Friday's Kid Tested Recipe: Candy Christmas Trees (Not really a recipe, more of a fun craft!)

This week I thought I would share what we made for my son's preschool class!  He wanted to take goody bags for his Christmas party but instead of just filling a bag with candy and toys, I thought we would get a little crafty and have some fun with it!

What you'll need to make these!
Pastry bags (typically come in 12 or 24 packs, make sure you buy clear - I had a hard time finding clear this year and those I found were from Wilton and had a big logo which made the trees smaller since the bags had to be trimmed at that spot)
Lollipop sticks (We used the long thin white ones sold near the candy making items at the craft store)
Twist ties
Pipe cleaners (We opted for gold, but you could easily use brown for a tree stem or green or red)
Yellow jelly beans
Red jelly beans
Green jelly beans

Tips:  You can find jelly beans in bulk at most grocery stores and some Target stores.  These were selling for $7.50 a pound at ours, so we opted for only yellow jelly beans and then found bags of Holiday Mike & Ikes that came in red, light green, and dark green!  You could also use Holiday M&M's and grab a single bag of yellow M&Ms at a party supply or craft store for the star!

How to make them!
Place 3-4 yellow jelly beans (the star on top) in the tip of the pastry bag followed by a couple handfuls of mixed red/green jelly beans (the decorated tree)
Insert the lollipop stick into the jelly beans and tightly twist the pastry bag around the lollipop stick
Holding the lollipop stick and bag with one hand, use the twist tie to tightly twist the bag shut around the lollipop stick
The pipe cleaner becomes the stem and should be used as decoration covering the twist tie and remaining part of the bag
We added a ribbon and gift tag to our trees and placed the trees in a foam plate inside a basket for presentation (pictures don't do it justice) for the Christmas party!

What are you making for holiday treats?  Have you found any great treats to give as gifts that are fun to make?  I'd love your ideas, so leave me a comment!