These DIY Reindeer Candy Canes are an easy, quick, and fun Christmas craft for everyone. They make GREAT party treats, stocking stuffers, or simple, inexpensive gifts for classmates.

Two reindeer made out of candy canes with googly eyes, red pom pom noses, sparkly red bows, and twisted brown antlers out of pipe cleaners.

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I've been making these adorable DIY Reindeer Candy Canes for YEARS. They are my favorite Christmas craft and people always seem to enjoy them.

I even like to hang them on the Christmas tree as cute, handmade holiday ornaments. Or display them in a jar as an additional DIY Christmas decoration.

They're adorable, incredibly easy-to-make, and QUICK. I made almost a dozen in less than a half hour while watching Grey’s Anatomy... and that includes some teary eyed breaks.

For more Christmas crafts, check out:
- DIY Cinnamon Salt Dough Ornaments (No Applesauce)
- How to Make Salt Dough Ornaments (and Handprints)
- Christmas Pretzel Rods Recipe (includes how to make Reindeer and Snowmen)

DIY Reindeer Candy Cane Crafts

A frosted snowflake mason jar full of Reindeer Candy Cane Crafts, all with twisted brown antlers and big red pom pom noses.

These Candy Cane Reindeer are a holiday tradition of mine. I usually make them while watching Hallmark Christmas movies.

They are great as gift toppers, table decorations, party treats, stocking stuffers, and more.

In the past, I sent them as a little thank you gift with holiday orders from my etsy shop.

I also make a similar bag! Check it out at How to Make DIY Reindeer Gift Bags.

A completed Reindeer Brown Paper Bag Craft with large, complex antlers that are made out of twisted brown pipe cleaners, large adorable eyes, and a BIG red glitter nose, sits on a red table cloth.

Candy Cane Reindeer with Pipe Cleaners

I use brown pipe cleaners to create the antlers on most of my DIY reindeer crafts.

Over the years, my design of the antlers became more and more complicated. They were beautiful, but took a lot of time and patience.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have the time for that. I realized this when trying to make larger versions of the complex antlers for mass orders of the homemade reindeer bags.

It was time consuming and painful. I twisted so much that my fingertips were raw.

Below is a photo of some of my earlier reindeer candy canes with more elaborate antlers.

A hand holds two reindeer candy cane crafts with big red noses, made out of pom poms, brown twisted antlers, made out of pipe cleaners, and small googly eyes.

As I result, I did learn which brands of brown pipe cleaners hold up the best to twisting and cutting.

I like the Creatology Chenille Pipe Cleaners at Michaels and these EBOOT Pipe Cleaners Chenille Stem for Arts and Crafts.

In this how-to, we will be making a more simplified version of the DIY reindeer antlers. They're easy, quick, and cute!

Two Candy Cane Reindeer with google eyes, red pom pom noses, cute red sparkling bows, and adorable brown antlers.

I will also explain how to add more to them, if you prefer the fancier antlers.

Other Materials

These DIY candy cane reindeer are a relatively inexpensive Christmas craft.

Candy Cane

A box of candy canes can be bought at DollarTree for $1.25.

And for under $5 at Walmart.

Googly Eyes

I bought a variety of googly eyes (182 of them) at Walmart for under $3.

Amazon has a lot of different variety packs.

I like to use the biggest googly eyes that will fit on the candy cane reindeer. It gives them such a cute look, especially when I slightly overlap the eyes.

It may be beneficial to get a variety pack of googly eyes, so you can try different sizes and pick which looks best to you.

Or even make them all with varying eye sizes. I do that too. They're different like us humans.

I think the size of googly eyes that I usually use are around 10mm-12mm.

Which are available in this set of Black Wiggle Googly Eyes and this set of Wiggle Googly Eyes with Self-Adhesive.

If you buy eyes with self-adhesive, I recommend still using a hot glue gun to attach them to the candy canes.

Red Pom Poms

A pack of red pom poms were only $0.97 at Walmart.

Like with the googly eyes, I tend to pick the biggest pom pom that'll fit on the tip of the candy cane.

I want this candy cane Rudolph's nose to shine bright! (My pom poms are 1-inch balls.)

Bows

I like to include cute bows on the “neck” of my reindeer candy canes. To me, they look naked without them.

I prefer bows that tie around the candy cane, like these Red Satin Bows with Twist Ties or these Small Red Velvet Bows.

