Jumbo Fabric Wrapped DIY Candy Canes

This tutorial will show you how to make and embellish jumbo wood candy canes that are wrapped with red ticking fabric for a cute Christmas decoration.

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I've been doing a lot of Christmas DIYs and crafting this year and it has been so much fun! The hardest part is trying to come up with ideas that are new. I don't think there's really a new idea under the sun, but I'm talking about inspired ideas that I haven't seen mass produced!

Click HERE to see all my Christmas DIYs


This year I've been loving red and white ticking stripe fabric and have used it already to match the cutest batch of DIY tattered candy canes. These candy canes are the size of regular candy canes and they've been fun to add to the little tree in my kitchen. I'm still in the process of writing up the tutorial, but I do have a video that shows you exactly how to make them. Click HERE for the video tutorial.

These jumbo candy canes are along those same lines, with the same look and vintage feel, but they're much bigger. Sometimes you need a Christmas decoration that is BIG, and these candy canes are so easy to make!

How to Make Fabric Wrapped Jumbo Candy Canes

This guide will show you step by step how to make jumbo, fabric wrapped candy canes to use in your Christmas decorating. Further down the page you'll find examples of how I've decorated with them in my home.

Supplies

You will need the following supplies to make jumbo fabric wrapped candy canes. You can use any fabric you like, and you can omit the padding if you don't want a padded look to your wood candy canes.

* fabric used for this craft should be somewhat sturdy


Cutting the candy cane shapes

I don't have pictures of this process, but I free hand drew some candy canes shapes onto 1/4" plywood, and Mr DIY cut them out with his jigsaw. I sanded the edges to remove any splinters. They're far from perfect but much of the roughness is going to be disguised in the next steps.

Adding padding

The padding is optional, but I like it because it covers the edges of the wood candy canes, which are fairly rough. It also will disguise the color of the wood so you have a neutral base to add your decorative fabric to.

Cut the batting into 2-3" wide strips. You're going to need multiple strips to completely cover the wood candy cane cutout.


Hot glue one end of a batting strip to the end of the wood candy cane. Hold in place to let the glue set. Then start wrapping the batting around the candy cane, overlapping slightly. When you get to the end, glue it in place.


Continue in this manner, hot gluing strips of batting to the wood candy cane, until it is completely covered. It will look like this.


Wrapping with fabric

Tear or cut your fabric strips into strips 2-3" wide. I find that tearing the fabric is easier and will give you perfectly frayed edges on all sides! If you do tear it, you will have to remove all the strings. Simply run your hand down the strip, and the loose strings will bunch up. Pull them off and discard. Or save them and use them to make this white shabby textured pumpkin!

Start gluing the fabric to the candy cane in the same manner as the batting. I recommend starting at one of the ends and literally gluing the strip down along the edge of an end, then sandwiching that as you begin to wrap the fabric around the candy cane. See the images below for details.




Tips to keep in mind

  1. Try to keep the fabric going in the same direction, with the same amount of overlap - especially if you're using a striped fabric.
  2. Holding the fabric tight as you're wrapping will ensure it stays put, there's no need to use hot glue except at the ends.
  3. If you want your jumbo candy cane to look primitive, keep reading for my secret ingredient to instantly age your fabric!

You will continue wrapping the fabric strips until the candy cane is covered, gluing down the end. Your candy cane should look like this.


Embellishing

You can leave the fabric wrapped candy canes as they are, they are super cute already. The padding layer makes them look soft.

I might actually have to use these for Valentines Day because how cute is this!


I really do think a little embellishing just takes them up a whole 'nother level though!

I used a variety of things to embellish my jumbo candy canes:


I tied a nice big drop cloth bow to each of my jumbo candy canes (I made 3). I love the texture and weight of canvas drop cloth, it is amazing for crafting with! It adds that cottage farmhouse feel to your crafts.

I also tore some smaller strips of drop cloth that I had previously stained with coffee. Using clear rubber stamps, I stamped the word MERRY onto the strip. You could also use a piece of cardstock for this step.

I gathered some faux cedar clippings, added a berry and a rusted bell and glued everything to the center of my drop cloth bow. Just these simple embellishments make this wood candy cane feel very Christmasey. Another one of my DIY candy canes got an embellishment I found at the dollar store, I just added a bow to it!


How to add instant age to fabric

Remember that secret ingredient I mentioned above? If you love primitive crafts and decorations, you will love this tip! Just take some cheap cinnamon and sprinkle it onto the fabric. Rub it with dry hands and shake to remove excess. You will have instantly aged your fabric without messy stains! 

See the before and after on these tattered ticking striped candy canes below. Add as much or as little of the cinnamon as you want to adjust the ageing. A bonus is that your project will smell amazing too! If you want to see how to make these small tattered candy canes, click HERE to watch the video!


Decorating with jumbo candy canes

Here are some of the ways I've used these DIY candy canes in my home for Christmas.

I hung one on the wall hooks above the bed in my red and white cottage Christmas bedroom. This was a great way to bring some Christmas color to this wall with a single piece of decor.



I hung one as a Christmas tree topper from the tree in my office. I love using unusual items to top my decorated trees, I have a great article with 13 Christmas tree topper ideas HERE.



The last candy cane is just propped up as an embellishment in the middle of a Christmas vignette in my office.


I'm sure you can come up with other ideas to display these large candy canes in your home! If you want to use them outdoors, you'll need to use either outdoor fabric, or wrap them in a red striped plastic table cover, like I did with these outdoor peppermint candy pillows on my front porch one Christmas.

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Comments

  1. This fabric wrapped candy canes is so cute! What a nice craft!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice craft Cindy! Keep up your nice work! What would be next?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I cannot get over your creativity! I love these and hope I remember these for next year. Even by pinning, I get overwhelmed with ideas and do the same ol' thing. Super cute and so fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cindy, my Pinterest boards are out of control!

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