Friday Craftiness: The Lollipop Tree

When I was a kid my mom used to sing me an old Burl Ives song about a kid who planted a lollipop in the ground and how it grew into a "Lollipop Tree" over night. Oh, how I loved this song! Although I knew such a thing would never work, I never gave up hoping that it would.

Now my mom and I both sing this song to my boys all the time. And since they love the song as much as I did, I thought I would surprise them with a real "Lollipop Tree." So, the other day I bought Colin a lollipop (a real treat in our house), and told him that if he planted it, perhaps a lollipop tree would grow. Well, getting him to part with an unfinished lollipop was easier said than done, but in the end, it was planted. And the next day he "woke to find a very funny sight ..."

This craft project really is as simple as it looks. Just take a stick from your back yard, plant it in a small pot (I used homemade playdough for "soil" then covered it in green sprinkles). Then, while your little one sleeps, stick a gumdrop on each little branch. Be sure to get more gumdrops than you think you'll need, since several seem to "disappear" when decorating...

And here are the lyrics to "The Lollipop Tree" by Burl Ives and a link to a video of it so that you can sing along if you like:

One fine day in early spring I played a funny trick;

Right in the yard behind our hourse, I planted a lollipop stick.

Then every day I watered it well and watched it carefully;

I hoped one day that stick would grow to be a lollipop tree.

CHORUS:

Ah ha ha, Oh ho ho, what a place to be;

Under my lollipop, lollipop, lollipop, lolli, lolli, lollipop tree.

Ah ha ha, Oh ho ho, what a place to be;

Under my lollipop, lollipop, lollipop, lolli, lolli, lollipop tree.

Then one day I woke to find a very lovely sight,

A tree all full of lollipops had grown in the dead of night.

Well, I sat beneath that wonderful tree and looked up with a grin;

And when I opened up my mouth a lollipop dropped right in. (Chorus)

Winter came and days grew cold as winter days will do.

And on my tree, my lovely tree, not one little lollipop grew.

From every branch an icicle hung. The limbs were bare as bones.

But when I broke those icicles off, they turned into ice cream cones. (Chorus)