Old-Fashioned Candy Christmas Tree

Learn how to make a cute candy Christmas tree out of a foam cone.

The other day my mom was telling me about this candy Christmas tree that she remembered from HER grandma’s house at Christmas time. She said it was a foam cone shape covered in wrapped candies that were held in place by straight pins. She had many fond memories of this Christmas craft that her grandma had made for the grandkids and I just thought it was so sweet that I decided to recreate one and surprise her with it.

To make your own candy Christmas tree, you will need the following supplies.

I used a 24 inch cone and it took 297 candies to completely cover it. If you use a 12 or 18 inch cone, you won’t need quite so many pins or candies. You can make this candy Christmas tree as big or small as you’d like!

Instructions

Step 1: Poke a straight pin through the plastic of a wrapped candy.

Step 2: Poke the pin into the foam cone.

I made a swirl design with the candies on my tree, so I started at the bottom with one type of candy and made a swirling row around the cone until I reached the top. Then I started with the next row and just kept going until the whole foam cone was covered.

You can also do horizontal rows of candy if you don’t want to attempt the swirl design. Or you could do a completely random design with the candy. Anything goes!

Step 3: Hot glue a wooden skewer to the back of a wooden star or ornament or decoration of some type and push the skewer in to the top of the cone to finish off your candy tree.

And that’s all it takes to make your own candy Christmas tree! This tree actually looks really impressive, but it was really easy to make. I love how it turned out!

My mom told me that growing up they would just remove the candy they wanted, then push the pin back into the foam in the place where the candy was taken from and throughout the month her grandma would refill any holes in the tree.

Candy Christmas Tree Video Tutorial

I was named after my great Grandma Jen, so it felt really special to be making one of her Christmas crafts. If you’re wondering if these silly little crafts you make for your family matter, I can tell you they do! My mom now has grandkids of her own, but at Christmas she still thinks of Grandma Jen and her candy Christmas tree. And now I will get to tell my kids about their great great grandmother when they pull a candy from the candy Christmas tree. I love that a craft can become a tie between generations and a way to bring families together.

Merry Christmas and Happy Crafting! <3