My husband always likes to buy a bunch of candy canes to hang on the tree for Christmas. It’s fun for the kids, but I don’t like being left with a bunch of candy canes at the end of the holiday. I’m not a huge fan of candy canes, otherwise I might feel differently. I thought it would be fun to make some out of fabric scraps, and I came up with these candy cane ornaments. Don’t worry, we will still get to put some real ones on the tree too. Also make sure to take a look at all of my other homemade Christmas ornament tutorials! And check out all of my tween and teen craft ideas!
I admit that these are a little tricky to make at first, but once you get a rhythm going, it’s easier. It’s similar to doing a rope braid, so if you know how to do that, you’re ahead of the game.
To make your own candy cane ornaments, you’ll need:
- scraps of red and white fabric cut into 1 x 11 inch strips
- jewelry wire
- wire cutters
- hot glue gun and glue sticks
I’m not sure how thick this wire is since the spools aren’t labeled. Just make sure it’s something that will hold it’s shape being hung on the tree. Cut a piece that is 7 inches long.
Hot glue the ends of a red and white strip of fabric to one end of the wire.
Things will get a little tricky here, but I will do my best to explain. Start by twisting both the red and white fabric AWAY from the wire. In other words, the wire is on top in this photo, so twist down towards the bottom.
Braiding Steps:
As you do each of these steps, keep twisting the fabric towards the bottom, the same way you did before.
Step 1: Take your red piece of fabric and bring it to the top, over the wire. Next bring your white fabric to the top, over the wire.
Step 2: Bring the red fabric under the wire, to the bottom. Then bring it back over the wire to the top again.
Step 3: Next bring the white fabric under the wire and to the bottom. Then bring the white fabric over the wire, to the top again.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you make it to the end of the wire. Trim off the excess fabric, and hot glue the end of the braid to the wire to secure it.
Now, all you have to do is bend the top over to make a candy cane shape.
I love how they look hanging on the Christmas tree!
Hope you liked these candy cane ornaments!