How To:Candy Making 101/Yummy Artwork!

I picked this title as we will be making candy...starting from scratch...the  thing is that the only ingredients you need are:some foam such as EPS, XPS, etc.  Otherwise known as styrofoam, it can be from packing containers, old coolers, insulation boards, etc.  Also, a hot melt glue gun is used for "frosting" and then the "candies" are painted with acrylic hobby paint, followed by a coat or two of acrylic varnish, gloss in this case. Let's get started.

I used my hotwire instrument for all of the cutting of my candy pieces. If you don't have one, it will be difficult to follow this instructable.  I published how to make one some time ago. See:https://www.instructables.com/id/Making-The-Mighty-Goliath- I didn't measure anything, just cut the styrofoam to the shape and sizes I wanted, used a little sandpaper but not a lot.  It's easier and cleaner just to use the hotwire to round off edges as you go. The glue gun adds the realism of "poured" chocolate.  Some acrylic paint and varnish and that's about it.

The pictures tell the story. Read the picture notes to see the explanations.  Several shapes/forms were made, from single pieces of chocolates, square and round, candy bars, pinwheel mints, candy corn, etc.

All pieces were rounded on the edges with the hotwire machine, with just a little touch with the sandpaper.  The foam pieces don't sand well, so is not advised if you have a choice.

To mimic the chocolate forms on candy, melt glue on the tops of the pieces.  It is easy to imitate the way chocolate is poured on to form ridges on the pieces.

I had a color called, of all things: chocolate bar.  I did try to lighten it for some pieces, but decided that wasn't necessary.  Other colors of brown, some off-white, and some pink are used to resemble real candy colors.  The hard candy pinwheels used red and green, and the candy corn is painted as shown.

Using acrylic varnish, the pieces are coated once or twice to give a high sheen.  Let dry and the project is complete!  Very easy to do, kids will have fun, and you have a nice pile of "candy" to tempt everyone's sweet tooth!

I wanted to be able to display my "candy" so decided on a piece that could be hung on the wall. I needed a plate, and had some handy (garage sale finds). To drill a hole in the plate, I used the glass cutting bit in a regular drill. It is slow going, but in time, the hole is completed.

Arrange the candy on the plate and glue using gorilla glue...this stuff is amazing, not so much for it's strength, but for it's ability to join two dis-similar materials.  Allow to dry, then your project is complete, ready to hang!

Pick a spot and hang new artwork.