Open the gum paste and drop in 15-20 drops of peppermint oil. Knead it together until your kitchen smells like a candy cane forest.

Split the gum paste in half, then drop a bit of red coloring paste into one of the halves. Knead until the red coloring is fully mixed into one half. TIP: grab yourself a pair of kitchen gloves befores you get going.

Split each mound of gum paste into two.

Roll into four thick ropes, then place them together, cut the roll in half, then roll into two long, thing ropes.

You want your ropes to be about 1/2 inch in diameter. Work quickly to keep the exterior of the rope from drying out and looking crumbly. Working on a long piece of parchment or cutting board to protect any workspace from bleeding dye.

With a super-sharp knife, slice the ropes into 1/4" pieces. They might get squished a bit, so gently press them into rounds to make pretty little dots of mints.

Toss all those mints on a baking sheet and allow them to airdry for 48 hours before packaging them.

We purchased a pack of 10 metal bead tins, washed and dried them thoroughly, then hand printed labels for each tin.