Candy Cane Tutorial

The Christmas department of my local Myer inspired me on Friday. There were a bunch of handmade-looking decorations – that really were not handmade at all!

Of course I thought: I could make some like that!

So with that in mind, this morning I dug out a few things and created a tutorial for you, my lovely readers, so that you too can have handmade tree decorations this year.

What you will need:

• pipe cleaners – I used 3 because that’s all I could find!
• wool – I used red
• small buttons – mine are clear business shirt buttons
• needle and thread to sew the buttons on – or you could use a hot glue gun
• wool needle – again you could use a hot glue gun instead

What to do:

1. Decide how big you want your candy cane and trim your pipe cleaners. Mine is about 15cm long, and I used three pipe cleaners twisted together to give it greater thickness.
2. Lay the end of your wool along the pipe cleaner for about 3 cm, then start wrapping the wool around the “cane” gradually covering the loose end and holding it in place.
3. Continue wrapping your wool all the way to the other end.
4. Use a wool needle to tuck the loose end in, or a hot glue gun to finish the end neatly.
5. Glue or stitch little buttons randomly over the candy cane.
6. If you want it to hang, add a piece of wool as the hanger.

Here’s a picture of my inspiration:

Other ideas:

• For sparkle, use sequins instead of buttons
• For a smooth finish, use satin ribbon instead of wool
• Choose colours to coordinate with your other tree decorations or your Christmas colour scheme
• Wrap ribbon or contrasting wool over the top of your wool to create a stripy look
• Skip the hanging thread and use a few in a bowl as a table decoration
• Attach to gifts with gift tags
• Use variegated wool to create colourful canes
• Fluffy wool would create an interesting texture too!