Hubba Bubble Bubble Yum

In my free time, I create crafts for HGTV and Food Network. Usually, the process goes like this: the producers ask for ideas for particular sections and then I send in my ideas. Then, a few weeks later, if the producer likes anything I've suggested, she assigns me the crafts. However, sometimes I run into a problem. Because you know how when you're trying to come up with ideas, you're supposed to brainstorm right? Well, a few weeks ago, that's what I did. The producer had asked for craft ideas for kids. So, channelling my inner second-grader, I sat down and made a big brainstorming cloud and thought of all the ideas I could. But as you know, with brainstorming, some of the ideas are good, but some are bad. Very very bad.

But what makes them bad, in my opinion, is that the ideas I get assigned are usually the ones I have no clue how to make. This was the case this weekend. I even checked the email I'd sent her to ensure I had ACTUALLY come up with these ideas. I had. They were there. Now if only I could figure out how to create them.

Because the first idea was this:

Edible Christmas trees. Edible. Christmas. Trees. What was I thinking? Was I thinking that if you put a bunch of broccoli on a plate you could convince kids they were Christmas trees and they'd eat them? Was I going to decorate the broccoli trees with say, dried cranberries and Cheez Whiz?

I have no idea.

No idea what was going through my head. So instead of coming up with anything remotely healthy, I turned to sugar. Because a spoonful of sugar makes everything alright! Here are my trees. They may not be healthy, but they're cute, right? RIGHT?

Then, I moved on to a Forest in a Jar.

What?! I know.

So I started scouring the kitchen for everyday items that COULD resemble items in a forest. Unfortunately, because I don't cook, the pickings were slim. Thankfully, I bake, so there's always SUGAR in my kitchen. Voila!

Finally, I moved on to something I actually knew what it was. Only I had no idea how to make it.

Bubble gum!

Fun right? Ha. That's what you think. It turns out that you need gum base for bubble gum. What's gum base? you're thinking (or maybe you're not because you're sooooo smart). I discovered, even though you can buy bubble gum at the grocery store, convenience store, even the dollar store, you cannot buy gum base at any of these places. Oh no you can't.

But eventually, after chewing a pack of gum to manage my stress levels and with the hope that it would will the gum base gods to me, I found the gum base and made the gum. And now I have a newfound appreciation for Bubble Yum and am on a mission to stop people from chewing their gum for five seconds (until it loses its flavour) and then spitting it out. Because do you know HOW LONG IT TAKES TO MAKE A PIECE OF BUBBLE GUM?

And you thought bubble gum was just fun.