"Panda-stic" Valentine

Hello! I'm finally back from hibernation with my first post for 2023. Today I'm sharing these fun Panda candy holders I put together for Valentines Day. 

Although I had seen these type of domed candy holders around for quite awhile, I was never too interested in making them for two main reasons. First, I worried about running into issues trying to find the right sized domes to fit and second, I never cared much for the design solutions offered for accessing the candy once the holder was made.

But about a week before Valentines Day, videos from Vinily Papel Design showing how easy it was to create these cute domed candy holders  started appearing on my Instagram feed and I was hooked! I wasn't able to purchase templates from Vinily Papel Designs due to technical issues they are having but I did end up picking up a similar layered svg template for this cute panda from Alison Detallitos Design on Etsy instead.

For my candy holders, I used heart shaped plastic fillable ornaments. These were made of a plastic similar to the kind used in merchandise packaging so I was able to easily cut each into two halves (to make two candy holders) and snip off the round loop hanger on the top. Turns out these were not the exact same size or shape of the domes the template was made for so I did have to resize and tweak the original file quite a bit to get everything to fit correctly.

The template from Alison Detallitos Designs included a very fancy rotating opener to access the candy  similar to an iris or shutter card mechanism with brads and several moving parts on the back. Nice, but way too complicated! I decided to stick to the easy and simple idea that was presented on the original assembly video I watched by Vinily Papel Designs instead.

I designed a very simple envelope with a slotted heart closure to enclose a little card for the recipient with a Valentine message.

As the card is removed from the envelope, the open access to the candies is revealed!

For me, this is the easiest and best idea I had seen by far for easy access to the candies on this type of domed candy holder. I also really like that it allows me to add a little card for an additional personal touch. These were fun to put together and a nice change from the usual treat boxes I usually make. Thinking I may decide to do something similar for Easter this year as well.