Starlight Mint Ornament – Holiday Ornament Exchange
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Except, well, because of global warming or something my Texas Christmas is more resembling an Australian Christmas. It was 80 degrees yesterday! What’s up with that?
A few weeks ago the lovely (and expecting!) Kelli from True Bias asked me as well as a bunch of other bloggers, many who you also know and love, to participate in an ornament exchange! So of course I was like, “yes please!”
We all made our own ornaments that we’re mailing to each other. None of us know what each of us are making so it’s a big surprise for everyone.
Let me just say that while coming up with my idea I nixed a few others because, as usual, whenever I come up with a good idea someone else has already thought of it and put it on Pinterest. I had to stop Pinterest-ing for a while because I was getting discouraged. No doubt my idea has already been made by others as well, and if by some chance another one of the participating ladies had the same idea for an ornament as I, well, then we’re both geniuses. 😉
Moving on, I don’t really like mint flavor, and I never really eat these things but for some reason my childhood memories are filled with these little Starlight mints. They remind me of spending Christmases with my grandmother and the iconic colors and shapes shout “Christmas” to me. So, naturally, I covered a ball in mints.
You will need:
- Starlight mints
- Styrofoam balls (These are 2 1/2″ size. I don’t recommend any bigger, the mints add a lot of bulk)
- A glue gun
- Some kind of wire (I used floral wire)
- Wire cutters
- Ribbon for hanging
- Scissors
- Clear spray sealant
- Ziplock bags
- And maybe a hammer…
This project is pretty simple.
Dab some glue on the back of a mint and stick it on the ball.
They ya go. Not so hard, right?
Now keep adding mints next to mints you just glued.
Hold each mint down for a few seconds to let the glue stick.
Soon you’ll have your ball covered!
If you get big spaces that can’t fit a whole mint, don’t worry. We’ll fix that next.
As you unwrap your mints you’ll no doubt have a few broken mints. That’s good. You can use those bits to patch spaces between mints.
If you need smaller pieces you can put them all in a ziplock bag and hammer the mints into tiny bits.
Glue and stick the broken bits in the empty spots.
If you’re making more than one ornament you can save this part for last.
Just fill in all the really big spots, all those tiny spaces won’t be seen from a distance.
Next cut a length of wire, about 4″, like in the picture above.
Bend to make a loop on one end that will hold the ribbon.
Wrap the short end around the rest of the wire.
Put glue along the wire and find a nice spot on the ball and stick the wire in.
Add some extra glue at the base of the loop for support.
Then spray the whole thing with sealant. I sprayed one side at a time so I could let the sealant dry. The sealant and mints can get sticky so make sure you spray on some plastic like a big ziplock bag, not paper towels. The mints can stick to the paper.
Finally cut some ribbon, I cut about 12″, and string it through the loop.
Make a cute bow and now hang it on your tree!!! They’re a little heavy but I have much heavier ornaments than these so it should be fine.
Thanks again to Kelli for organizing this! Now go see all the other cool ornament ideas:
Jen at Grainline Studio
Kelli at True Bias
Maddie at Madalynne
Megan at Megan Nielsen
Miranda at One Little Minute
Mika at Savory Stitches
Sonja of Ginger Makes
Suzanne of My Beau Baby
Love this one! You may actually have inspired me to purchase my first hot glue gun. These would look fab with any kind hard candy too if you wanted to change up the colours, but you’re right about those mints, they are particularly Christmasey.
you don’t own a glue gun? i think they have lots of relevant sewing applications – like re-attaching the pearl part of the pearl snap back on the snap part. which i’ve had to do before on a dress i own…
Cute cute cute!!! These are so much fun!
This is so cute! I love it!!
oh so pretty… you could have an entire tree of different candies… i’m loving this exchange series!
thanks, my boyfriend suggested i cover a ball in Nerds ’cause they’re one of my fave candies. I think jelly beans would be fun, too, and you could create fun patterns with different colors.
I want to eat your ornament!
Seriously! That was my first thought, too:)
Me, too!
Happy I was warned about the sealant — otherwise I may have licked mine.
haha, after working with these i realized you really have to use the sealant otherwise the mints will melt. lots of sticky fingers making these. 🙂
I love it! Plus I bet it is going to smell amazing. There is something so cute and retro about peppermint swirls. Can’t wait to get mine.
unfortunately, with the sealant you can’t really smell them, but they’ll last longer with the sealant, both because they won’t decay, and also people won’t try to eat them 😉
So cute Dixie! I LOVE starlight mints…so I’ll really have to exercise some self-control:)
A quick comment on the weather – Texas early winter has always been like that. I remember it snowing in the morning, raining by noon and clear by 3pm! Winter never seemed to settle until January, and then it was good and cold until early March or so. …Says I who now live in So California and we have NO seasons at all, except warm and not-quite-so-warm! 🙂
Dixie this is adorable!!! I never would have thought of using candy in an ornament – genius! and sealing it was so clever, that way it can last for ages! Can’t wait to use mine 🙂
meg xoxo
Such a cute idea and super festive! I love the way the mints shine in the light, so pretty!
Mmmm… candy! I love the way it looks next to the lights!
I love this idea! Way too cute.
Dixie, have you ever made a gingerbread house? I could see you doing this–it is soo fun. I always think I’m going to make this little cottage and it turns into a mansion of things sticking all over it.
I’ve only made one from a kit but I’d really like to do one from scratch and get crazy with it! I have this dream to re-create a to-scale architectural masterpiece out of gingerbread and frosting but i’ve never attempted it. 😉