Candy Christmas Ornaments

Are you looking for a sweet way to decorate for Christmas this year? Try these cute candy Christmas ornaments that look like peppermint balls. They are so easy and festive!

Whoo-hoo! It’s everyone’s favorite time of year again… Christmas time! Ok, well maybe not everyone, but it is mine! This year I was super excited to decorate for Christmas and craving some traditional colors for my Christmas decor. What is more traditional than red and white? To make it a little more interesting, I added in some fun and adorable candy Christmas ornaments!

I will be sharing all of these sweet DIY candy ornaments in a four-part candy Christmas ornament series over the next couple of weeks. They all turned out so good and look wonderful on the tree. I will also be sharing my tree with you at the end of the series!

DIY Candy Ball Ornaments

In my four-part series, we will be starting with the easiest ornament, these candy ball ornaments. Really, I just wanted a red and white striped ornament on the tree but I thought I would add it into the series because they reminded me of peppermint candy balls as well. 😉

In addition to these candy ball ornaments, I will be sharing:

• Candy Cane Ornaments
• Lollipop Ornaments
• Felt Peppermint Ornaments

So make sure you stay tuned for those! They will go in order of easiest to hardest, but really none of them are too hard, some just take a little longer than others.

Candy Ornaments for the Christmas Tree

I may have been able to find some red and white striped ornaments at the store instead of making them, but I already had some of the red and white cord so I figured why not make some. 🙂 Plus, I really like the satin look of the twisted red and white cord. It gives the ornaments a more upscaled look and they honestly look like ones you would buy from a store like Pottery Barn or Anthropologie!

Watch the quick video

Don’t want to read all the instructions? I have included a video in this post showing you how to make these candy ball ornaments. If you can’t see the video, turn off your ad blocker. Also, if you ever want to slow down the video, just click on the three dots in the lower right hand corner of the video and you can change the playback speed. If you want more detailed instructions, continue reading.

Supplies to make Christmas candy ornaments

*There are links to products in this post that I use or are similar to products I use. If you buy something from one of these links, I may make a small commission (with no additional cost to you) from the purchase. I will not recommend anything that I would not buy myself.

• 2.75″ Foam Balls
• Red and White Twisted Cord – I got mine from Hobby Lobby but this link is a better deal, even when you get them for 40% off at Hobby Lobby. I used three spools of each color to make 6 ornaments, but this spool could make you 8 ornaments.
• Red embroidery thread
• Wood Beads – I used the 14 mm beads
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors

How to make peppermint ball ornaments

The balls were really easy to make, it is essentially just gluing the cord around the foam ball but I will still walk you through it and add some tips I found out when making them. The twisted cord that I used to make these ornaments unravels very quickly and easily, so when you cut the ends of the cord you have to add some hot glue to the end to stop the fraying. You could also try a lighter and fuse the end but I didn’t want any dark spots on the cording. 

To begin, start the red and white cord facing in opposite directions. Add a dab of hot glue onto the top of a foam ball and place the ends of the cord next to each other. 

Taking one of the colors and wrap it around the starting point and glue it down. Then repeat with the other color until both cords are together.

Add more hot glue underneath the last row of cord and holding both colors of the cord at the same time, wrap the cords into the hot glue. Press the cords down so they lay flat against the foam ball and so there is no gap between the layers of cord.

Continue this pattern as you work your way around the foam ball.

If you have some extra glue under the row, like in the picture below, just wipe it off with your fingers. It is usually cool enough by the time you get your row pressed down.

As you get closer to the bottom of the ball, you will be more nestling the cords into the previous row rather than wrapping them around.

How to finish the ornament

When you come to the end, start wrapping the red and white cord separately around each other. You will reach a point where you can’t wrap anymore, that is where you will cut the cord. You can fuse the ends with glue again or you can just stick them into the glue. Cut off any loose threads.

Your end should look similar to this, but if it doesn’t look as nice, don’t worry because we will cover it with a bead. 😉

Add a string to hang the ornament

To make this into an ornament, we need a string. I just added a wood bead on top with some embroidery thread. Cut a length of red embroidery thread to about 7-8 inches long and tie about four to five knots on the end. You want the knot to be big enough to just fit through the bead opening.

Use something to poke the knot through the bead, I used the back of an embroidery needle but anything small and thin would work.

Add some hot glue onto the top of the candy ornament. When you glue the bead down, make sure the knot is sticking out of the bead so that it will be glued down as well. Press the wood bead into the hot glue for a few seconds.

Now you have a candy ball ornament instead of just a candy ball. 🙂

I told you it was easy! I will be back soon to share the next installment of my Christmas candy ornaments. Until then, have a wonderful week!