And now for something completely different.

So I usually go off on my theological tangents here on the blog (hence the name) but today, I'm doing something a little different - a tutorial!

The childbirth class Kevin and I have been taking recommends taking some goodies with you to the hospital for the nurses, to thank them for their hard work.  This seemed like a fun idea to me, so I asked my sister, the nurse, what would be a good treat.  She told me that they love to get candy and pens.  I was surprised at first, since our class recommended baked goods, but the more I thought about it, candy and pens seemed way more useful and...well...sanitary - I mean, we're are talking about nurses here.  So here's what I came up with, I loved the way it turned out, so I thought I'd share with y'all!

I thought a springy Easter basket with hidden surprises would be fun, so I made the pens look like flowers.  The main thing I'll concentrate on is how to make the pens, the basket and the candy are the easy part. You can use any basket and candy you like.  We got our basket at World Market for $5, I liked the fun, grassy look it had.  We got a huge bag of assorted candy (Hershey's brand) at BJ's for $10, and even had some leftover for our munchkin.  I didn't realize until I got home that I got retractable pens instead of regular pens, so I had to get a little creative. They were bulky at first, but I tested them out and the bulk made them easier to grip, so I didn't mind it so much.

Okay, so here's the materials I used for the pens:

We have a stalk of Easter colored daisies from JoAnn (40% off! Woot!  I used several stalks), a couple of retractable (or as I like to say "clicky") pens, wire cutters, and Mossy Oak duct tape.  I started with floral tape, but it was sticky on both sides, so I had to find something else that I already had and the duct tape did the trick quite nicely.  How Duck Dynasty of me, huh?

First I measured out the length of each flower I would need:

I marked a line parallel with the pen grip with a permanent market, making sure to leave room at the top to click the pen, and then measured out the rest as well. (You may be able to eyeball it.)  Then came the wire cutters!

I would recommend actual wire cutters and not just scissors because the middle of the stem is fairly thick wire and while scissor will cut it, they'll never be the same afterwards.  After I cut the flowers, I got my tape ready to go and lined up the flower stem next to the pen.  I put the clip part right up next to the flower stem to reduce the bulk and started taping from the top down, winding at a slight angle.

Once I got to the pen grip, I wrapped only until the plastic part of the pen started to taper, then cut the tape and pressed it into place.

It's as simple as that!  I did the rest of the pens, then used the candy in the basket as a foundation to hold them in place.

Here's the finished product:

I hope the nurses love it!