Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Candy Treats!

  When I say Christmas is my favorite holiday, I mean that I listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies year-round.

Aaannd, as soon as my August birthday has passed, I'm ready for the merriest season of all!

Speaking of merry, Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer song has been around since 1949, but the movie was released the year I was born!

I can still remember watching it on our old, tin-foiled rabbit eared, tv set while Mama and Daddy made Jiffy Pop popcorn and me and my siblings were snuggled up in our flannel PJ's. Oh the memories! *sigh*

There will always be a warm place in my heart for Rudolph!
I hope my sweet candy version will melt yours.

**Remember to remove dragees before eating treats**

 To build our Rudolph, we will be using:

Mounds-snack size

Kit Kats-snack size

Mini pretzels-chocolate covered

Cherry sour balls

Fondant-red

Dragees-silver

Candy eyes

Chocolate candy melts (or chocolate chips)

Jelly Belly Beans-black

Using a sharp knife, cut pretzels and Mounds bars in half.

Roll out fondant and using a fondant cutter (or knife), cut out a scarf. Use the tip end of knife to cut the fringe for the scarf. 

Melt chocolate. Dip just the cut ends of Mounds and the tips of pretzels into melted candy. Gently press into the candy bar and hold for a few seconds.

Attach candy eyes and cherry noses..hehe cherry noses..with melted chocolate.

Time to mount the deer heads.

Hey! Nobody here thinks that's funny!

Attach deer feet (jelly beans) and scarves with the melted candy.

Ohhh! Such an en"deer"ing little face!

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, 
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it, 
You would even say it glows...
Rudolph!
 You'll go down in history!

Thanks for dropping by Sugartown Sweets!

And since we're only halfway through November, I'll just say..
Have a sweet Thanksgiving! Karen

Twix Candy Turkeys

As Thanksgiving sneaks up on me this year, I'm feeling incredibly grateful, thankful and all around blessed!

The same precious grandson that is still healing from his fourth surgery in as many years, has also been called to preach. I love his precious self and his willing heart for God.

Just a few more things I'm thankful for in anticipation of one of my favorite family filled holidays, with a few lines from a beloved song---->

"There's a roof up above me,
I've a good place to sleep,
There's food on my table,
And shoes on my feet,
You gave me your love Lord,
And a fine family,
Thank You Lord, 
For your blessings on me."

I'm also thankful that I get to have fun here @ Sugartown Sweets while you follow along with me!

I Love You All!!

Y'all wanna make a flock of turkeys with me?

So, my hunky hubby brings home this huge bag of fun size Twix. They are a favorite with the grandkids..aaand, since there were so many leftover, what better way to use them than to make turkeys with, am I right?!

Using icing leaves decorations, Airheads, candy eyes, and orange triangle sprinkles along with the Twix candy bars and chocolate chips, we can easily make these fun candy turkeys!

Y'all know that odd little turkey snood thingy?
Well it grosses me out! But not today, 'cause we're using cherry Airheads to make ours. Gobble, gobble!

Just snip off a piece of the candy and roll it between two fingers to form into a teardrop shape.

The chocolate chips are for melting and using as the "glue" to attach all our sweet turkey parts to our turkey body. Hmm..did that sound weird?

 Use a food safe paintbrush to generously add melted chocolate to the top back side of candy bar.  

Flip candy bar over and attach icing leaves. I rested the whole thing on a fork handle until the chocolate completely hardened.

I then attached the remaining candy pieces using the paintbrush and melted chocolate.

Ohh..I'm so cute, and tasty too!

Hey, can somebody pass the gravy please!

I thank you all for waddling over to Sugartown Sweets today
and I wish you a very blessed, sweet & 
Happy Thanksgiving, Karen  :o)

Happy Veterans Day!

Thank you to all our Veterans for your selfless service!

You are loved and appreciated!

Have a sweet day, Karen  :o)

My Turkey in the Straw Cupcakes Video Airing on the Rachael Ray Show!

I can barely believe it myself, but..my Turkey in the Straw Cupcakes are gonna be famous! Well, for 15 minutes at least! *wink*

*EDIT* My video has aired!! 

I'm not sure how long the link will be good, but I am sharing it here!

Click here to see my video as it aired on the Rachael Ray Show!! Did I really just say that?!
Life is sweet!  :o)

Wanna hear my story? Because I really wanna tell you!

I blog about sweet creations because I luvvve it. Nothing is quite so satisfying and just so dang fun as posting a new treat made right here in my candy kitchen, and then seeing someone has taken time out of their own day to comment on it! Squealing inevitably ensues..with a knowing glance and a smile from my su-weeet hubby!

He, along with my family and friends have always been so supportive AND such great cheerleaders.

My big sister, Donna, has gone a step beyond. And I have to say when she told me last year that she had emailed Ree Drummond and Rachael Ray, I groaned inwardly. 

Ya know, like I said, I really love creating and sharing sweet treats with y'all here on my blog. It's a safe zone. It's my zone. You visit me here because you want to. 

But to pester (for want of a better word) these busy, and very successful women, just made me kinda cringe inside. Especially when there are tons of others that are way more talented than I could ever hope to be.

With all that being said, I can not tell you how thrilled and excited I was to be contacted by the Rachael Ray show to make a video of my Thanksgiving cupcakes!

What an awesome opportunity. I only wish I had been more myself and not so nervous. But still, I hope you all can watch!

My (very short) video will air on the Rachael Ray show on Wednesday, November 9th!!

And so, here's a big shout out to my big sister Donna! Thanks D, I love ya!

