Art is by no means limited to the canvas depicting bowls of fruit, and candy artist Cindy Atmore proves this. Like L.A. Burdick’s Campaign Chocolates, she has used the upcoming November election as an inspiration, fashioning mini figurines out of fondant depicting all the major twenty-three candidates who ran for the presidential nomination. Each figure bears a remarkable resemblance to the respective candidate and works as fine pieces to display on your work desk or adorn a coffee table. They even give off an alluring smell of candy.

Even better, they’re all edible! The figurines have been described as tasting like the marshmallow pieces found in Lucky Charms cereal (and is there really a better marshmallow cereal?). For the calorie conscious, Cindy estimates that each one contains roughly 400 calories, which isn’t bad when you consider the volume of sugar per candidate.

Also posted on her website that features these lovable works are figurines of mentalists and magicians. If you’re not interested in purchasing a figurine, I still highly recommend that you check out her galleries to see the high quality of craftsmanship and hilarious use of props (my favorite is Harry Blackstone sawing a Peeps bunny in half).

Cindy’s work has appeared in a variety of magazines and you might even catch her on an upcoming special on The Food Network. Obviously, she is a rising star in the candy art world, and you don’t want to miss her work. Even those who don’t like candy (if there are such people out there), will appreciate the levity and skill inherent in her art, and the fact that they’re made of candy just makes them all the better.

• Cindythings Candy Candidates Gallery

A couple of years ago (yeah, we were that up on the trend), Brian wrote an article about Ecoist’s Candy Wrapper Handbags, a line of bags made from recycled and repurposed candy wrappers, food packages, and soft drink labels. Well, since then the whole Green Movement has really taken off and Ecoist has kept pace by expanding their popular line to include bracelets, coasters, napkin rings, and placemats.

Now I ask you, what better way to proclaim your support of sugar in public or at intimate dinner parties? It’s like the Livestrong bracelet for green candy fans. (That would be environmentally-friendly Addicts, not those of you with a penchant for a certain color M&M – though you can get in on the action, too.)

Like Brian, I have yet to identify any recognizable brands (these are 100% handmade in Mexico and Peru and my guess is that many of the wrappers are those of Latin American treats), but the origins of both the eye-popping, confetti-like palette and the chic silver line are undeniably sweet. And for the more brand-conscious amongst you, Ecoist produces equally stunning products with packaging from Coca-Cola and Diet Coke, Luna Bars, Dasani water, and a “swirl” that looks conspicuously like the Good Humor logo.

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Making your own prom dress can go one of two ways: you can end up with a Pepto-Bismol trapezoid with sleeves and a lace doily collar, ala Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink, or you might end up with a rainbow-inspired prom dress like the one designed by Theperilouspopsicle, a poster on Craftster.org – a killer candy frock made entirely out of Skittles wrappers.

She claims that it took 15 hours and 101 Skittles wrappers to complete her creation. Apparently, she only likes red Skittles, but luckily her friends were around to help her polish off the other colors in the Skittles rainbow. She also received wrappers from strangers after posting an ad on Craigslist. Candy Addict teamwork!

Have any of you ever seen any prom dresses made out of candy wrappers? If you could design your own, what would it look like? I’d love to try making one, but my prom days are long gone, and I don’t think Atomic Fireball wrappers are really appropriate evening wear material.

Thankfully, there are creative Candy Addicts like Theperilouspopsicle out there to design these candy couture wonders for us. In her post, she says that the Skittles prom dress “looks rather epic on”, and I have no doubt that it does. Anything made with this much love (and this much candy!) has got to be beautiful.

• Theperilouspopsicle’s Skittle Wrapper Prom Dress on craftster.org

Thanks to a brilliant merging of the minds at Hershey’s and The Styles Check Company, you can now broadcast your love of confections to any and everyone with whom you dare to share your wealth. Your landlord? Check. The phone company? Check. Your impossible-to-shop-for nephew whose birthday is just around the corner? Check! Forget online bill pay – writing checks is back and better than ever! (And you’ll be doubly excited to drop those babies in the mail when you see the matching address labels.)

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Red Vines is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Red Vines Original Twist Trays by bringing back its drawing contest with lots of great prizes, including an educational scholarship or a vacation for four and the chance to have winning drawings featured on the Red Vines tray packaging.

Just create a Red Vines themed piece of art and you could win some great prizes! Take a look at the full contest details and reviews. You can also see some past winners’ artwork in the Red Vines gallery. There is some amazing artwork in there.

• Red Vines

red vines, contest, licorice