Directions for a no calorie chocolate candy

Materials

• small amount of fiberfill
• small piece of satin in chocolate colors--dark brown, medium brown, or cream
• glossy fabric paint in chocolate colors (I use Scribbles)
• needle and thread
• paper candy cups (from cake decorating section of a crafts store)

Directions

1. Make an oval pattern, approx 4" by 3 ¼". 
2. Cut an oval from the satin fabric.
3. Fold edge of fabric ¼" to keep fabric from fraying. Hold folded edges in place with fingers while sewing. With thread and needle, sew a running stitch around the folded edge oval fabric. Gather slightly and stuff with fiberfill. Finish gathering, stuff more if necessary, and anchor stitch and end off.
4. Decorate the candy with fabric paint (see picture).
   I like to run a squiggly line across the candy. Check out chocolates at your favorite candy store for ideas.
5. Let dry.
6. Use candy cups as-is or spray them inside and out with gold paint.
7. Glue finished candies to inside of candy cups.

Chocolates and watermelon

I entered a county fair for the first time and won a first place for the baby owl hat (see the picture in a previous post. My Christmas chocolate ornament came in second in another category. The chocolates came out nicely, but the heart that I covered with crushed velvet wasn't right. I'll remember for next year. I'll post directions for making one of the chocolates next. I've been designing them for the last 10 years and always find something new to add to the list of chocolates. These were originally for use for my chocolate pincushion idea (as seen on Carol Duvall). Now I use them for whatever crazy idea comes to mind.

My granddaughter had her tonsils taken out a few weeks ago. I promised her some ice cream, so I bought her a gift card for Coldstone. It needed a "holder." I've been wanting to crochet watermelon purses for a while, so I looked around to see what other people were doing and combined the features that I liked. There are some good patterns out there. I had to figure out how to make the opening at the flat part of the slice, so I went through several versions. My granddaughter loves her little purse, just the right size to put whatever miniature toy she is collecting this summer.