Chocolate Covered Pretzels How-To

Last weekend we made chocolate covered pretzels as part of a wedding favor. These are so easy and fun to make! These are great favors for adults and children. For adults, you can make them look classic with white chocolate candy and chocolate sprinkles. For kids, you could dip the pretzel in any color candy melts and jazz them up with some sprinkles or peppermint shavings. They’d even be able to help out in making them – they’re that easy!

So here’s what you need:

-log pretzel logs (can be found wherever foods are sold)
-candy melts (in any color or flavor and can be found at any craft store) Note: we found that  one 12oz bag of candy made about 30 pretzels.
-sprinkles or a topping of your choice (peppermint shavings, cookie crunchies)
-plastic pretzel treat bags (found at any craft store)
-twist ties or curling ribbon in your choice of color

And here’s how to make them:

1.)    Melt candy as directed on packaging (microwave is the quickest method)in a deep bowl

2.)    Dip and roll pretzel in candy and until half of the pretzel rod completely covered. 

3.)    Shake excess chocolate/candy off of pretzel so that it is not dripping too much

4.)    If you’d like to add sprinkles, sprinkle them on the pretzel as you hold it above a tray or piece of wax paper to catch the excess sprinkles. Spin pretzel as you sprinkle so that all sides of the pretzel are covered in sprinkles.

5.)    Lay pretzel on a tray that has been covered with wax paper on an angle so that only the tip of the pretzel is touching the wax paper.

6.)    Once you have a full tray of pretzels, put entire tray into the refrigerator to cool (for about 5-10 minutes).

7.)    Remove from fridge and slide entire pretzel into treat bag, tie closed with ribbon of your choice or a twist tie.  Tie ribbon in bows or curl the ends.

8.)    We recommend that you put your finished pretzels back into the fridge until the party or event so that they don’t melt.

Kids will love adding colorful sprinkles to the pretzels and will take pride in handing them out as favors to their friends and family at their next birthday party. They can also be given as a Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift!

A "Country" Bridal Shower

Everything country is all the rage right now – so if you’re searching for a Bridal Shower or Party theme why not try the Wild West?  Our bride lived in Texas, so it fit her perfectly. For a wishing well, we created a covered wagon with a cardboard box and some tag board and covered a shoe box with hay and straw for a card box. We found ceramic boot-shaped vases to use as a centerpieces and all of the bridesmaids wore a cowboy hat and purple bandana to show their country spirit.

For favors we made silver horseshoes that doubled in meaning: They complimented our theme, but they also wished good luck to the Bride and Groom. Here’s how we made them:

1.)    We asked a local stable to donate their old horseshoes.

2.)    The horseshoes we received were covered in dirt and rust so we had to sand the rust off with a steel brush and then spray painted them with silver RustoleumÒ (found at any craft store).

3.)    Then we ordered custom printed ribbon with the Bride’s name and Wedding date printed on it in two shades of purple (her wedding colors), tied them in bows and hot-glued the bows onto the horseshoes.

4.)    We also tied ribbon through the slots of the horse-shoe to dress them up a bit, then left some extra ribbon at the top so the guests good hang them in their house.

There you have it! They were a huge hit. Shower guests were even asking to bring any extras home. An easy, budget-friendly yet meaningful and beautiful favor with a country twang that can be tweaked to fit your own style. You can spray paint the horseshoes any color and even paint designs on them. You can hand-paint sayings on them and glue bows, flowers or ribbon on them. The possibilities are endless!