Christmas in November #6--Sugared Fruit

I have always wanted to do this project and never had the time to figure out the logistics of it. I have always admired those sugared fruit displays in the floral departments of the craft stores but could never afford to purchase them. Maybe it is the Victorian in me or maybe I have been watching too much Downton Abbey but I finally had some time on my hands to figure this out--Sugared Fruit

Materials Needed

Sugar (I used Domino granulated sugar in 4 lb bag)

Food Coloring (I used McCormick Liquid Food Coloring)

Ziploc Double Seal Bag

Toothpicks or skewers

Spray Adhesive (I used Scotch Super 77)

Spray sealant (optional)

Foam Fruit (I bought mine from Michael's)

Assembly

To make colored sugar, place 1 cup of sugar in a resealable bag. It needs to be a large sturdy bag (I used the gallon freezer double seal storage bag. The zipper bag works well too.) Add 15 drops of food coloring (I used liquid food coloring rather than the gel coloring. I found that the liquid coloring was easier to work with and distributed color more evenly). Seal the bag. Massage the sugar and coloring until all of the sugar is colored. Add more color as needed to get the results you prefer.

Colored Sugar

To prepare the fruit, take a toothpick or skewer (you can use a unfurled paper clip as well) and poke one end of the fruit. The primary purpose of this is to give you a handle to manipulate the fruit while using the spray adhesive and sugaring.

Take one fruit and spray with adhesive ensuring an even coating. Immediately place the sprayed fruit in the sugar to coat. Set aside to dry. Complete for all fruits. Duplicate this process until you get the coverage you seek.

Spray with acrylic spray sealant to keep pests away (and to prevent sugar loss similar to glitter loss)

Skewered fruits

Notes:

I used two coats of adhesive/sugar for each set of fruit.

As with anything spray related--lighter and more coats of spray/sugar are better than thicker coats. The sugar will get gummy/clumpy when the adhesive coating is too thick.

I used coordinating colors for my project but I think that different colored sugars could make this even more special.

If you are worried about pests (ants, etc) being attracted to your fruit, be sure to spray with a sealant. It will also prevent some of the sugar from falling off.

These will be displayed in a fruit bowl and as part of a holiday wreath.