Caramel Apple Kit

This project was SO fun to make. I had been given this Hero Arts candy apple stamp by the owner of the LSS that I make samples for. I had been eyeing it and commented that it was cute, so she asked me to make a sample with it. I wanted to make a caramel apple kit, but after much thought I was worried about using REAL apples and displaying them for a few weeks. I was afraid they would rot, so I had planned to make the kit minus the apples. I went to Walmart and proceeded to buy FIVE bags of caramels since I KNEW I would want to make more than one. LOL As I was waiting in line, I saw the cutest Trident gum pack with a realistic green apple image on it. I thought BINGO I will make a "lazy man's caramel apple kit". Pop a caramel in your mouth, eat it and then follow it up with a piece of green apple gum. *smiles* I thought it was hilarious and most importantly doable. So... I bought about 5 packs of gum and came home to start the project. I stamped the candy apple on whisper white card stock. I watercolored the image using my aquapainter and then dried it with my heat gun. I then applied a thick coat of Crystal Effects to the "caramel" portion of the apple. I let it dry over night and then shaded around the image with watered down creamy caramel. I snipped the top edges with the tag corner punch and edged the card stock in chocolate chip classic ink. I used my Karen Foster snap stamps to spell out "caramel apple kit". I then punched the top of the tag and added ribbon. Then, I took the sticks that came in the caramel bag and stamped each one with "caramel apple" using the snap stamps. I bundled them up with some coordinating RIBBON. To prepare the bucket, I used adirondack alcohol ink in a brownish color and squirted the ink directly on the bucket (Michael's $1.47). I used a felt pad to blend until I had the desired effect. I placed some filler in the bottom of the bucket and then added the Trident gum, the caramel, the sticks and the tag. I finished it off with some ribbon tied to the handles. *happy dance* I dropped this off at the LSS today and I miss it already. I guess I need to make one for ME. :)