Enter the candy topiary, the perfect way to display a fun and colorful decor element. To get an idea of the wide variety of topiaries already out there, I did a quick search on Pinterest for candy topiary and came up with a few excellent boards. My favorite is this one:

Candy topiary Board on Pinetrist

This board clearly showcases how you can use almost any type of candy to put a topiary together,

Gummy Ring and Gumball Topiary

Starlight Mint Topiary

If you're wondering how you can make one of these visually tasty treats yourself, you're in luck. No, I'm not going to post a tutorial today, because there are numerous tutorials online about how to make candy topiaries. I found one that showed how to make this really nice looking starlight mint topiary. The tutorial can be found on the blog at bystephanielynn.com.

You can try this one, or you can use the same techniques to make other variations. Either way, it's sure to be fun!

Enticing Invites:

Of course, candy-themed party invites are a must.  Don’t spend ages perfecting your confectionary stationary: simply create invites with different colour paper (with the party information printed on top), cut into a circle and affix onto a large lollipop stick. Tie with ribbon and voila!  If you don’t have enough time to create your own, this fab Etsy shop owner will do all the hard work for you, for a small fee.

Hello Houston candy fans, Bulk Candy Store going is on the road again – destination – Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. We will be hauling several hundred pounds of your favorite candy to this sweet location.

Have you had the pleasure of  going to this show? Then you know it is not to be missed. Never been? Then this is the year that you need to go! The artist line up includes Toby Keith, Blake Sheldon, Bruno Mars, Mary J. Blige and many more award winning artists. Plus, there will be candy!

Bulk Candy store would like to sweeten your trip to the Rodeo by giving away tickets for 2 to  3 lucky winners. How do I enter? – I am glad you asked. Use the nifty widget below – Liking us on Facebook = 2 entries; Follow us on Twitter = 2 entries; Tweet this giveaway =  3 entries; Leave a comment (How many pounds of candy will Bulk Candy Store have at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo) = 4 entries. The winners will be selected on 2/24/2013 and will be notified by e-mail.

Please note, winners must be avaliable to pick up their tickets in person at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. Good Luck!

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January 1, 2013 was a big day for us at Bulk Candy Store. It was the day we moved from our 6000 sq. ft. warehouse into our new 17000 sq. ft. cash and carry candy retail space. We were super excited – now we were more than an online retailer – our local customers could now walk in to our warehouse, peruse the candies and shop to their hearts content.

We were in our new location for about 3 weeks before we got our new sign – for me, this was the icing on the cake!

It was about 10:30 am when Brian pulled up in his bright red truck carring our new sign. (Note to self – add bright red truck to bucket list) The sky was grey, and there was a slight drizzle, so I thought that we would have to postpone the the sign installation. But neither rain, sleet nor snow was going to stop us.

We quickly unloaded the vibrantly colored "Bulk Candy Store Cash & Carry" sign. ( I was in the way, but I was too excited – I did not want to miss any of the action)

The old sign was a source of confusion to our customer – it belonged to the old proprietor, I am guessing his name was Sy.

Before…

Going…

I watched intently as the 2 men from the sign company carefully hoisted the sign into place.

Going…

After a few intence minutes, our new sign was in place – no more Sy's…

Gone!

I would love to paint the sign pole a brilliant red and yellow – the team is mulling that idea over. I will keep you posted! In the mean time, head over to Facebook and check out our Grand opening photos! And feel free to stop by our new store – 235 N. Jog road, West Palm Beach, FL 33413 – You are gonna love it!

BTW – you can still shop online at www.bulkcandystore.com

On February, 9th 2013 Bulk Candy Store will be opening their new cash and carry warehouse to the public. Since our customers live all over the world, some of you will not be able to attend the Guaranteed to be fabulous event. We do not want to exclude anyone, we would like to give all candy lovers an opportunity to join in on the festivities and win some free candy.

So, here is what we are going to do. We are going have an online contest where our customers in the USA will be able to enter to win one of 10 super sweet S.W.A.G Bag busting with candies and fun foods.  The winners will be announced on Monday, Feb 11th – we will notify you via e-mail. We will ship the winners their S.W.A.G the week of  Feb.11th. 

If you are one of the lucky candy lovers who will be hanging out with us (in person) at our 17,000 square feet warehouse, you could win a 27 pound Giant Gummy Bear!. And yes, we've got lots of free prizes for you as well, plus some sweet discounts for the shoppers.

