Giant Christmas Lollipops for Your Yard

Around Christmas we start seeing really large decorations in peoples yards. Giant blown-up snowmen and Santas are amongst the yard decorations on display at many homes. Those huge decorations arent all that cheap, but if you want one, you have to purchase it. Very few people are capable of making such a Christmas decoration. Large d?cor pieces are desirable outside so that others can plainly see them. Many of them cant be made by the average Joe but some of them can. One such decoration is a giant sucker. Youll often see the fake lollipops lining a sidewalk or driveway of a home nearby. The big lollipops are very easy to make; anyone can do it! Craft stores sell a huge variety of Styrofoam shapes that can be used to make assorted lollipops for your yard. However, some stores feature only the smaller versions of the Styrofoam disk. If your local craft store doesnt sell huge Styrofoam disks you can easily cut them yourself. Purchase a slab of Styrofoam and cut large circles to make the lollipops.

Youll find it really easy to cut the slab into circles if you use a serrated knife. Cut an old candle with it, to transfer the wax to the knife, and youre ready to go! The knife will slide right through the Styrofoam to give you the perfect circle. Use things like bowls or pans to make patterns for the Styrofoam. If needed, use a little sandpaper around the edges to smooth.

Decorate the Styrofoam by painting it in colors you would see on candies. Make sure you use tempera paints since they dont melt Styrofoam. Red and white stripes, butterscotch shades, red cinnamons - go online and youll find pictures of round candies that will help you decide how to paint the fake ones. Or, cut pieces of decorative paper - like gift wrap - or fabric to decorate the Styrofoam. After the Styrofoam is painted or covered with material you can then finish the lollipop. Push the end of a small-diameter dowel rod into the side of the lollipop to make a stand for it. Remove the dowel, fill the hole with glue, then reposition the dowel in the hole. Now cut a large piece of cellophane for each sucker. The cellophane is sold by the roll at most any craft store or retailer that sells gift wrap. Its available in a clear shade as well as many popular colors. Wrap the cellophane around the lollipop and use a piece of tape to secure it to the dowel rod. Tie several ribbons around the tape and curl them to hide the tape and create more interest. This step is optional. When purchasing the cellophane keep in mind the manner in which you decorated the lollipop. If you choose a shade of cellophane thats dark you might not be able to see the design through it. But, if you want to make a piece of candy with little effort, just wrap a red cellophane around an undecorated Styrofoam disk. When youre finished creating all the suckers you want simply push the ends of the dowel rods into the ground. These look great along a sidewalk or driveway but can also stand in a plant pot. The cellophane protects the design youve created so dont worry about damaging it.