Ooh, ooh I second this question. What a fun idea!

I'm not sure how hot the lolly pop mix gets but could you use something like the pampered chef icing gun? (where you load whatever into the tube, add a tip and then use the trigger to slowly dispense a line of what is in the tube) it works like a pastry bag but is easier to control and should tolerate more heat and you could use it to pipe out the swirl

hmmm, I think it would be difficult to make yourself in the traditional whirly pop fashion, I believe they use a hot extruder to form these meaning there is a heated device which the candy comes directly out of and is swirled into the lollipop shape (the candy will harded up pretty fast, too fast to transfer to a pastry bag and squirt out at least.... but maybe you're really quick :-). I would suggest making two different colors of candy, I've never made white, but white and some transparent color like red, blue, yellow, or all of them. You could then pour the colors into the lollipop molds and swirl them together to make the whirly pop appearance. you could even use varying sized circular cookie cutters to make concentric circle indentations like on a whirly pop.

These are more like candy canes than homemade lollipops---here is a recipe from Martha Stewart.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/peppermint-icicles?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/candy-cane-recipes#slide_1

No picture, but this sounds like them

http://www.ehow.com/how_4898249_make-swirl-lollipops.html

I know that making them would be really fun, but I have no idea how to. But I did find these (3" diam.) for $4.99 per doz--I don't know how many you need, but these seem reasonable, and you could tie a pretty tag around each one with your names and the date: http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=5/754&prodCatId=388673&mode=Browsing&erec=0&sp=true&categoryFromSearch=true&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&tabId=1&Ne=90000&rd=lollipops&sd=Large+Swirl+Pops#RL0

The big thing to ask yourself here is how experienced are you with sugar? Unless you fairly easily know your way around a candy thermometer (you mentioned making plain lollys before so thats a start) but try something like pulled taffy first to see if you'd even be comfortable amping up the temp and burn factor with hard candy. The big thing with these candies is pulling it til its aerated and white then roping it all while sererating out chunks and quickly coloring and rolling it into the rope for stripes. The pulling is hooooot. Watch a show like unwrapped and they show all the time examples of professionally how they're made. A lot callused handed guys!

Honestly, I think this would be best left to the pros. Any candy site you go to like this:

http://www.candywarehouse.com/whirlypops.html

They're less than a buck a lolly and I can't imagine your wedding is *that* chocked full of kids. I'd just buy em.

http://www.cheftalk.com/forum/thread/3434/pulled-sugar-for-dummies

Start here.

I wrote out a HUGE comment about all the stuff you'll need and what you don't really need, then my computer ate it!

The big thing I have to say is, don't bother buying an actual heat lamp. Just go to the hardware store and buy a heat lamp then buy any old desk lamp that the bulb will fit in. Don't waste your money on an expensive heat lamp that you don't really need.

And for your practice, just use plain uncolored sugar. Don't use flavors and color before you have what you're doing figured out.

Be aware that it's kinda dangerous to work with this. It's like playing with molten lava. Safety first!

I do sugar work all the time, if you want you can email me some questions, if you have any

qchan52 (at) gmail (dot) com

Hope it all goes smoothly for you.

Please do not do the icing gun or pastry bag thing - your sugar is going to be 250+ degrees F and then it's going to harden quickly. Your stuff will be ruined and you'll probably get burned.

As a parent, I hope you don't succeed! My kids are pretty well behaved normally but at a party or wedding they are wild with excitement. I don't need a huge sugar rush in addition to the cake and snacks.

Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll look over te recipes and give it a try. Can't hurt!

Thanks all.

And P.S. 25% of our guest list is children so 25x$1=$25 - that's a lot of money for a novelty. Plus, the wedding is super casual and outdoors so the mythical "sugar rush" (science has proven that this is not based on any real facts) is not a problem. Thanks for your input though.

Not at all saying this in a bad way but for a wedding, 25 bucks in favors for 25 people is a lot of money? You must have a reeeeally tight budget!

I'm sorry to say, but if you're making them yourself you're probably going to end up spending that much or more in ingredients alone. Sticks, sugar, coloring, flavoring, something to wrap them in. It all adds up.

I agree with jmorri26. Plus the time.

couldn't you just... pull sugar and then wind it into the shape before it cools? Only special tool you might need is a candy thermometer and probably a silpat. I can't imagine doing that on parchment... ouch.

Before you try the ehow recipe, read the comments. It looks like the recipe doesn't work (which is likely given how much Demand Studios pays its writers!) My advice is to try making chocolate lollipops... $3 for poly or cellophane bags, $20 for 5 lbs of chocolate wafers, $3 for a mold, and maybe about $5 for sticks, plus some pretty ribbons to tie off the bags. You'd need about 4 hours and a microwave to make the lollipops; maybe more time if you decide to use colored white chocolate (of course try it ahead of time.) I do this all the time for my son's school parties and they come out beautifully. I've made hard sugar lollipops before too (not swirly) but they aren't as tasty or popular. Warning, homemade lollipops will melt in warm weather so you will need a cooler if it will be outside. Good luck!

Noone else here is imagining a dozen kids running around your spring wedding with giant lollipops and your once-white dress. :)