Here's how you enter – Use the nifty widget below – Liking us on Facebook = 2 enteries; Follow us on Twitter = 4 entries; Tweet this giveaway =  5 entries; Leave a comment (what's your favorite candy) = 2 entries.

Now, Lets do this thing!

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The Christmas holidays are over and you have several pounds of left over candy canes. What to do, what to do? Valentine's day is around the corner and since it's another 'red and white' holiday, we can upcycle our left over candy canes in to crafty valentine's creations. I scoured the corners of the internet and found a few ideas. I will share some of my favs.

C.J over at Food Stories Share a Candy Cane Sugar Cookies recipe on national Candy cane day. Imagine filling a gift box with crushed candy cane and burying these cookies in the candy. How delightful!

I think that Ice cream is a year round treat – be it hot or cold, everyone should have a scoop of icecream at least once per week.

Deborah Harroun at Café Zupas Blog agrees. Check out her recipe for marshmallow peppermint sauce. Serve it to your valentine over ice cream – yummy!

Or, you can take things a step further and make delicious peppermint ice cream form scratch – This recipe will help.

Valentine's day is about hearts – look at what you can do with with candy canes!

To create the work of 'heart' above you will need the following:- 
Candy melts or melting wafers
Lolly pop sticks
Sprinkles
Leftover candy canes in pairs
Microwave safe bowl
Wax paper.

Hop on over to http://www.littlebitfunky.com for the how to.

This next idea is not exactly valentine's day related, but it is so cute, I had to include it in this post.

Pizzazzerie.com posted a super cute tutorial on how to make a peppermint cupcake stand. How absolutely creative!

A few more candy cane ideas

1. Stir your hot chocolate, hot coffee/late or hot tea
2. Stir your cocktail
3. Make your own reception sticks by snapping off the hooked end and dip the straight piece in the chocolate of your choice.
4. Candy Kebabs (spear marshmallows and roll them in sprinkles or other crushed candies).

Hop on over to the http://thecraftyhostess.com for additional ideas.

Feel free to share you ideas with me in the comment section.

St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, includes remnants of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. Have you ever wondered about who Saint Valentine was, or how he started this romantic ritual? One legend tells us that Valentine was a priest who lived in Rome during the third century. Roman Emperor Claudius II had just outlawed marriage, because he believed that single men made better soldiers than those with families. Saint Valentine continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine killed.

Other stories tell us that Valentine may have been killed for helping Christians escape horrific Roman prisons, where the inmates were often beaten and tortured. Some people believe that St. Valentine fell in love with a young girl (who came to visit him in jail) and that he sent the first “valentine” greeting to her that he signed  “From your Valentine”. Although the details of each folktale vary, the main idea or theme is that St. Valentine was a hero that expressed sympathy with commoners and that he considered romance an important part of life. By medieval times (approximately from the 6th century), St. Valentine was one of the most admired saints in England and France.

Why do we Celebrate Valentine's Day in February?

Some historians believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial (which probably occurred around A.D. 270). Others claim that the church wanted to replace the obscure Lupercalia activities (also occurring in mid-February). Lupercalia was a fertility festival that involved stripping goat hides, dipping them into blood, and then slapping noble men and women with the goat hides. (At that time, people thought that this ritual would make them more fertile in the coming year.) At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day, in order to replace the observance of Lupercalia.

Originally observed only in the English royal families and the nobility, Valentine's Day was celebrated by the masses around the 17th century. People from all social classes universally exchanged small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. Ready-made cards became available due to the improvements in the printing industry and technology. The first mass-produced valentines in America were sold by Esther Howland in the 1840s. Known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” Mrs. Howland created sophisticated cards with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap." Valentine's Day is now celebrated in the U.S.A., Canada, Mexico, England, France and Australia.

Giving Candy for Valentine’s Day

Around the turn of the century, many new candy-makers sought to make the most of Valentine’s Day. They took heart-shaped satin boxes and filled them with chocolates and candy roses. At first, only wealthy people could afford to buy these gifts. Then, in 1895, new production methods drastically reduced the cost of chocolate manufacturing, allowing Milton S. Hershey to make his chocolates affordable for everyone!

Although chocolate is still the number one favorite candy purchased for Valentine’s Day, other popular candies include the tiny pastel candy hearts inscribed with romantic messages (commonly called “conversation hearts”), gummy bears (or gummy hearts), coated candy hearts, and heart-shaped lollipops.