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DIY Candy Cane Ornaments with Fabric Scraps

Make these DIY candy cane ornaments out of fabric scraps! You can reuse these year after year. So perfect for hanging on the Christmas tree, a holiday garland, or decorating gifts.

Skills Required: Beginner. If you’re a beginning crafter, you can easily accomplish this project. No sewing required.

diy candy cane ornaments

My husband always likes to buy a bunch of candy canes to hang on the tree for Christmas. While that’s good and fun, I don’t like being stuck with a ton of candy canes every year after the holiday. I’m not really a big fan of them. I think it’s the shrink wrap. Haha!

I thought it would be fun to make some Christmas ornaments out of fabric scraps that I had laying around, and came up with these DIY candy cane ornaments. Don’t worry, we still got to put some real ones on the tree too!

candy cane ornament craft

To make your own 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
  • Scissors
Strip of white fabric and strip of red fabric

Cut a piece of wire seven inches long. I’m not sure how thick this wire is since the spools aren’t labeled. Just make sure it’s something that will hold its shape being hung on the tree.

Wire and wire cutters

Hot glue the ends of a red and white strip of fabric to one end of the wire.

Red and white fabric strips glued to the top of the wire

Things will get a little tricky here, but I will do my best to explain. This is basically the same concept as a rope braid, so if you have done one before, you are ahead of the game.

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.

Twisting the fabric while wrapping it

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.

Wrapping red and white fabric strips around wire

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.

Piece of wire with red and white fabric strips twisted around it

Now, simply bend the top over to make a candy cane shape.

Bending the wire into a candy cane shape

That’s it! I’ll admit it’s a little tricky at first, but once you get a rhythm going, it’s easier. I love how they look hanging on the Christmas tree! My kids do too. Which, they’re also perfect Christmas ornaments for kids! Everyone in the family will love making them.

DIY candy cane ornament hanging on a tree branch

Get the printable how to card for this project below.

Yield: 2 ornaments

DIY Candy Cane Ornaments

candy cane ornament craft

Learn how to make candy cane themed ornaments you can hang from a tree - with wire and fabric scraps! Easy and reusable.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Active Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $0

Materials

  • Scraps of red and white fabric cut into 1 x 11 inch strips
  • Jewelry wire

Tools

  • Wire cutters
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks
  • Scissors

Instructions

  1. Cut a piece of wire seven inches long.
  2. Hot glue the ends of a red and white strip of fabric to one end of the wire.
  3. Start by twisting both the red and white fabric AWAY from the wire. As you do each of these steps, keep twisting the fabric towards the bottom, the same way you did before.
  4. Take the red piece of fabric and bring it to the top, over the wire. Next bring the white fabric to the top, over the wire.
  5. Bring the red fabric under the wire, to the bottom. Then bring it back over the wire to the top again.
  6. Bring the white fabric under the wire and to the bottom. Then bring the white fabric over the wire, to the top again.
  7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 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.
  8. Bend the tip over to create a candy cane.

Notes

I had all the materials on hand, so the project was free for me. It's hard to estimate cost due to the number you would produce to be on your tree.

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If you love making projects for holiday decorating, try these other ideas on for size:

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