4th of July Patriotic Centerpiece With Patriotic Candy

This patriotic candy centerpiece is perfect for all your guests, whether they are adults, children or those with allergies, as these candies are free from the top common allergens and are gluten-free.

Here's what you need:

• 9-Inch By 9-Inch Squares of Cellophane
• Pipe Cleaners
• Ribbon
• Styrofoam Ball
• Flower Pot
• Skewers
• Artificial Flowers With Leaves
• Dum Dum Pops
• Saf-T-Pops

Begin by gathering Dum Dum Pops into bunches. These can be made into various sizes and volumes. We used groups of 8-10 lollipops in each bunch.

Hold your grouping of Dum Dum Pops by the sticks so it appears like a cone. Place a square of cellophane over the lollipop tops and bring down to the sticks. Twist the cellophane at the base until the tops tighten into a close bunch.

Use a pipe cleaner to fasten the cellophane close to the stem. If you would like to trim the cellophane close to the fastener, you may, but we thought it looked pretty to leave a bit of excess for shimmer.

Insert a skewer into the center of each bunch; if the skewer has a pointy end, leave that side out so it will go easily into the Styrofoam, if not, don't worry about that.

Repeat this step until you have seven bunches. Vary the colors between all blue, blue and red and all red.

Once these are done, pick random skewered bunches to add a ribbon to for an extra pop of color and texture. If you have extra pipe cleaners, you can run them down the skewers in a swirl pattern, solid, or leave them off.

Take two Dum Dum Pops in the same flavor, stack one a bit higher than the other and attach them to a skewer with a pipe cleaner. These will be accent pieces for the back of the centerpiece. Make four of these.

Choose three Saf-T-Pops and hold at the stick, take a pipe cleaner and wrap around, binding the three together below the lollipop. Insert a skewer in the back of this bunch, between the lollipop and pipe cleaner. Make three of these.

Once you have the candy components of your centerpiece together, put the Styrofoam ball into your planter pot.

*If you have an issue keeping your Styrofoam in place, you can try taping a sheet of tissue paper to the bottom and fill the gap at the top with the excess.

Begin placing the Dum Dums pairs towards the back of the centerpiece with room in between. Next, add the Saf-T-Pop bunch in between each of the pairs. Make sure to push the Saf-T-Pops in further to create a staggered effect.

Push the Dum Dum bundles in the Styrofoam leaving room in-between for artificial foliage. Once the candy bunches are placed into the planter, begin adding leaves and flowers throughout the gaps.