I have a confession to make. Approximately a quarter of the cabinet space in my kitchen is dedicated candy storage. I just did the math. Is that wrong? Whenever I see new or seasonal candy, I feel compelled to buy and try it. I also happen to be a sucker for anything rainbow. So, when I came across a bag of rainbow Twizzlers, they were in my cart before I even knew what was happening.

The bright colors were just too cute to pass up. Perfect for a springy cake design! Using the Twizzlers whole didn’t seem like a great option. After cutting a few up, I realized that the cut pieces looked just like Perler beads! You know, those multicolored beads you arrange on a peg board and then melt together to make little pictures. My inner-8-year-old started jumping for joy and my spring candy design was set in motion.

• Rainbow Twizzlers
• Small cutting knife
• Buttercream iced cake

Stems and Leaves
Cut a green Twizzler into 1- to 2-inch segments. Cut the pieces in half again, length-wise. Trim off 1/4-inch thick half moons to use as leaves. Continue to cut some of the sections length-wise to get different sized pieces to use as stems and blades of grass.

Daffodils
Cut six 1/4-inch thick pieces from a yellow Twizzler, then cut one 1/2-inch thick piece from an orange Twizzler. Arrange the yellow Twizzler pieces around the larger orange piece at the top of a green Twizzler stem.

Liliac
Cut seven 1/4-inch thick pieces from a purple Twizzler. Arrange six of the pieces side by side above a green Twizzler stem. Add the final piece of purple Twizzler above the top two.

Blossom Clusters
Cut three 1/4-inch thick pieces from a pink Twizzler. Cluster the three pieces at the end of a green Twizzler stem.

Butterfly
Cut two 1/4-inch pieces of blue Twizzler. Turn one of those pieces on its side and cut in half again. Cut a 1/2-inch piece of purple Twizzler, then turn it on its side and cut it into fourths, lengthwise. Arrange the blue Twizzler pieces above the thin purple Twizzler butterfly body. Use the larger piece of blue to form the top of the wing.

I used my little candy flowers to decorate the sides of a buttercream iced cake, but these would also work really well as cupcake toppers. Don’t be afraid to mix up the shapes and colors of your flowers when creating your candy garden.