i'm making a cake that i want to spell out the name with chocolate candy melts and put them on the end of a lollipop stick to stick into the cake. I've never done this before. can you give me any insight on how to do this. like when is it ideal to put the stick into the chocolate? And anything else i should know. seems pretty basic to me, but i'm sure i'm missing something.

eta...and also what's the best way to color the sticks? food marker? or is there a good website to order colored candy sticks from. ? the cake is next month so i've got time

TIA!

When I do my letters, I mold or pipe them, let them harden. Then, attach the stick to the back with a dab of melted chocolate.
As for coloring the sticks, a food marker could work...or you could dip the whole stick in chocolate to match.
I've also used thin wooden/bamboo skewers for the same purpose, but they are less 'visible' on the cake. That's what I did on my Yankees Graduation cake with the stars, music notes and letters, the stars on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake, etc. HTH!
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1398563

.moving to Candy making.

When you pipe the letters with chocolate you could also add a little "stick" of your own with the chocolate. Like under the letter add a little extra, then stick that into the cake. Then the whole thing will be edible.

You could make the post as thick and as long as you want/need =)

If the kids are going to eat them, they wouldn't be able to pick them up...
And they tend to like the lolli sticks anyhow. They are so easy to work with, you can easily break them to the right height for your cake, too.
I also would not recommend coloring the sticks if the kids are going to get them - too messy!

You could wrap the sticks in some kind of food safe tape/paper, etc. Even the paper meant for covering boards? Depends on what you want them to look like.