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This year, complete your holiday home decorating with a homemade Christmas wreath. This Christmas candy wreath is super easy and fun to make.

All you need to make your own super-sweet wreath is a styrofoam wreath base, some toothpicks, and a lot of gumdrops or spice drops!

This is a great holiday craft for the whole family, both kids and adults can participate in making these wreaths. The hardest thing is not to eat all those yummy gummy candies!

If you are ready to make your Christmas candy wreath, read on for the full step-by-step tutorial with pictures below.

Handmade gumdrop wreath hanging from a red ribbon. Text on image: DIY gumdrop candy Christmas wreath. Easy step-by-step tutorial. thatcraftsite.com.

DIY Christmas Candy Wreath Tips

Let’s start with a few helpful tips.

You will use lots of gumdrop candies, so if you are making a large wreath, make sure your ribbon or wreath hanger is strong enough to hold the weight of all those gummies.

Or do as I did, and use a smaller foam wreath ring. Saves time too!
These candy wreaths are inexpensive to make, and with some smart candy shopping, you can make them even cheaper. Check out the candy aisle at the dollar store during the holiday season, or use discount coupons at your local grocery store. For large or multiple wreaths, you can buy gumdrops in bulk.
Let the kids help to make these easy Christmas wreath decorations. Watch out with early elementary school students and preschoolers when handling the toothpicks, and of course, keep an eye out on all the gumdrops. If only I had a tip on how to keep the kids from eating all the candies…
To attach the sweets to the wreath, you’ll be breaking and pushing in toothpicks, so a thumb thimble can come in handy.
Play with the colors to make these candy wreaths for all occasions. Use only red gumdrops for Valentine’s day, mix all the fun colors for a birthday or baby shower.

You can put the gumdrops in a pattern or place them randomly, it’s up to you.
When the holiday season is over, wrap them in plastic wrap and keep them in a dry place. Over time, the gumdrops will harden. If you want to preserve your wreath even better, you can add some clear spray sealant when you’re done.

Make sure to hang your finished candy wreath high enough and well out of reach of young children. The finished wreaths are not intended to be eaten.

Collage of photos of making a candy wreath. Text on image: DIY gumdrop Christmas wreath. thatcraftsite.com.

How many Gumdrops do you need to make a Candy Wreath?

How many gummy candies (and toothpicks) you will need depends on how large the wreath is that you are making. Large is more, smaller is less. I know, obvious.

Don’t underestimate how many gumdrops you will need. It’s a good idea to grab an extra bag or two, especially if you want to use only a few colors from the bag.

The wreath you see in this step-by-step tutorial is a flat back 6.5″ foam wreath. I had to use a pound of gumdrops and about 90 toothpicks.

Most gumdrops come in bags of mixed colors, so start by separating the gumdrops by color. Skip this step if you are making a randomly mixed-color wreath using all the colors in the bag.

DIY Gumdrop Christmas Candy Wreath

Yield: 1 Christmas Candy Wreath

Active Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: Low

How do you make a candy wreath for Christmas? It is super easy and you only need a few materials!

Read on for the complete how-to tutorial.

Materials

Instructions

Carefully break the toothpicks with your fingers. This is easier and there will be fewer pieces flying around than when you would use scissors.
Break a bunch of toothpicks in half to start with. As you go along you can break more as needed.
Insert one end of a broken toothpick into the bottom of a gumdrop. Make sure the pointy end is facing out,
To speed things up, prepare a bunch of toothpick gummies before you start.
Push the gumdrop toothpicks into the inner circle of the styrofoam wreath.
Continue adding gumdrops around the wreath, row by row. Place them close together and space out the colors evenly.
Continue until the wreath is covered completely.
Finish your candy wreath with a ribbon around the top. Tie a bow and hang your handmade wreath.