Bubble Gum Necklace Tutorial

Any Dessert Fairy costume, like the one I made for the GISHWHES scavenger hunt this year, needs accessories.  And so I present the gumball necklace and earrings.

I have to admit, I'm in love with the bright colors, and want to make a non-edible version that I could wear all the time!

But for our Dessert Fairy costume, we went real-gumball, all the way.

I have an absolutely amazing candy store near me, Sweeties, so I was able to go pick out gumballs in various sizes, including my single giant green gumball.  A necklace made out of just one size of gum would also look adorable, and would make a great party favor, but if you have access to a nice bulk candy store, I really loved using the graduated sizes.

You'll also need a longish, sturdy needle (at least a bit longer than your largest gumball's diameter), and some sturdy thread (I like using button thread).

To make the necklace, simply thread your needle and start punching through the gumballs.  It was pretty easy, actually, and I didn't have a single gumball break while I was making the necklace.  Once the gumballs are strung, tie the ends of the thread together.  Be sure it's long enough to fit over your head, of course!  I didn't quite make it long enough the first time and had a rather dramatic gumball rainfall the first time I attempted making the necklace.

I also made a pair of matching earrings simply using a hot glue gun and basic earring findings.  I wasn't worried about longevity for this particular craft, so using a glue gun was plenty sturdy for my purposes.

The wand was an edible pressed sugar lollipop, covered in edible glitter.  The sunglasses were embellished with rainbow sprinkles and attached with my trusty hot glue gun.  I embellished the wings the same way, but don't have a good picture of those, sorry.

Don't the sneakers look like they're covered in rainbow sprinkles?  I got them at Target, and they actually have a tiny paint splatter design, but they really look like sprinkles from even a few feet away.  

The skirt was embellished with some easy cupcake liner flowers.  The wig was an inexpensive purchase from Amazon, but is much higher quality than your average Halloween wig.  I was very pleasantly surprised.

The tiara is made out of real rock crystal sugar!  All those years of being a tiara designer pays off sometimes.

All dressed up as a Dessert Fairy and nowhere to go?  Take a trip to deliver ice cream to some firefighters!  

Our dessert fairy is ready to join the squad.

Good thing the jacket is big enough to accomodate the wings!  But we did have to remove the tiara.

Thanks to GISHWHES for inspiring us to bring ice cream and whimsy to some of our amazing first responders, and getting our costume ready for Halloween in record time!