"40 Sucks" Bouquet

So there is a party coming up this weekend for a family members on Justin's dad's side. Anyways I have been waiting to make a lollipop bouquet. Alan is turning 40 and what better way to celebrate than a 40 sucks lollipop display to have out for the kids and adults.

I got this idea from my Aunt Linda. She made one for my Aunt Donna for her 50's birthday party. I never got a close look at it but i got the gist of it. I decided I wanted a tin pail for the base. Easier said than done. I wasn't willing to spend a lot on the pail; so i ventured to Christmas Tree Shop. There I had no luck and especially not with an overtired 3 year old having a meltdown.

I went to AC Moore's and found a clearance stars and stripes tin pail... too bad i never got a picture of it before i painted it.
I went with the flat black spray paint and silver. I tried the black on the bottom and then the silver on top...
but quickly went back to my original plan of black on the top.
So I applied another coat of black... oh the joys of being indecisive...

I purchased a round piece of foam and a small square piece to fit in the middle. It didn't sit right so I put a target bag under the middle to balance it out. And start filling in your lollipops. Tootsie pops were my choice but any kind will work.

I kept adding pops until i had all 40 in the tin.
I wasn't happy with how it looked. Maybe some skittles or M&M's. I wanted to complete this so i pulled out all the lollipops and started over. Only this time I covered the foam with silver tissue paper.

The sticks of the lollipops wouldn't go through the tissue so I used a skewer and poked a hole and then inserted the lollipop stick.
I did this for all the lollipops. End result was this:

I haven't quite finished this bouquet. I plan on adding something else to it and a small tag stating "40 SUCKS." I will post more pictures upon completion.

Share your ideas.
EDITED TO ADD FINISHED PICTURES:

Here is the completed '40 Sucks Bouquet':
I added in a larger lollipop that i found at Party City. And here is a close up of the ribbon I hot glued together. I wish I had more time to do something more creative with the ribbons.





Edited to add: