How to make edible and beautiful stained-glass candy Christmas ornaments

Kids will love making these edible stained-glass Christmas ornaments since it involves two things most of them love -- candy and melting stuff. As a bonus -- you end up with a pretty tree ornament that tastes good too.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A bag of hard candy in various colors
• metal cookie cutters or canning jar lids
• cooking spray
• baking sheet
• aluminum foil
• toothpicks
• oven
• ribbon

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees farenheit.

2. Get out a baking sheet, metal cookie cutters (with open tops and bottoms) or jar lids. Line with aluminum foil (as smooth as you can make it) and spray lightly with cooking/baking spray.

3. Get out a selection of hard candy. Clear candy with bright colors are best - like Jolly Ranchers - but you can include a few solid candies, peppermints, etc., for variety. If you wish you can put the candy in a heavy plastic bag and crush it into smaller pieces -- but it isn't necessary unless you're trying for a particular design.

4. 

   Arrange the candy inside your form in whatever design you prefer -- do not overfill - candy needs room to spread as it melts. Pop it in the oven for about 5-7 minutes -- leave the oven light on and let the kids watch them melt. Take them out when just melted or they bubble and the color gets muddy.

5. When they are still hot, you can use the tip of a toothpick to swirl the colors. While they are still warm (but no longer liquid) Use the toothpick, or a drinking straw to make a hole in the ornament for hanging.

6. 

   When cooled but not cold, carefully remove from the mold and peel off the foil. String a ribbon through the hole and hang on the tree.

Tips & Warnings

• Remove from the mold when still slightly flexible or they could break.
• You may want to wrap the ornament in clear plastic to keep it clean to eat later -- and make it more difficult for children and pets to get to (both the kids and the dog ate a few of these right off the tree last year).

[mayh3m]

on 1/9/2009 Excellent article! 5 stars!