birds will scramble away with a sugar high.

Soda can candy bouquet – This bouquet will look great on your table and also could be a delicious gift for grandma or a teacher or neighbor with a sweet tooth. So perhaps you make two, following these instructions by Miss Kopy Kat. She is a blogger named Gayle, and she buys everything at a dollar store. Figure on spending $10 or so to make two of these sweet bouquets.

Sugar skulls often sit on an offenda during Dia de los Muertos. (Photo: Morguefile)

Sugar skulls –  These traditions come from Mexico and Latin America’s Day of the Dead celebrations. Known as Calavera, sugar skulls often are placed on ofrendas, alters to ancestors.  They work best when made with skull molds and require 24 hours to allow drying time. Follow the video instructions created by Beth Jackson Klosterboer, of Hungry Happenings (with affiliate links). Or use the simple recipe and crafty kid-friendly instructions shared by Hola Jalepeno.

Of course, we  encourage you to paint your pumpkins or ghords and collage and mosaic your candy into temporary designs, then photograph them. Please tag @mintartistsguild on your candy / creative projects.

For more ideas, check out our Pinterest on Arts and craft ideas, including some Halloween treats like witches finger cookies.  (If you make these, save some for us. We will be by to chew on them!)