Last minute St. Patricks day DIY

DIY Shamrock Suckers

Saint Particks day is just right around the corner... in like... two days.  I know I am sooo behind and I am sorry but for the life of me I could not think of a DIY for this holiday that wasn't a same old same old.  Making suckers is generally really common around valentines day but why not make this version for St. Patricks.  

This is my first time making suckers and I have learned a lot because of this.  They did not turn out perfect by any means but I look forward to making many more now that I know the ins and outs of making suckers. 

Almost every tutorial I watched or read on making suckers said you needed some type of mold, sucker sticks or had to have a steady hand if you were going to free hand it.  Well I was not going to spend the money to buy all of these things that I am only going to use every so often and lets be real.. I can not be steady so I found a way to make these suckers WITHOUT  the molds.  

This method might take more practice so make a few batches and by at least the third time you will be an expert.  

Making suckers requires very few ingredients that wont break the bank and they are surprisingly pretty quick. The clean up for these are also very manageable. 

For the first part of this DIY I will show you how to make the molds for your suckers.  

This makes it possible for you to any basic shape you would like.  The possibilities could be endless. 

Supplies: 

• Flat pan 
• corn starch 
• something to make an imprint with 

I made my own shamrock imprint maker by printing out the silhouette of the shape I wanted (in this case a shamrock) and that added layers of hot glue to stiffen it.  I than cut it out and glued a tooth pick to it so I could press down and lift with ease. 

If you have a cookie cutter this might help the process just tape the bottom off instead. 

Step one- Cover your entire baking sheet with corn starch 

For your sheet you are going to want to use something that has edges that way the corn starch does not get everywhere.  

Do your best to flatten and make it all even through the hole sheet. 

Step two- Press your imprint directly into the corn starch to make a crater in the shape of your object 

It is important the sides are high on your imprint so press hard.  

When you lay in your liquid it will literally form to any print it is put into so you have to make sure it is not messed up.  If by accident you mess up the shape smooth it out with a spoon and than try again.  

Make sure you leave room for your sticks to be laid in so don't put any shape directly over the other.

Now its time to make our candy!

 Supplies: 

• 1 cup sugar 
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup 
• 1/4 cup water 
• tbs flavoring 
• food coloring 

Step one- Put your sugar, corn syrup, and water into a sauce pan and turn the burner on high 

Step two- Continuously stir this if you do not the sugar will burn and your candy will taste burnt 

Step three- Add the flavoring and coloring 

Once its at a boil add them. 

 Add as much coloring as you want till you reach the desired color. 

Step four- Check temp and consistency 

Not everyone has a cooking thermometer but if you do it should be between 200-300 degrees.  if it is than you should shut the burner off and start to poor into your molds.  

If you do not have a cooking thermometer than here are some sure tell sighs your syrup is ready to poor:

-Deep in color

-Slight syrup consistency more than water but less than maple syrup 

-you poor onto some cold water and you can play with it

Step five- Poor your liquid 

I would suggest using a small amount at a time and put it into a container that has a spout.  I just used a measuring cup that had a spout. 

Step five and a half- add tooth picks 

lay it in and give the tooth pick a spin to coat it in the candy to ensure the stick will not fall off. 

I had more syrup than planned and not enough corn starch molds so I just put mine into an old Halloween themed squishy ice maker.  They are pumpkins but I didn't put the liquid in the stems so they would just be circles.  Yummy candy just to pop in your mouth. 

Step six- dry and clean 

After your candy is completely hard take out your candy and wipe off  cornstarch with a DRY towel.  

Now that you have your candy you also have a lovely mess on your hands.  When I made these I managed to get the syrup EVE

RYWHERE.  It is all surprisingly easy to clean.  

To clean simply soak all of your items in hot water.  It will all just devolve! 

I hope you enjoyed this last minuet DIY I made for you guys I apologize for the late post.