Luck of the Owls

Just before Valentine's Day I saw this owl  sweet treat project from Sugar Swings:

However, the owl body was made from a heart-shaped York Peppermint patty, and I figured like many amazing things (caffeinated Crystal Light, Hulu, the Nordic Ware factory warehouse, endless supplies of cheap dutch-pressed cocoa, etc., etc.), it would only be available stateside.  BUT!  I had forgotten the wonder of Shopper Drug Mart, which was selling bags of the patties at a serious discount after Valentine's Day.

Obviously, I bought a few bags, but since Valentine's day had passed, I needed to come up with a new project and given the time of year, St Patrick's Day owls seemed like the obvious choice. Like Sugar Swings, I used M&Ms for the eyes, with the pupils drawn on in edible ink.  Candy-covered chocolates served as the beaks.  And instead of tootsie rolls covered in fondant for the wings, I used yellow candy melts (leftover from the claws of the recent owl cupcake project....) to free-hand draw wings, which I then painted gold with some mint extract and gold luster dust. 

 
Rushika came to help with the assembly line, and we attached all the pieces together with some melted mint-chocolate, and voila: pepperminty cuteness.