How to Make an Edible Flower Arrangement for Any Occasion

Everyone (well mainly women) love getting flowers, but what do you do if you want to give an extra special gift to a male or for an occasion that flowers may not be so suitable? Well I have the answer and that's by making an Edible Flower Bouquet. Its very thoughtful, tastes great and is sure to impress even those with the most discerning tastes, plus it won't die and can be made for a fraction of the price of real flowers.

Firstly you will need to gather a few supplies, and the best place to source a lot of the materials (not the chocolate of course) is the cheap shop, just make sure you get some good quality chocolates such as Cadbury's, Ferro Rochers or Lindor though from somewhere like the local supermarket. For this Boquet I made it for an Easter gift so used all the cadbury Easter eggs which were a perfect shape to turn into flowers.....You could even use some tiny candy bars without the petals as I did with the bunnies, just experiment as its really a fun and quirky way to express yourself and will bring a smile to the face of all who see it.

You Will Need -

• Thick skewers
• polystyrene - cut to the size of the box (about 5cm thick minimum)
• Stanley knife or big kitchen knife
• A sturdy cardboard box or gift box
• Green electrical tape
• Clear Sticky Tape
• Clear Cellophane
• Coloured tissue papers of your choice
• some coloured paper of your choice (shredded) - you can also buy bags of these in the cheap shop but easy enough to make at home with a paper shredder or just scissors
• pretty Ribbon for trying around the box
• Scissors
• Chocolates (various colours and sizes and shapes)
• Cutters (only if you want to reduce the size of the skewers but, I didn't find this necessary)
• Optional (a little quirky prop to add to the box to go with the theme)

1. Have all your materials handy (nothing worse than having to search for something in the middle of construction).

2. Firstly, you want to make all your "edible flowers" and get them all ready for your flower arrangement.

Start by cutting the clear cellophane into squares - the bigger the egg the bigger the square, basically you want to aim for enough of a border that when the egg is placed in the centres of the square there is enough overhang to be able to wrap the cellophane around the egg and then twist the cellophane around the skewer (flat side to egg and pointy side to stand in the box) and secure it with clear sticky tape (you may need to wrap this around a few times so its steady on the skewer). Once this is in place (refer to photos), it will sit atop the skewer - remember to ensure the cellophane is firmly in place otherwise it will fall to the side and won't stand up correctly in the box.

3. Next like you did with the cellophane cut all the tissue paper into rectangle shapes - again make it about twice the height of the egg to give the petal effect. Grab the tissue paper about two to three layers (slightly fan them - this will enhance the petal effect) and wrap around the egg bud and taper at the front and scrunch onto the skewer. Secure this with some green electrical tape and wrap it down the skewer to create the stem. Once you have it all in place you can fluff the tissue paper to make it more petal like and even have a go at mixing the colours.

4. Experiment with different shapes of chocolates (I did big eggs, and bunnies) just to give the effect of different flowers. Remember you can just do the clear cellophane on some of them (make sure its secured neatly though) and follow through with the green tape as this looks great also. Repeat this for the amount of flowers you will need, I made approx 50 varied styles.

5. Next you will need to get your base ready. Take the polystyrene and cut it to size to fit in your box. I put the box I was going to use for presentation upside down and traced around onto the polystyrene to get the correct size. I then used a kitchen knife to cut around the tracing to give me the correct size. My polystyrene was about 5cm think which is what you need to aim for so it will firmly hold your flowers upright. I also had a few smaller squares that I placed underneath to ensure the right height in the box (you can play around and either do 2-3 slabs same size or smaller as I did.

6. Next you need to do your flower arranging. Make sure the polystyrene is firmly in place and then poke through each of your skewers and make sure they are standing up right. To get an interesting effect push some in further and keep some sitting a bit higher. You can play around, but a general rule is to keep the ones at the back higher and bigger. Also another good tip is to mirror them on each side to keep things symmetrical and overall aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Don't fret if you do it and your not happy with the look, just play around till it looks right - there is not much you can do wrong, but just remember the more you poke holes in and keep taking the skewers out it may loosen the flowers and make for a wobbly bouquet so just be mindful of this. Also if you have a prop or toy or gimmick to add to the bouquet add this where you feel suitable.

7. Now you have all your flowers in and they look beautiful, place the shredded paper in and around the base of the flowers. This can be tricky so use another skewer to poke the paper in further if your hands won't reach in between the stems. Be playful and use colours that go with your theme or keep it authentic and use green for grass....do whatever feels right for you! I also thought it would be nice to add more chocolates in the base and scattered these through as well which I thought was quite effective. Refer to photos below to see how I did it.

8. To add the finishing touch tie a pretty ribbon around the box and you're done! Your very own homemade flower bouquet that is sure to impress!

Remember once you have made one of these you can make various types experimenting with candy, cookies or anything else that takes your fancy, really the options are endless...

Did you give it a try? Let me know by leaving me a comment below, I would love to hear how you went!