Around 4 years ago my son made this Candy Cane Wreath for me. He’d seen the tutorial in a magazine (I think) and asked if I could buy candy canes so he could make it. Of course I said yes, because I always try to encourage my kids creativity! Today, he’s going to share with you How to Make a Candy Cane Wreath!
Well, I posted the wreath here, and my assistant recently pointed out to me that that post seemed to get a lot of traffic due to the wreath being pinned. So – on her recommendation (thanks Susan – you ROCK!!), I asked Caleb if he remembered how to do it and he did! I asked him to make another wreath and shoot a tutorial for me and he was excited to do it!
All of the pics from here forward are thanks to my very talented 14 year old son Caleb – isn’t he a handsome young man?! I linked up to our photographer here: New Website Design, New About Page & New Family Pics!
Alrighty… you’ll need around 20-24 candy canes, a hot glue gun, some 3/8″ ribbon and scissors for this project! Let’s get started…
*Don’t plan on eating the candy canes after this project – the glue could easily melt through the plastic and be ON the candy
Step one, take two candy canes and lay them down together with the long sides back to back. Use super glue to attach them to each other. Repeat this process again (and again and again)… but Caleb did them one set at a time. Then he laid the pairs next to each other to make sure they’d line up.
You’d think all candy canes would be made the same, but he ran across a few irregulars that threw off his overall pattern. Who knew?!
Now, attach the pairs together by gluing the “hooks” together and at the very bottom. Let those dry before moving on (it only takes a minute!).
Repeat, repeat, repeat…. until you get a complete circle and you’re almost done with your Candy Cane Wreath:
As you can see on the left side (there’s a gap) – these candy canes weren’t quite as uniform as the previous ones we used so the circle wouldn’t close all the way. That’s okay though – he made it work anyway! 🙂
Cut off small pieces of ribbon (5-6″ long) and begin tying them around the pairs of candy canes. As I’m writing up this tutorial, I’m realizing Caleb must have changed his mind as he worked. It looks like he initially had some pieces of candy canes filling in the gap at first – but then they disappeared in the final product.
It also looks like he started out doing bows, then decided to just do small knots. Really it’s up to you and how you want your wreath to look! Add a longer piece of ribbon at whichever side you want to be the top to hang it with and you’re done!
He left the ribbons longer on this one than the original (up top) and I think I like them trimmed better, but either way – it works and it’s such an easy project for a pretty, “sweet” wreath!
It’s really pretty hanging on our red front door 🙂
Do you like to do craft projects at Christmas? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this Candy Cane Wreath Tutorial!
Happy Crafting!
Rose
Wife to Richy. Mommy to 6 kids. Homeschool Teacher. Jesus Freak. Good Books. Baker. Friend. Loves to Laugh. Photographer. Chocolate Addict. Mathematician. Pink. Diet Dr. Pepper-aholic. Cook. Flip-Flops. Ponytails. Loud Music. Writer. Budget-er. Chocolate Milk. Pillow Hog. Late-night TV & Junk Food.
Your son did a great job with the wreath. I work with 8-14 year olds in 4H cake decorating and I am always amazed at the way they can accomplish what they set out to do.
Thank you – yes, kids really do well when we let them be creative!
Love this! I’m going to have a go myself…may try fitting some tinsel and a bauble in the middle too!
Thank you – that would be really pretty!
My residents love this, but ours all turned out unsteady and easily broken? It’s like the glue just wouldn’t hold tight enough? I read something about a kind of glue called G6300? In another post. I guess it’s a hardware store thing?
Mine is unstable too, I used hot glue as well.
Seems the middle ring isn’t “tough” enough so guess I’ll be looking for a “stabilizer”. Maybe a firm doily or a big center bow?
This wreath is for an elderly friend that really can’t store anything so I chose Candy Canes because I really think it will be ok in her head to throw it away after Christmas season is over.
I make these all the time. if you use E6000 and hot glue together it is awesome. <3
Very pretty and yet dimple.
Very nice. To stabilize the center, I took apart a ribbon spool and used the cardboard circle with the tube attached and placed it under the center circle. I used hot glue to secure the ends of the canes to the cardboard, then filled the tube with hot glue and placed a poinsettia in the middle.
Love this idea!