To see my original post on how to make these Turkey in the Straw cupcakes, click here!

Thank you so much for stopping by Sugartown Sweets! God is better to me than I deserve!

Have a sweet day, Karen  :)

Celebrating Five Years with DIY Candy Candles!

 Has it been 5 years already?! Yes it has!

Today, October 31st, marks my 5th Birthday in Bloggyland..Bloggingdom..the Blogosphere!

October is a celebration month in our family for sure. My son, grandson, brother, brother-in-law, and my niece, all share tenth month birthdays! So this week has seen me baking cupcakes and more cupcakes and tomorrow on request, I'll be making my yummy
Coca Cola Cake! 

Meanwhile, back at Sugartown Sweets, I wanted something unique to feature for this momentous birthday occasion. So I put on my sugar think cap. Aha! I remembered something cool I had seen on youtube. It was a tutorial on how to make edible chalk. Click here for that cool video by The Caking Girl! 

The idea struck me that these could be made with colored candy melts and turned into candles. All they needed was a wick. Hmmm..

One Twizzlers pull-n-peel candy package later and I was in business! I love the way they turned out.

We had so much fun with these at my son's birthday celebration, and the kiddos thought it was pretty cool to eat the candles right off the cake! Let me show you how to make your own!

But first, let me tell you about my special birthday surprise! 

It all started last Friday when the grandbabies and I were hanging out at the house. My phone rang and seeing that it was from New York, I assumed it was a junk call. I was not going to answer it but decided to go ahead anyway.. I then had my sweet 2 year-old grandbaby say hello for me..TWICE!

I heard the lady on the other end asking to speak to Karen. Still thinking it was just another one of "those" calls, I grudgingly said "speaking".

Then I heard this--> "Hi! My name is Allie and I'm calling from the Rachael Ray Show. Did you send us an email a while back?"  I'm stammering "No..but I think my sister Donna did."

From there it got kinda blurry 'cause I was kinda freaking out and all. But I got the part where she was asking me if I would shoot a video of me making a couple of my treats that they could use on the show!! Really?! Yes!!!

So I..well, my video, is going to be on the Rachael Ray Show in the near future! But don't blink or you might miss it. It will be very short, like 1 to 2 minutes.

I will post an update when they let me know the air-date if y'all want to see it (just know that my stomach was all tied up in knots and I was crazy nervous)!
**update** My video making my, "Turkey in the Straw Cupcakes", will air on the Rachael Ray show on Wednesday, November 9th!! 

And that's my story of my sweet birthday surprise!

To make our candy candles, we'll need:

-Smoothie straws (because they have a larger diameter)

-Twizzlers pull-n-peel candies

-candy melts

-chop sticks (to remove candy from straws)

-Wilton candy decorating bags

Place candy melts inside candy decorating bags and microwave @ 50% power for one minute. Knead candy in bag and return to microwave. Melt candy at 50% power for 30 seconds kneading each time until candy is fully melted.

Don't be like me and get the candy too hot..'cause it WILL burn you! Ouch!

Cut the straws in half before you fill them.

Pour some sugar into a cup in which the candy straws will stand and set.

Snip off the end of candy bag and begin filling the straws. Make sure you fill it till candy comes out the other end. We don't want any air bubbles in our candles.

Smooth the tops of candy candles and place into your cup of sugar. Next, insert "wicks" and hold till set.

Let candles set till completely hardened. You can also pop them in the freezer for 10 minutes if you're in a hurry. I wasn't, so I didn't.

Trim the "wicks" on an angle.

 Ain't they purty?

 There will be some dried/hardened candy on the bottom ends of the candy sticks.

 Just gently scrape it off.

Now this, is the really fun part.

Using the thicker end of the chopstick, push candy from the bottom of straw while gently but firmly holding onto the straw.

Yes! There it goes!

And here you are! Colorful, fun candy candles all ready to go and help you celebrate the sweetest of life's occasions.

You all light up my life!

Have a sweet day, Karen

National Chocolate Day Marshmallow Pops

Happy National Chocolate Day!

There nothing quite so yummy as a chocolate covered marshmallow.

Unless..you add more chocolate!!!

I melted some Ghirardelli chocolate and stuck some marshmallows on sticks.

Them I dipped, dipped and dipped some more.

Let's coat these babies in some chocolate candy!

Total decadence..

You need more chocolate in your life!  :o)

Chocolate for breakfast? Yes!

My happy place..

If you're on a diet, I do apologize.   ;o)

 Have a Sweet Day, Karen

Googly Eyed Candy Pops

 These little g00gly eyed guys are simple to make and sweet to eat.

The perfect cooler weather and fall-time treat!

 "Eye" see you!

 You will need: marshmallows, black candy melts, black fondant, black sugar sprinkles (not pictured), and lollipop sticks.

I used a pair of food dedicated scissors to cut my marshmallows. If you don't have any, you can use a knife.

Wet your scissors or knife and cut through the middle of marshmallow.

You now have two eyeballs!

Roll fondant into balls and flatten to make the eye centers.

Melt candy melts according to directions on package. I used a cereal spoon and spooned a nice dollop of melted candy onto parchment paper. I then used the back of the spoon to swirl the candy into a circle.

 Insert lollipop stick and shake sprinkles to cover the candy pop.

Place the g00gly eyes onto pop with a dab of melted candy. Let set till candy hardens.

And remember..I'm watching you! hehehe!

Won't the kiddos just love these yummy and fun candy pops?!

Have a super sweet day, Karen   :o)