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holidays

DIY candy lights

by Brittany Jepsen

My mom always had new and exciting ways of transforming our house during the holidays. One of the most memorable transformations was a real-life candy land. I specifically remember her singularly putting up these candy garlands on the second story of our house, which now, years later, I see deserves major applause. She took simple materials and created a sweet wonderland any gingerbread man would be jealous of.

Materials Needed: corsage boxes, string of lights, scissors, wire or pipe cleaners to fasten, wire cutters, cellophane rolls in different colors, tape

Step 1: Cut a piece of cellophane about 18x 18″.

Step 2: Wrap the string of lights in the cellophane piece making sure you leave the beginning and end of the string out so it can connect to your power source and/or the next piece of candy. This will create the “crackle” of the candy.

Step 3: Put the package of lights into the corsage box and secure it closed.

Step 4: Wrap a larger piece of cellophane around the corsage box making sure there’s enough left over on each end to create the candy shape. Tape it close on one side.

Step 5: Using the wire or pipe cleaners, twist to secure at each end of each side of the corsage box.

Step 6: Leave a few lights in between each “piece” of candy and then repeat until the strand runs out. Use as many strands as you’d like for the space you intend to use.

Step 7: Plug in and watch your candy come alive!

photos by elove photos

  1. Jennifer

    December 1, 2011

    AHHHHHH!! I love THESE!!!

  2. Molly

    December 1, 2011

    wow! I can’t wait to try this 🙂

  3. Chris

    December 1, 2011

    these are just magical! I wouldn’t mind having them up all year 😉

  4. Annabelle

    December 1, 2011

    That is a super cute idea! Willy Wonka meets Christmas! It looks like it’s fun to make too.

  5. Hannah @ Sparrow + Spark!

    December 1, 2011

    So so cute! A great project. I love sweets/ candy because of all the colours!

  6. Peaches

    December 1, 2011

    SHUT UP. This is nothing short of amazing! I am doing this one for sure! Just moved into a big midwestern house with a front porch and no clue how to dress it for a funkadellic Christmas….until now! THANK YOU!

  7. Holly

    December 1, 2011

    This is so fun – I might have to try it. And a very clear tutorial – thank you!

  8. Carrie

    December 1, 2011

    Clever lady! Hope to have an excuse to try this sometime…

  9. love+cupcakes

    December 1, 2011

    Oh, I would have loved this as a kid…heck, I love it now! What a wonderful way to make the holidays or even a birthday party more festive. Thanks for the inspiration!

  10. Lia

    December 1, 2011

    such a yummy idea!

  11. Shandra

    December 1, 2011

    These are great! However, there’s no danger from having the lights wrapped in cellophane over a long period of time? Obviously I wouldn’t leave them on when nobody’s home but what about throughout an evening?

  12. Misha

    December 1, 2011

    o.my.gosh! My son would just die! He told me that we MUST have white lights on the outside of our house and color lights on the inside. I think these would count!! ahggg. Thank you so much for sharing.

  13. Leah @ Freutcake

    December 1, 2011

    Love this idea! So fun for a kid party.

  14. Mary

    December 1, 2011

    this is remarkable!

  15. kait

    December 1, 2011

    Is there any reason to be concerned about the lights overheating after being wrapped in cellophane and then boxed in plastic?

  16. nichole

    December 1, 2011

    Holy amazing! Those are so cool.

  17. Rachael

    December 1, 2011

    Wow! These are great!!!

  18. Melissa@Julia's Bookbag

    December 1, 2011

    This IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!

  19. Charlotte

    December 1, 2011

    This is really clever and pretty but is it a house fire waiting to happen?

  20. brittany

    December 1, 2011

    We didn’t have a problem with overheating years and years ago when we did this and I’d assume lights would be even better these days…

  21. Danyelle

    December 1, 2011

    Thank you for sharing such a creative idea! It’s fabulous!

  22. Kimberly Jones

    December 1, 2011

    Absolutely gorgeous! And so creative! I really love these festive lights!

  23. Style and Bride

    December 1, 2011

    Hi There so love to share this with our readers.. Thats AMAZING.. big tick from the team at S & B

  24. Kelli Anderson

    December 1, 2011

    yayayayay! so beautiful, cheery and bright!

  25. Janie Carpenter

    December 1, 2011

    The decorations are beautiful, I will try this for myself… Thanks for Sharing

  26. Misha

    December 1, 2011

    I think we are going to put these up in our church window! If we do, I’ll send a picture :))

  27. Patricia (@CichLee)

    December 1, 2011

    Yummy and bright!

  28. Michelle Cummings

    December 1, 2011

    I just love this idea! Even for a birthday party!

  29. Lissa (Bellenza)

    December 2, 2011

    Kids would absolutely love this! Thanks for the great tutorial. 🙂

  30. Annie

    December 2, 2011

    This is adorable! 🙂 LOVE IT!

  31. Stephanie

    December 2, 2011

    This is amazing!
    It seems a little expensive considering number of boxes and strands of lights you’ll have to use, but I’d say it’s definitely worth it in this case 🙂

  32. Teresa

    December 2, 2011

    Great idea! I wish I had the materials to do this, but maybe next year.

    Possibly dumb question- I have trouble navigating this site. There doesn’t seem to be a way to go to the “next” or “previous” post. Am I missing something?! Help!

  33. Molly @thewaffler

    December 2, 2011

    One word: cool!

  34. Lana

    December 2, 2011

    What a fun and whimsical idea ~ love it! 🙂

  35. Stephanie

    December 2, 2011

    Love these. I have seen these before in decorations, and now I know how they are made. Thanks for the tutorial.

  36. shutterbug

    December 2, 2011

    What a sweet idea! I love it! I would love to see more photos of how the rest of your house is decorated!

  37. Lot

    December 2, 2011

    How you come up with these is beyond me. So clever!

  38. Jules

    December 2, 2011

    Love this! I’d definitely use LED lights and in my neck of the woods, plastic deli containers.

  39. Irene

    December 2, 2011

    Genius!

  40. Pear Tree Greetings

    December 2, 2011

    Wow! These a such a cute idea! Oh what fun 🙂 -Dani

  41. Lindsay

    December 2, 2011

    This is so fantastic! I’ve always wanted my house to look like a real life gingerbread house =]

  42. Martha

    December 3, 2011

    amazeballs!

  43. Teresia

    December 4, 2011

    Love it! Love it! LOVE IT!!!

Comments are Closed

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