BUT, it can be hard to find truly small versions, that tie, like in the photo below. I think I randomly bought that pack of bows at Walmart.

A completed DIY Reindeer Candy Cane lays on its side. It has adorable googly eyes, a red pom pom nose, a small red glitter bow, and easy pipecleaner antlers.

One year, I did glue little bow ties to my DIY reindeer candy canes. It was a little tedious and I did burn my fingers. BUT, I'm thinking about doing it again.

How to Make Candy Cane Reindeer

The only tools needed are scissors and a hot glue gun with glue sticks.

Side note - I bought this Chandler Tool Mini Glue Gun and it actually stays standing. After years of having one that CONSTANTLY fell over, this is like heaven on earth.

Okay, let's get to the steps!

The first two steps to making antlers for a candy cane reindeer craft. The first photo shows stacks of brown pipe cleaners that were cut in half. The second photo shows a pipe cleaner being added to another pipe cleaner that is folded in half.

Steps 3 and 4 in how to make reindeer out of candy canes. The first photo shows pipe cleaner antlers being secured on the arch of a candy cane. The second photo shows additional small pieces of brown pipe cleaner being added to the antlers for a more complex look.

In step number 3, be careful not to twist the pipe cleaner TOO tightly around the candy cane. I have broken quite a few of them that way.

For step 4, feel free to cut smaller pieces of pipe cleaner than we did in the first step.

Simply add them to the antlers by twisting the pieces onto the established antlers in different places, including on the pipe cleaner that was added in step 2 (like I did in step 4).

Steps 5 and 6 of how to make reindeer with candy canes. The first photo shows bent antlers, wrapped around the arch of a candy cane. The second photo shows googly eyes, immediately after they were glued onto the side of a candy cane.

Steps 7 and 8 in how to make reindeer with candy canes. The first photo shows a red pom pom being glued onto the tip of a candy cane arch. The second photo shows a candy cane reindeer lying down after a small, red, glitter bow was attached to its neck.

Step nine in how to make reindeer out of candy canes. The first photo says to repeat steps for each reindeer candy cane. The second photo shows a frosted mason jar that is full of completed reindeer candy cane crafts.

I'd love to see your DIY Reindeers and any other candy cane crafts. Tag @lovemischka on social media.

What size googly eyes did you choose? Which bow? Let's discuss in the comments below.

Two Reindeer Candy Canes with big red pom poms as noses, googly eyes, and brown pipe cleaner twisted into antlers.

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DIY Candy Cane Reindeer

Learn how to make easy DIY Reindeer Candy Canes for a simple Christmas craft that can be used as tree ornaments, party favors, dessert table decor, game prizes, goodie bag stuffers, and so much more.

Active Time5

Total Time5

Yield: Reindeer Candy Cane

Equipment

1 Pair of Scissors
1 Hot Glue Gun
Glue Sticks for the hot glue gun

Materials

1 Candy Cane
2 pieces Pipe Cleaner brown
2 Googly Eyes
1 Red Pom Pom 1-inch
1 Bow

Instructions

Click here to jump to the photo guide of each step

Fold two pipe cleaners in half. Cut at the crease. Put two of those half pieces aside.
Take the other two half pieces, fold them in half, and cut at the bend. Set aside.
Twist one of the shorter pipe cleaners (¼ of the original) around one of the halves about ¾" from the end of the pipe cleaner.
Repeat with another shorter pipe cleaner on the other end of the longer pipe cleaner.
Bend the pipe cleaner, with the additional pieces twisted on it, in half.
Place the arch of a candy cane in the middle of the bent pipe cleaner.
Twist the pipe cleaner around the candy cane to secure it (the antlers) to the candy.
Add small pieces of pipe cleaner to various parts of the antlers, by simply twisting it in place, for a more complex look (if desired).
Play, bend, and manipulate the pipe cleaners until they look like antlers.
With a hot glue gun, attach two googly eyes to the candy cane about half way from the antlers at the arch and the end of the candy cane.
Glue a red pom pom to the tip of the candy cane with the same glue gun.
Tie a bow around the reindeer’s “neck”. I usually do this across from and a little under its "nose".
Repeat the above for each additional reindeer candy cane.

How to Make DIY Reindeer Candy Canes

DIY Reindeer Candy Cane Crafts

Candy Cane Reindeer with Pipe Cleaners