Decorative Fillers For Candy Bouquets

To add some more pizazz to your candy bouquets and/or

to cover up the foam holding up the skewered candy,

you might want to add a decorative filler on top

of the foam. Here are some ideas...

The easiest thing to add to your candy bouquet is 

basket filler. Usually this is thin strips of colored paper, 

sometimes crinkled, or it can be shreds of cellophane paper.

I don't know why but when I see the price on it in

stores, it gives me sticker shock. 

I finally did go ahead and buy some...it does go a long way.

Especially in the Spring, however, you can find 

inexpensive versions of basket filler...it's Easter grass.

Another name for basket filler is "decorative shred". The dark blue package at the top of the 

picture is some that came from Dollar Tree. I don't remember seeing it there before I got this package. 

If you think you might make some candy bouquets in

the future and you run across cheap Easter grass, go

ahead and buy it.  Some of the plastic Easter grass that

I got was too long for the small candy bouquets but

I just cut it in shorter pieces and it worked fine. 

The plastic purple and pink Easter grass needed to be cut into shorter strands. The blue paper Easter grass was fine.

Basket filler is shreds of paper or plastic and it can be

messy as the candy is being pulled out of the bouquet.

Either try not to think about it or use one of these other

methods of decorating the top of the bouquet...

Depending on the size of your candy bouquet, you can 

use full-sized or cut-sized tissue paper or paper napkins

to embellish the top. I call these "paper fluffs".

The term "paper frills" was already taken. That is the fancy cut paper on the ends of turkey legs.

On baskets you can use larger squares of napkins or tissue

paper. Pinch the square of paper in the center. Twist it up

for an inch or two and make a stem. Tape the stem.

Fluff the rest of the paper square up like a flower. 

If you are using a colored napkin that is two-ply and the backing is white, you might want to pull the white layer off.

Push the full-sized paper fluff between the basket and

the foam. You can make more fluffs to use in between the

candies to hide the foam if you want to. 

You can make smaller paper fluffs the same way. Just

cut the paper smaller.

This napkin was already printed in the exact size I needed...fourths. 

You can push these smaller fluffs in between the container

and the foam or tape the fluff to a toothpick by the end 

and push it into the foam to hold it in place. 

Paper fluffs made with red paper napkins cut into fourths, then taped onto toothpicks and stuck in foam.

To make a stack of tissue paper squares quickly to use in

making small fluffs, fold the full-sized tissue paper into

one square. Cut all of the edges off all the way around.

Viola'...a stack of tissue paper squares!

Pinch the center, make a stem, tape the stem.

Attach one or two fluffs to a toothpick if desired to stick in foam.

This same concept can be used with paper cupcake holders.

Don't worry about what the center of the cupcake paper is; it won't be visible. 

Another way a cupcake paper can be used is to

hide the foam in a small bouquet.

Full-sized paper napkins and squares of tissue paper

can add a decorative element to small candy bouquets

by being added to the container before the foam is placed.

Curling ribbon is also an easy and inexpensive filler.

Curling ribbon is thin ribbon with little ridges all along it.

To curl it, you pull the ribbon between your finger and

a hard surface. Most people use the edge of a pair of scissors.

The tighter you hold your finger against the edge, the

curlier the ribbon will be. For this application, you want

it really curly. These photos show white ribbon but you

can use any combination of colors that match your theme. 

You don't have to tie the ribbons together (but it does 

keep them from being a mess like basket filler).

 Here I tied together six pieces of curling ribbon (2-3

feet long each) in the center.

You can use as many strands as you want...the more ribbon, the fuller the end result.

Starting at the center, separate a strand of ribbon, hold 

the end toward the knot in one hand. In the other hand

hold the scissors sideways (not flat). Put the ribbon strand

 on top of the scissor edge and hold it down with your 

thumb. Pull the ribbon and scissors down the length to

the cut end. The pressure and pulling should curl the ribbon.

Here is one side curled...

...then both sides curled.

This picture shows examples of different kinds of fillers

used in the small candy bouquets.

From left to right...cupcake liners, tissue paper fluffs, curling ribbon and Easter grass.

Bird's eye view of the same little bouquets

You can buy the curling ribbon already done for you.

These orange and blue curling ribbon package toppers

came from the Dollar Tree (three bows per package).

One of each color was twirled around the candy.

With or without decorative fillers on your candy

bouquets, folks will love receiving them!

If you are coming by this page having not seen the

main post about candy bouquets, here is the link