How to make a candy bouquet yourself

A candy bouquet is a gift that pleases twice: first it is admired, then it is eaten. You can tailor it to any occasion — add a card for a birthday, a little toy for Halloween, or a notebook and pen for Ukrainian Writing and Language Day (9 November). Here is how to make a sweet bouquet yourself.

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What you need

• Sweets in twist wrappers or round foil-wrapped chocolates — one per flower.
• Crepe paper: green plus 1–2 colours for petals.
• Florist wire (or wooden skewers) and green floral tape.
• A glue gun or double-sided tape, scissors.
• A base: a basket, box or pot with floral foam or polystyrene; wrapping paper and ribbon.

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Making a candy flower

1. Stem. Twist a 20–25 cm wire around the wrapper end or tape the sweet to a skewer. Don’t pierce the sweet — it should stay clean and edible.
2. Calyx. Cut a rectangle of green crepe paper about 8×12 cm, fringe one long side and wrap it around the base of the sweet.
3. Petals. Cut 5–7 petals (rounded for a rose, long for a tulip, wide for a poppy). Gently stretch the top edge to give it a wave like a real flower.
4. Bud. Glue the petals around the sweet, overlapping — the first one tight, the rest a little looser.
5. Tape. Wrap the stem with green floral tape from the base of the bud downwards, hiding all fixings.
6. Leaves. Glue one or two green paper leaves to the stem.

Assembling the bouquet

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Make 9–15 flowers. For a hand-tied bouquet, arrange them in a spiral like real flowers and tie with ribbon — see how to make a spiral bouquet. For a basket or box arrangement, push the stems into foam or polystyrene and hide the base with sisal or crepe paper. Fill gaps with leaves, small sweets or decorative greenery.

Useful tips

• Choose individually wrapped sweets: glue and wire should never touch the sweet itself.
• Chocolate melts — keep the bouquet away from radiators and sunshine, and use hard candies or dragées in hot weather.
• Tuck sharp wire ends inside the tape, especially if the bouquet is for a child.
• Consider the recipient’s allergies: nuts, milk, gluten.

FAQ

How many sweets do I need?

9–11 for a small bouquet, 15–25 for a lush one.

Which sweets work best?

Round sweets in foil or twist wrappers — they are easy to attach and look like buds.

How long does a candy bouquet keep?

Until the sweets’ best-before date, if stored somewhere cool and dry.

No time to craft? Ready-made candy bouquets with delivery in Kyiv are available from UFL.

Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.

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