Holiday Candy Crafting with Extra Gum

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and it’s advertiser. #GiveExtraGum #shop

The holiday season is here and as part of a sponsored post for Collective Bias® I was invited to create a fun holiday craft using Extra Gum. I was presented with the flavors: Peppermint, Spearmint and Polar Ice. Immediately I thought of the green color of Spearmint which then made me think of Christmas trees. Ultimately this lead me to the idea of making a candy house for Christmas!

I went to Walmart to pickup my Extra Gum for this craft and while I was there I walked around looking for more items to use for my candy house.

I bought graham crackers to make the house, cinnamon bits and peppermint candies to decorate the house along with a few sugar decorations from the seasonal aisle.

Now it’s time to get started. I made royal icing to use as “glue” on my project. To make your own, mix 1 1/2 tbsp meringue powder with 2 cups powered sugar and 3 tbsp water in a bowl for about 7 -10 minutes until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Then add it to a piping bag with a small circle tip. The first item I made was my Christmas tree. I used the Spearmint Extra Gum and cut it into small stripes. Then I took a pointed ice cream cone and “glued” the stripes in layers using the royal icing.

Then I used the royal icing to glue my graham cracker house together. This was the most difficult part of the project! At first I had plans to make a big house and my wall just kept falling down. While graham crackers are more accessible than gingerbread, it is not as strong. So I ended up make a smaller house, which was fine. I was happy with the way it turned out!

Next was the fun part – decorating! I bought pre-made sugar lights and Christmas characters such as Santa to use in my project. The whole scene is set on top of  a 12″ cake circle. I used the royal icing to add candies and the sugar lights to house, then used it to glue down the walkway and stepping stones to the board. I also added a small pond off to the side using the Peppermint Extra Gum and some cinnamon bit because I wanted that adorable little penguin to have a place to play also! Then I place a snowman next to the tree with some “present” around him. Lastly I sprinkled shredded coconut all around for snow.

Doesn’t it look great? It took one afternoon to make and was so much fun! My kids helped, we ate a few bites of candy while working on the project, and now we have a fun and festive holiday candy house that we can keep at home or give away as a gift!

 

 

 

As I mentioned above, I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and its client.