Gum Drop Trees and Wreaths

Happy Monday Everyone!  I CANNOT believe that this week officially kicks off the holidays.  Today I have another idea for you if you want to get a little jump on a few Christmas crafts.  

Several years ago at our church we had a Christmas-themed Girl's Night Out.  Different ladies shared ideas for beautiful gift-wrapping, traditions to start with your family, baking, and decorating.  One sweet friend who is a decorating guru shared these gum drop projects that she had created, and I had to rush right home and make some!   

I purchased some styrofoam cones and gum drops (they usually have buckets with red and green only) from Hobby Lobby and started hot gluing.  This is a super simple project, it just takes a little bit of patience to glue each piece on.  

I display these in my children's bathroom along with a sled full of plush Boyd's Bears that I used to collect.  They're just too cute in their little knitted sweaters and hats!

I also bit off a bigger project that year, I made a gum drop wreath for each child's door.  I used an 18" styrofoam wreath form and covered the front and sides.  This actually took quite a while but I worked on it a little at a time while watching tv in the evenings.  Beware...this size is HEAVY once you get it  completely covered.  

You will see a lot of this by the time you are finished!  I bought bags of multi-colored gum drops at Wal-Mart for $1 each.  I believe I used 6-7 bags per wreath.

This is probably my fourth year to use these.  I bought a few XL ziploc storage bags that I seal them in and just store them in the attic.  No bugs have bothered them and they've really stayed in pretty good shape.  I usually just have to reattach a few pieces that may have fallen off each year when I get them out.  

Give this project a try!  The kids really enjoy having a special wreath on their door.  They could even make some with you, you just may want to attach the gum drops with toothpicks broken in half rather than using the hot glue around little fingers.