Jelly Bean Topiary Decorations

Decorations

Materials for jelly bean topiary:

• 4 inch clay rose pot (a rose pot is taller than a regular pot)
• white acrylic craft paint
• a 5/8″ dowel
• a saw
• green acrylic craft paint
• paint brush
• a box of toothpicks
• wire cutters
• a 5″ white styrofoam ball
• plaster of paris
• jelly beans (I used Jelly Belly brand)-about 200 pieces or a 1/2 lb. of lime, about 50 pieces kiwi, 10 pineapple, 40 bubblegum, 40 cotton candy, and extras to put in the flower pot
• some plastic wrap or wax paper

Directions for jelly bean topiary:

1. Give the clay pot a coat of white paint on the bottom and sides. Leave upside down to dry.
2. Carefully remove any stickers from the ball’s plastic covering. Wash the plastic covered ball with dish soap and dry. Using the wire cutters, cut some toothpicks in half to have a hundred or so pieces to start.
3. If your first coat of paint is dry, turn the pot over and paint the sides again and halfway down the inside.
4. Insert the pointed, not cut, end of a toothpick into each of the 10 pineapple jellybeans. Don’t put the cut end into the beans or some bits of wood may splinter off and stick inside the bean. Push the pineapple jellybeans into the ball somewhat evenly spaced over its surface. These will be the flower centers. (You may need to poke through the plastic with an uncut toothpick so as to not press too hard on the jellybean.)
5. Insert toothpicks into 8 pieces of one of the pink colored jellybeans. Use these as the flower petals around a yellow pineapple center. Repeat to create 10 flowers on the ball.
6. Give your fingers a break and see if the clay pot needs another coat of paint.
7. Begin filling in around the flowers with the green jellybeans. I used 1 kiwi for every 4 lime. Cut more toothpicks as needed.
8. When you need another break, cut a 14 inch length of dowel with the saw. Place a scrap of cardstock or plastic in the clay pot to cover the hole. Pour enough plaster of paris into the pot to fill it about 2/3. Add water and mix with the dowel. The plaster should be thick. Place the dowel upright in the center of the pot and let the plaster harden.
9. Keep filling in the ball with the green beans. Leave a space to attach to the dowel stem.
10. When the plaster has hardened (at least 30 minutes), center the ball on the dowel. Press the ball down firmly so about 2 inches of dowel is in the ball. You may need to cut through the plastic first.
11. Remove the ball from the stem. Paint the dowel green. While it dries, add the last few green jellybeans around where the ball and stem meet.
12. Put the ball on the stem when the paint has dried. Line the pot with plastic wrap (or crumpled wax paper to fill in if needed) and top off with left over jellybeans.

By Gum Drops and Truffles

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Decorations