Easy Candy Cane Beaded Ornament Craft

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Making Christmas ornaments with kids is a great family tradition. This candy cane beaded ornament is perfect for younger kids and really easy to make!

This is definitely the year our family is starting many Christmas traditions. It is just so much fun to experience the magic of the holiday season through the eyes of a 2-year old, who for the first time, is comprehending that there is actually something to get excited about.

Making Christmas-themed crafts is a great tradition to start. Making Christmas ornaments together is particularly fantastic because an ornament made this year will hopefully adorn our Christmas tree throughout Sweet Pea’s childhood.

A fantastic ornament to start with is this simple beaded candy cane ornament. This ornament is really so simple that even a young 2-year old could have a blast making it with you!

What you will need:

Red or White pipe cleaners (or chenille stems)
White and red tri beads (or pony beads if you prefer)
Scissors or wire cutters

How to make the beaded candy cane ornament

Twist two same-colored pipe cleaners together and offset them so there’s about 2 inches of just one hanging off of each end.

Place a bead (the same color as your pipe cleaner) halfway onto the one the two-inch end and fold the outside inch in, so the ends meet.

String beads on the pipe cleaner in a red/white pattern (I did 17 alternating color sets of 3 – so 51 beads in total).

Once you have it to your desired length, cut one of the two pipe cleaners right at the end of the last bead and trim the second pipe cleaner to about half an inch past the last bead.

Then wrap the excess around the pipe cleaner between the last and second-to-the-last beads tightly.

Curl the pipe cleaner into a candy cane shape and you’re done!

Get Your 2-year Old Involved

This was really the best part. I started the ornament, but after that my daughter did most of the work. Since she didn’t have a lot of experience with candy canes, I instructed her to select a red or white bead.

I held the pipe cleaner steady as she stuck the bead on and then threaded it down to the end. The entire process took maybe 10 minutes. I will say that after the first candy cane, my daughter’s attention span had moved onto other things. However, I was impressed by her eye-hand coordination. This simple craft turns out to be a great fine motor skill activity. Bonus!

Do You Love This candy cane beaded ornament craft? Check Out These Christmas Craft Ideas Your Kids Will Love Too!

8 Comments

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What a fantastic activity for toddlers and a beautiful ornament for the tree with memories attached to it.

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Pingback: 10 Days of a Kid-Made Christmas

Love that it is easy enough for a 2-yr old to make it! What a perfect first DIY ornament 🙂

Sweet Pea did such a great job. The ornament is so very cute!

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Easy Candy Cane Beaded Ornament Craft