I’ve always thought those “chocolate bar cards” are kind of cool, but have never made one before. We had the best coaches and management for Shay’s hockey team this year and I thought it would be fun to make one for them.

How to Create a “Candygram”:

1. It was a bit tricky to know how to start, so I began by searching the web for samples. The samples provided me with ideas for how I would word my “candygram” and also gave me some ideas for what candy to buy. (Keep in mind that many of the images will be American and you may not be able to get the same candy/bars in Canada.)
2. I made a list of candy and chocolate bars that I thought might work in my card.
3. I then began to play with words and write my message. You really need to write your message before you go shopping otherwise you have no idea what to buy. There were a few phrases that I wrote two different ways as I wasn’t sure if I could find the candy I needed.
4. Go shopping. The message can take up a lot of space, so keep that in mind. I ended up using two full sheets of bristol board. I did run into a few snags and had to change and delete a few phrases because I couldn’t find the candy I was looking for.
5. I taped my bristol board together (similar to the spine of a book). I then used a ruler to measure out the spacing for my printing. I did all of the printing with pencil and placed the candy in the proper place in the “cloze”.
6. I went over the penciled message in marker and used a combination of double-sided tape and staples to mount the candy on.
7. I had planned to embellish it with some  “hockey” themed paper/images, but quite frankly, I just ran out of time.

I sometimes find males hard to buy for and yet want the coaches to know how much they were appreciated. This ended up being perfect because it was a nice addition to the “team” gift that was given.  Obviously, this is more about the fun and the thought, than the actual quality of the gift.