By Tribune-Review

Published: Friday, October 26, 2012, 8:50 p.m.
Updated: Saturday, October 27, 2012

Candy corn offers more than just a tasty treat

One of the most enduring of Halloween icons, candy corn is more than 130 years old. Candy corn has become not only a staple of the trick-or-treat bowl, but an inspiration for seasonal decor.

Candy-corn kernels have more visual impact en masse than individually.

An array of clear lidded jars filled to the brim looks wonderful. Dump a bag or two in the bottom of a hurricane or large vase; add a pillar candle, Halloween ornament, or twisty branches painted black or gold, and you've got a great centerpiece.

Woman's Day magazine suggests hot-gluing kernels to Styrofoam balls for colorful bowl fillers. (www.womansday.com )

Candy-corn topiaries can be made by studding foam or paper cones, adding stems and placing in pots. Wreaths made of rows of candy, hung with a black ribbon, look striking.

And while you've got the glue out, consider adding a few candy corns to twigs to create candy “blossoms.” Or, if you're patient, try stringing kernels into a garland for the mantel or door frame.

Making faux candy corn is easy, with a few craft materials in the signature colors of orange, yellow and white. Get out the paint pots and paint the top and base of orange traffic cones for clever Halloween-night driveway markers.

Better Homes & Gardens' website offers instructions to make a door decoration by cutting a foam cone in half lengthwise, painting it and adding dried fall plant material. Spray paint gourds and pumpkins for more entryway decor. (www.bhg.com )

Talking green at speakers series

A founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council and an expert on environmental design and restoration will be the next guests of the Inspire Speakers series Nov. 8.

The series of talks is a project of the Green Building Alliance on the South Side and the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland.

The talks are being held at Phipps the second Thursday of the month through June.

The speakers Nov. 8 are Bill Reed, who has been a consultant on dozens of LEED certification projects, and Joel Glanzberg, who works on sustainability issues with the New Mexico-based Regenesis Group.

The talks are $45, or $25 for members of the Green Building Alliance, Phipps, the Tri-State Area School Study Council or students.

Details: 412-442-4442 or www.phipps.conservatory.org

— Staff and wire reports

Send Homework items to Features in care of Sue Jones, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, D.L. Clark Building, 503 Martindale St., Pittsburgh, PA 15212; fax 412-320-7966; or email sjones@tribweb.com.

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