If you would like to make them edible, royal icing would be a good substitution for the glue. I would also recommend using a ring blank made of food grade plastic and not the metal ones we show in the tutorial.

Now that you know what supplies you will need (not to eat them!),  LET’S GET STARTED!!

• CAREFULLY, using a small serrated knife, gently saw through the middle of the gum ball just until you break through the candy coated surface. Starting the cut by using a sawing motion keeps you from squishing the gum ball. Once you break through the candy coating and hit gum, finishing cutting in half by slicing straight down.

• Take one of your ring blanks with a lip and cover the entire top of it with hot glue.
• Now, take one half of the gum ball and place it on the ring blank.Let glue cool.
• If you have a gum ball with rough edges (or visible glue) you may want to wrap a piece of ribbon (1/4″ & 1/8″ works best for this) around the base to hide any imperfections. However, this step is optional.* notes:
• I like using the rimmed ring blanks for these two style of rings because the rimmed edge holds a lot of glue while keeping it from spilling out the sides

• Remove rock candy from stick. Break it so that it comes off the stick in a variety of chunk sizes*.
• It is best to add the rock candy in parts.  First start by adding a small amount of hot glue to the gumball base you just made (see diagram above). Wait for it to cool slightly*, and then add some rock candy (you may need to gently press the candy into the gumball to get it to stay until the glue completely cools). Repeat this step until the entire gumball is covered in rock candy.

Notes: Try not to break your rock candy into super tiny shards or dust. You want to have a decent range of chunk sizes. I chose to have my gumball base and rock candy be the same color, but obviously, this is my preference. Feel free to try out all kind of combos. Letting the glue cool slightly before adding the rock candy keeps the candy from melting…and becoming a sticky mess.

• It is best to add the sprinkles in parts.
• First start by adding a small amont of hot glue to the gumball base (see diagram above).
• Let the glue cool enough that you can touch it without burning yourself, but is still warm to the touch.
• Using your finger, spread the glue so that there is a nice even layer of glue*.
• Now, quickly before the glue dries, dunk the ring into your bowl of sprinkles.
• Gently shake of excess.
• Repeat this step until the gumball is completely covered to your liking.

Notes: Spreading the glue ensure that you have a nice level surface area and keeps the overall appearance of the sprinkles consistant. If you don’t want to use your finger to spread the glue, you could use a small cake spatula or butter knife.

This is the hardest of the rings to make because you are using chocolate (which melts) & he gum ball base has to be just the right size….too big & you have gum ball exposed at the bottom of you ring. Too small & you cannot fit all your candies onto the base.

Getting the base right may take you several attempts…..try not to get too frustrated & keep trying!!

• First you need to create the base. Cut a gumball in half using the instructions above. However, this time before gluing it to your ring blank, you are going to trim the gumball down even more. You just need a tiny amount of gumball for this base*, so using kitchen scissors, cut more off the bottom (see picture below). You really just need “the tip” of the gum ball.
• Using a ring blank with a lip, hot glue your gum ball tip to the base
• Put small amount of glue in the center of the gum ball. Let it cool slightly (so that the glue isn’t hot enough to melt the chocolate) and then add a Sixlet to the center (it is best to start in the center and work your way out).
• Now, adding one by one, go around the outside of the gumball and add the rest of the Sixlets,

Notes:  You really only need a “tip” of the gumb all for this base. If your piece of gum is too big, you will have exposed gum showing after you glue on all the Sixlets. You can solve this two ways: Before gluing your gum ball base to the ring blank, place double stick tape on the gumb all and arrange your Sixlets. This way you can see what will be exposed before you permently glue the gumball to the ring blank and the Sixlets to the gumball. If you have too much gumball exposure, trim of the excess. You will need to remove the tape and the candy before you glue the gum ball to the ring blank. Hide the excess by gluing ribbon around the exposed area. This is the easier route to go for sure, but is not as cute in my opinion.

Concept, tutorial & photography: Stevie Pattyn