I am trying to come up with a fake sugar load for my Candy Factory. I would like to have the gimmick filled with something sparkly that looks like sugar, but is solid and will not fall out. It would make life so much easier when packing and traveling to the gig ! Any creative minds out there with some ideas on how to accomplish this ?

Mark Pettey
Naples, FL

Hi Mark,

Have you thought about checking with a company that makes fake foods for displays?

One other thought, although I have not tried it...

It would seem that you'd need some type of a binder to render it solid after it is poured into the gimmick.

There is an acrylic resin product that can be used to make fake water. Wal Mart carries a brand that is relatively easy to use. It sets somewhat flexible, not completely hard. This might be usable as a binder for some crystaline substance. I am thinking there might be some type of sparkly white glitter available. That could be mixed with it.

I do know that you can use a blender to finely powder salt or sugar. I'm wondering if it is posible to granulate tiny plastic beads, such as those seed beads that are about a millimeter across (very small).

~michael

If you're using the urethan or polysester resin from Walmart... there's not a reason in the world why you can't make it out of real sugar. They aren't water based.. and therefore shouldn't melt the sugar..

even if they do.. there's a long sticky stage to that stuff.. and you can always press a bunch of sugar into the top as it's setting..

Remember though. it takes VERY little of that stuff to bind a good deal of sugar together.. you don't' need to drown it... put on some vinly gloves coated with vaseline.. and kneed a bit at a time into the sugar.. if yoyu want to make ti hollow.. you an put it over tinfoil... you can use florist foam under the foil it's to soft..

Several years ago I bought some sparkly stuff in a small glass tube to use in a Christmas table decoration. I can't find it right now, so I can't remember the name, but it looks a lot like sugar, and the sparkle makes it very attractive. It's probably some sort of ground plastic, I guess.

Would real sugar attract vermin? Around here, sugar ants can be a real pain in the warmer months. I guess if it was completely sealed in that would work. The amount of binder would of course hinge on how easy it is to get the mixed up goop to settle into the narrow spaces of the gimmick. You would of course, want as much of the crystals as possible to remain visible. You still want it to look like dry sugar, I'm guessing?

Still just thinking, but would there be some additive that would make it more opaque like a pile of sugar would be? Plaster of Paris would be opaque and could be laced with the sparkly stuff, but it might crumble after time, and probably would not adhere well to the plastic gimmick.

If you could add just enough sparly stuff to the mixture, it would pick up a few bits of light, which would be plenty. Adding the extra to the top like makeupguy suggested with sugar would give the top the look you'd need. Just pile it on and brush away the excess after everything has set.

Amos, the sparkly stuff that you mention is probably what I am visualizing. Slightly larger crystals than sugar. I will be at a Hobby Lobby today, so I will check what they have.

If this works, it might prompt me to add the candy factory to my kid show after 30+ years of avoiding the hassle that Mark described!

~michael

Depending on the distance from the audience. what about some of the sequins on a string trims out there, or just taking a bit of time to sew some strings of beads and sequins (for the sparkly bits) onto some light ribbon, for a pour effect. There are a number of plastic and glass beads that are clear and sort of crystalline looking that would look sparkly, and such from a bit of distance.
Otherwise, remember it only has to LOOK like sugar, you could use salt. Less issue with vermin, and iodized does not clump up so bad.
k

Such excellent ideas ! I am leaning towards using some type of plastic material, like little crystlas, seed beads, or perhaps clear glitter. I was thinking of matte medium as a binder (Michael knows I also build model trains, so I have a lot of matte medium for minature scenery work). The medium dries clear, but might dull the shimmer of the crystals, so maybe gloss medium would work better. Both have a tendency to stay farily flexible, so having the gimmick crack might not be an issue. I am just so tired of dealing with the mess of sugar and salt ! I will keep everyone posted as to whether this works or not.

Thanks for all the great advice !

Mark Pettey
Naples, FL

I did find glass seed beads at Hobby Lobby. I didn't have time to search every aisle in detail, but that was about all I saw at a casual glance. It looked a lot like slightly larger sugar crystals. They were about a buck fifty for a small vial, and it will take several to do the job.

Mark, I was trying to think of items from model railroading. I don't think you can get ballast or sand as white as you'd want, but the acrylic mediums should work great as binders. even diluted white glue would probably do the trick. I used that for laying track ballast. Concerning the shine, anything viewed through the glass wouldn't matter. You could top coat the upper surface with a gloss medium, or Testors gloss lacquer, but if you look at a pile of sugar, it really is not shiny. You just get a few random sparkles when the light hits it right.

~michael