The candy cane is a classic Christmas symbol. In the Christian faith the colors of the candy cane represent the red of Jesus’ blood shed for us and the white represents our purity through the forgiveness of our sins. The shape of the candy cane reminds us of a shepherd’s staff and that Jesus is our shepherd. There are a variety of cute candy cane crafts like reindeer ornaments but I recently saw a new and fun way to decorate for Christmas using candy canes.
We recently attended a company Christmas party where the merry hostess wanted to have candles burning on each of the two food tables as well as the four dining tables. She and her son created unique candleholders made of candy canes wrapped together with a thin Christmas garland that was white with little red balls and green stars. These creative centerpieces were the talk of the party and the guests thrilled to be able to take one home as well. While the basic construction remains the same, the wrap can be chosen to create the theme from kid-friendly, to simple to formal.
Materials for one Christmas candy cane candle holder craft:
1 dripless candle
9 candy canes in wrappers
1 rubber band
Ribbon or thin Christmas garland
Directions for creating a Christmas candy cane candle holder craft:
After you’ve collected all of your materials, put on some Christmas music and let the process be as fun as the final product. Because of all of the materials used, it is imperative that you use dripless candles.
Stand nine candy canes upside down around a dripless candle with the stems flat against the candle with the curves pointing outward. Don’t worry about perfect symmetry yet. Secure the candy canes with a rubber band and then you can work to straighten up the arrangement. Now tied a ribbon or thin garland over the rubber band.
You can tuck in a cinnamon stick or a sprig of holly, tie on some jingle bells or what ever floats your holiday boat to make your candy cane candleholders unique.
After your Christmas breakfast, open house, party or dinner, the candy cane holders can be disassembled and candy canes can be given to young guests, hung on the tree, stuffed into stockings or tied onto gift packages. These also make wonderful hostess gifts or teacher gifts too. Candy canes are a gift, like love, that just keeps on giving.