Conversation Trees

 

I don't know about anyone else, but Conversation Heart candy is disgusting!  It tastes like chalk, is hard to chew and has no overall endearing qualities.  However, it is the iconic candy for Valentine's Day, so I thought it would be fitting to make a V-day decoration made out of the little suckers.  (As a professional photographer I feel I must make the disclaimer that it wasn't until I was almost finished with this project that I decided it was worth breaking out my big camera.  So you're stuck with iPhone pics for most of the following tutuorial)

 

Materials needed:

cone template

one sheet of white posterboard

can of spray expandable foam (optional)

7 small bags of Conversation Hearts

hot glue gun and glue

2 glass candlesticks (dollar store)

glossy white spray paint

 



 

Step 1:  Find your cones.

I don't know if you've priced styrofoam cone forms lately (or any styrofoam forms), but they are ridiculousy expensive.  I was fairly confident that I could creat the form on my own using a handy Pinterest link I just discovered last week.  I purchased and downloaded the template for the cones, assembled said template and taped it to my patio door (can you say instant lightbox?).  Holding my sheet of posterboard over the top of the template, I traced the two sizes I wanted (for this project I used Small and Extra Small) and then cut them out.   I was able to get both cones on one piece of poster board and the finished Small cone is about 18" high.  After I cut out the template, I rolled the cones and secured them with hot glue (read more about how to roll them when you purchase the download, she's awesome and gives you lots of instructions and tips for the perfect tree form).

 

 

Step 3:  Anchor your forms.

I really wanted the stability of a styrofoam form because I figured the candy would make the tree a bit heavy.  Also, I wanted to add a "trunk" (a.k.a. candlestick holder), and without something on the bottom or inside the form, there was no way that "trunk" would stick.  So, I bought some expandable foam at Walmart for $3 and sprayed those forms until they overflowed (which really wasn't necessary, it is expandable foam).  I had to wait overnight for the foam to cure before I could trim off the bottom.  Loving husband pointed out that when I trimmed it I would probably find voids in the foam.  Uh....why did nobody tell me that!?  *sigh*  Needless to say, he was right.  I trimmed the foam in the morning (in between loads of laundry) and found huge voids.  To the point that the foam was entirely worthless (with the exception of giving it some stability).  I ended up taping some cardstock to the bottom of the cone and then used my trusty hot-glue gun to adhere the glass candlesticks (which I had spray painted a glossy white) to the tree form. 

 

 

 

Step 3:  Decorate! 

This is the best part of the entire project.  It's also the most time consuming.  This will take you hours.  Hours.  I found it relaxing.  But it's not for everybody.  Run a bead of hot glue about 3 inches in length around the base of the tree form and stick on your hearts.  I didn't follow a pattern, with the exception of making sure I didn't do like colors together.  But there's only so many colors and so many sayings in a bag, so you're going to have colors and sayings that match right next to eachother.  It's unavoidable.  You want to make sure your first row is about halfway below the base of the tree form.  You'll see less of the form. 

 

 

Enter my big camera!  Makes a world of difference, huh?  Just continue to add hearts to your tree.  Make sure you begin each row at the seam on the back side of the tree.   You will find that some rows will require half a heart.  I didn't want those on the front of my tree, so I made sure the when the row ended with a half heart, it was on the back.  I used kitchen shears to cut the heart in half.  You can see why you need white posterboard as opposed to the neon or even primary colors.  The posterboard will show through the hearts and you want it to be understated.  The hearts are the statement, not the posterboard.

 

 

Like I said, these two trees took about 7 bags of Conversation Hearts (I bought the small $1 bags at Walmart because they were actually cheaper per oz. than the large bags).  About 2 1/2 full sized glue sticks.  And lots of Pepsi.  But, they're adorable!  I thought about adding a ribbon onto the candlesticks, but the more I look at them, the more I love the simplicity of them.  They turned out just like I wanted them to!  I will be making more this coming weekend with the hubby's sisters, Mom and Aunt, and I think I will still use the foam.  It definitely gave it more stability.  But, I'll need to add a bottom. 

 

Incidentally, even my 2-year-old daughter tried to eat these suckers.  She begged for "just a couple" and once they were in her mouth, they were promptly spit back out.  Heh heh.  Guess I was right.  The only thing these hearts are good for is decoration.  Oh, and I still have that cone template taped to my patio door.  Happy crafting!