I spent this afternoon making a gumdrop wreath.

I learned a lot. If you think you may want to make a gumdrop wreath, I have some helpful suggestions to make your experience more pleasant than mine.

1. Buy at least 60 oz. of gum drops for a 10-inch wreath. Otherwise, you’ll have to drive back to Hobby Lobby for more. On a Saturday before Christmas, there are few busier places on the planet than Hobby Lobby. There are closer stores, but you want the same size and brand to preserve uniformity. Nothing screams Amateur! more than irregular gumdrops. Then again, nothing is more amateurish than a gumdrop wreath. If you can’t sew, cook, knit, floral arrange, bake, paint, sculpt, crochet? You can stab candy with little sticks.

2. When you insert the halved toothpick into the styrofoam, don’t use your thumb and forefinger. It’s amazing how fast blisters will pop up. The good news is on the way to Hobby Lobby, it occurs to you that it would be more pleasant to put the toothpicks in the foam with needle-nosed pliers!

3. Do not let your 3-year-old and her imaginary friend, Golden, help. Golden will need a snack. She prefers white gumdrops above all other colors. The 3-year-old will load a sandwich baggie with white gumdrops while you are busy halving toothpicks and gazing at your new blisters.

4. It’s heavy! Reinforce the styrofoam with masking tape where you wind the wire for the hanger.

5. Decide where you will hang it before you go to all that trouble. I made my wreath and then thought to myself: Now what? I walked around my house looking for places to hang it. I tried the kitchen, but it seemed to get lost. Bathroom? Over the washing machine? I settled on the front porch, which means tomorrow I fully expect to see a plain white styrofoam ring hanging by a sad green wire. Squirrels. We’ll see.

The tutorial that inspired me is here if you want more official directions. My only quibble is it suggests 3 pounds of gumdrops. No! I used almost 4.5 pounds on the wreath. The remainder was gobbled by children, real and imaginary.

It was somewhat fun to make. I am very proud of the finished product, which makes the silliness of running out of gumdrops and nursing blisters worth it in the end.

If you want to see Martha Stewart’s rendition of a gumdrop wreath, click here.

Golden approves, so her mom can make that version.