Lollipop Ornaments

Last year, I made little felt mice with pipe cleaner candy canes as ornaments for my daughter's kindergarten class. This year, I made felt lollipop ornaments. They are fairly easy to make, and once you have the "candy" part done, your kids could help you glue the ornaments together.

The first batch I made were with two colours. My local dollar store does not have a huge selection of felt, so I ended up making lollipops that looked more suited for a baby shower than for the holidays. My kids liked them, though, and that is all that matters. The second batch was made with three colours, and had more of the swirly lollipop look to them. My daughter is partial to these ones as they are "multicolore".

For each pair of felt sheets, I was able to cut out enough strips to make 8 lollipop heads. The strips are just over 1cm in width. It is not important if they are even throughout the strip, but try to cut them as straight as possible. When you roll the strips up, keep one side level. You will attach the popsicle stick, ribbon, and backing felt onto the uneven side. I used white glue to stick everything together. There is probably some better crafters glue out there. I used what I had available in my house.

I rolled together four strips of felt, alternating the colours to create the swirl effect. Two strips does not make a very big head, and five or more strips become difficult to roll, and keep even.

I have seen designs where they make sure the outer strip of felt is the longest, but I liked the staggered look. I glued each of the strips down, and let it dry. I cut circles out of an additional piece of felt. I glued the ribbon to the popsicle stick, then glued the stick, and ribbon to the head of the lollipop. Then, I glued the felt circle on top to secure everything. I let them dry with some heavy books on top to ensure it was all stuck together.

You can paint the popsicle stick with stripes, and add a bow at the base of the candy head. I left the sticks "au naturel", and had my daughter write her name on it. I wrote her classmates' names on the other side of the stick, along with the date. The idea is for these to be keepsakes. I am not sure how long the glue will hold, but they are relatively easy to fix if they start coming apart.

I made some candy heads with three different colours of felt, but still using four strips.

The cost of the project is relatively low, if you buy the riboon at the dollar store. Felt sheets are around $0.40 each. To make 18 ornaments, I spent $3.75 on ribbon, $1 for the popsicle sticks, and $2.50 for the felt sheets, plus tax. I could have spent less on the ribbon, but bought three different colours. The most tedious part is trying to line up the edges of the felt strips for the good face of the lollipop candy.

And, there's an easy gift for your child's classmates. I included a chocolated coated pepermint marshmallow in a gift bag, and my daughter passed them out to her class this week.

Posted with Blogsy