I’m excited to (finally!) share a fun little tutorial with you from the candy-themed baby shower that I styled for Operation Shower back in March.

These were kind of a happy surprise. I was browsing Amazon for some decor elements for the party and stumbled on some translucent ball pit balls that looked just like giant pieces of hard candy… yay! So I instantly ordered them. Can you blame me? Amazon makes things way. too. easy. with that whole “One Click” thing.

Anyways, I’d already used images of candy balls to create candy baby rattle graphics for the paper party collection and realized that we *obviously* needed some 3D versions as well. 😉  The plastic balls were the perfect starting point… just throw in some real candy embellishments and hot glue, and voila: we’ve got ourselves some fun & colorful DIY Candy Baby Rattles!

They’re simple to make, and pretty dang cute! Gotta love that combo, right? Scroll down to check out the {sweet} tutorial below.

DECORATIVE CANDY BABY RATTLES

by Jennifer Sbranti

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Hot Glue Gun
• Translucent Colored Play Balls
• Candy Sticklettes
• Striped Candy Balls and/or Gum Balls
• Candy Necklaces

Instructions:

1. Decorate the ball.
Cut the candy necklace(s) and slide the candy off. Hot glue a strip of the candy all the way around the plastic ball, being very mindful of the hot glue. (Beware of finger burns!) I found it easiest to pipe short lines of hot glue and place 3-4 candies at a time.

2. Form the handle.
Hot glue a candy sticklette to the bottom of the embellished ball, holding firmly until the glue is secure & dried. Then glue a piece of striped ball candy or a large gumball to the bottom of the candy stick. Done!

3. Icing Bows (optional)
It was around Easter when I was working on this party, and I found the cutest set of pastel icing bows at Target to use as a finishing touch on some of the rattles. The bows were a seasonal item by Wilton, but if you search for “sugar bows” or “icing bows” online, you can find similar products year round (and hopefully in the perfect colors for your party!).

That’s all there is to the tutorial – and you could easily switch up the types of candies and colors to create new & different looks. In other words – have fun with it!

P.S. Special thanks to Paige Kepner and Kylie Jenkins for helping make a gazillion of these for the Sweet Surprises Operation Shower event. With over 300 guests and 32 tables, we needed a LOT of candy rattles! 🤪

Popsicle Baby Shower Printables

Planning a baby shower? Check out my Popsicle Baby Shower printables! They make it so EASY to add pro designer style and personalization to your event. It’s like custom branding for your party! 🙌 Click here to shop this collection.