Dylan Lauren Of Dylan’s Candy Bar Shares Sweet Tips For How To Decorate With Candy

Dylan Lauren is a true visionary who turned her love for candy into an empire as the founder of Dylan’s Candy Bar. With more than 20 locations in cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, it’s more just than a candy store. “Our mission has been to merge fashion, art, and pop culture with candy to ignite the creative and inner spirit,” she tells me.

The stores are visually striking with lots of vibrant colors, beautiful displays, and fun yet stylish merchandise. But on a deeper level, Dylan’s isn’t just about surgery sweets and Lauren is certainly more than a female modern-day Willy Wonka (albeit more sophisticated). Dylan’s Candy Bar is selling happiness during a time when perhaps the world needs it the most. “[Candy] ignites that inner child, which is nostalgia— a sense of happiness, freedom and not thinking about problems of the world,” she explains.

And while candy is enjoyable to eat, decorating with it can be even more fun.

Start With Color

It is Lauren’s philosophy that what initially attracts us to candy is the vibrant colors. “It’s like preschool,” she says. “When you first identify colors, color blocks and crayons, it innately makes you happy.”

This statement is especially true this holiday season. While red and green are traditional Christmas colors, 2020 hasn’t exactly been a traditional year. “[While] we do have the red and green, we’re also using blue, silver, white, gold, pink, purple, and other colors.”

For example, the Candy Kebobs, which feature gummy snowmen and snowflakes, are blue and white, which Lauren notes is ideal for all denominations, easily elevating any holiday table.

If you’ve never incorporated candy into a tablescape before, she recommends starting with a theme such as chocolate, gummy, or peppermint and taking it from there. “I usually like to start with the centerpiece, and then go out.”

One easy way Lauren suggests doing this is filling an empty vase with layers of different colored candy, almost like a parfait. When you’re finished, top it off with the kebobs. “That way everyone can reach in and enjoy,” she says.

Another way to decorate your table with candy is to create customized place settings. “At our wedding,” says Lauren, “We made our seat cards out of little chocolate bars.” This a wonderful idea for smaller events and family gatherings, which is what most of us are having this year. Lauren likes to put a large assortment in the middle of the table and give every guest an individual bag with a specific color or type of candy. Alternatively, a candy party favor looks great on a white or minimalist place setting.

You can also wrap candy around a napkin as decor, instead of using a napkin ring. Candy Bracelets are perfect for this.

Candy can also dress up a cocktail. Lauren recommends using gummy fruit to garnish the edge of a glass. You can also swap out your regular cocktail stirrer for a candy kebob or piece of rock candy.

For the underage set, kebobs can function as a stirrer for a mug of hot cocoa.

Bringing Back An Old Classic

Decorating gingerbread houses is a tradition many people enjoy each year.

Dylan’s offers a de-constructed gingerbread house kit to help color-coordinate this delicious craft, ideally for snacking and social media posts. Better yet, it’s packaged in a twelve-compartment logo box that can be re-purposed. In fact, much of Dylan’s holiday packaging is designed to be re-used.

The Christmas Crunch Popcorn Bucket and On the Nice List Gift Tin are great examples of this. When the season is finished, use them to store holiday decor and ornaments.

Turning Candy Into Holiday Decor

“I think being able to decorate with candy is sort of more artistic than just hanging an ornament or wreath,” says Lauren. “Why not make a candy ornament or wreath? You can also fill an ornament with candy.”

With many of us are stuck at home, it’s certainly an easy project to take on. “Something that kids, adults or anyone, even if they’re not that talented at art can decorate or use candy to cook to entertain,” she says. It’s a sweet truth.