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!

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!

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.

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.

• 1/4" plywood
• jigsaw
• detail sander with coarse grit sandpaper
• warm and natural cotton batting
• fabric of choice* (I used this red ticking stripe)
• hot glue
• embellishments
• fabric scissors

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

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.

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.

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!

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:

• strips of canvas drop cloth (you could use a coordinating ribbon)
• pieces of coffee stained drop cloth ( see how to do that HERE)
• alphabet stamps to spell out "MERRY"
• greenery
• red berries
• rusty jingle bells
• hot glue

How to add instant age to fabric

Decorating with jumbo candy canes

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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