Mixed Flower & Candy Arrangements

Flowers and candy create the perfect combination for a festive floral arrangement.

The choice between flowers and candy presents one of the most stressful dilemmas facing men who don't dare go home empty-handed on special occasions. Flower arrangements sprinkled with sweets throughout offer a practical as well as beautiful solution. Creative floral designers find fun ways to pair flowers and candy together to fill orders for the thousands of customers looking for romantic and original gift ideas.

Stand-outs

"We combine Hershey's kisses with roses to create one of our most popular mixed bouquets," states Carolyn Mellon, co-owner of a flower shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hot gluing two kisses candies' tops together makes the candy resemble a rosebud. "We wrap green floral tape around the bottom of the "bud," then hot glue the bottom of the floral tape so it sticks out of the center of a fresh rose. Our Hershey's kisses bouquets fly out the door. They taste great and stand-out as something different. People remember these types of gifts."

Types

Only the imagination limits floral arrangement ideas with candy mixed in. Create an arrangement of candy wrapped in clear floral paper and housed in a container like a wine glass or happy birthday mug. Stick candy such as kisses, other chocolates or other soft candy on the blunt end of a bamboo skewer. Push the pointed side of the skewer into the floral foam in the flower arrangement. Hot glue candies onto a bow and attach the bow to the flower arrangement.

Impact

Creative and stunning mixed candy and floral bouquets create visual impact and make great conversation pieces. A floral centerpiece mixed with after-dinner mints offers an original way to say "thanks for coming." Simply hand the mint (or any other type of candy) and a flower from the arrangement to each guest when they leave.

Creating Art

Chocolatiers make an art out of decorative exotic chocolates, creating a bevy that look and taste great. Mixed bouquets can take their art one step further. Place decorated gourmet chocolates on the end of bamboo skewers at your next gathering, and mix them in with your floral centerpiece. Let your guests pick them off the bamboo skewers and pop them in their mouths after dinner for a mini-gourmet treat. Leaving guests with a visual as well as taste-arousing image of your gathering will create a lasting impression.

Themes

Flower designers also use mixed flower and candy bouquets to help carry out a theme, says Shirley Reeves, a floral supervisor at a New Mexico grocery store. She makes them for birthdays, Independence Day, anniversaries and other festive holidays.

Gather wrapped goodies and put several into a piece of "happy birthday" floral paper then tie them up with festive curly ribbon to make a bag. Let each guest grab their goody bag on the way out as a birthday thanks. "The best thing about these mixed bouquets is that people love looking at flowers and they love eating candy," says Reeves. "They get the best of both."

References

• Carolyn Mellon; Co-owner; Nesbitts Flowers and Weddings; Albuquerque, New Mexico
• "Flower Arranging"; Fiona Barnett; 2000
• Shirley Reeves; Floral Supervisor; Albertsons; Albuquerque, New Mexico