I Saw it on Pinterest

To date, I have roughly 2.5 million things pinned on Pinterest (ok, ok. Probably closer to 500, but the point is...more than is necessary). I have tried many of the recipes, but not all. I pinned things planning on producing the end product, but then two minutes later I've pinned something else that just NEEDS to be made, and on and on and on.

I also have a board of crafts that are just waiting to be made. The other day I found a bag of peppermints hanging around the pantry and remembered a fun craft that I had pinned that would be perfect for about 15 minutes (the current length of The Little Lady's naps at the time. Don't get me started!) of fun with The Princess.

When I had come across the pin for a candy serving platter made by melting candy it brought back memories of making vinyl record bowls. Seriously, I don't think there was a fruit or piece of jewelry not placed inside a record bowl. I lived with sisters at the time, and for whatever reason we decided we were "crafty". Trust me we weren't, but we made candles, soaps, lip balm, bath salts, and of course record bowls.

Anyhoo, back to the present. The Princess was so excited while making this bowl. She enthusiastically helped me unwrap the candies, carefully placed them into a design, and then watched wide-eyed as the candies melted into each other. I thought her joy was a little much for the task, but when it was complete, I figured it out. She thought she was going to get to eat the bowl. I should have known.

The pin was for a platter, but like the record bowl, I didn't figure it could be that difficult to shape it into bowl. The process is very easy. Pick your candy and begin unwrapping. Then on a baking sheet lined with wax paper lay out your pattern. We started with a heart shape because I wanted to see how well the candy would maintain its shape for future projects.

Place baking sheet into 350 degree oven and turn on your oven light to watch the candy melt. Some melted very quickly, while others retained their shape for quite some time. All were melted at the 10 minute mark.

I pulled the pan out of the oven and let it cool for a minute to prevent a trip to the emergency room and then before it became too solid I peeled it off the paper and placed it inside a bowl so that it would form a bowl shape while it cooled.

If you aren't going to shape into a bowl, I wouldn't recommend peeling it off the wax paper until it has cooled completely. You can see in the picture where the heart lost its shape at the bottom as I was pulling it off the wax paper. It should harden into your shape if left alone. At this point The Princess revealed her motives and asked if it was going to burn her tongue. Right.

The bowl turned out pretty much as the pin had described. I was happily surprised that it had lost most of its stickiness by that evening, and was not tacky at all the next morning.

I also tried the same process with butterscotch and cinnamon candies. They melted faster than the peppermints and I don't think they were as easy to peel off the wax paper, but same end result. I have an idea for another candy I want to try. I'll let you know later if it worked or failed.

Also, these shatter EVERYWHERE when dropped. Ask me how I know.

Original pin here

Bryn