Free Crochet Pattern + Video Tutorial: Candy Garland or Candy Ornaments

Candy Garland 2This pattern is pretty much the easiest pattern ever: it’s a rectangle.  The end.

It’s great for beginners! Great for kids! Host a holiday crochet party where everyone makes one crocheted candy and then string them all together to create a group garland! Or, everyone can keep their own candy and string them as ornaments. I will probably glue pinbacks and hair clips to the backs so that I can wear them. There are a lot of possibilities with just one little crocheted rectangle!

For more advanced beginners, you can get some great striping. You can alternate different colors every other row, and carry the unused yarn. Or, you can alternate colors ever 2 rows, and just drop the unused yarn and pick it up on the way back. Working a thin sparkle or sequin yarn with your regular yarn also and some subtle bling. Either way, all you need is a little bit of yarn and a styrofoam ball to get going!

I also tried filming a video tutorial for this. People have been asking me to do videos, but they are quite a bit of work, so I haven’t really been super eager to get on that task, since I do everything 100% by myself.  But since this project is SO EASY, I thought it would be a good ice breaker for me to film a video and for you to break out some crochet hooks!


What You’ll Need

Notes

  • Gauge isn’t really important in this project. For a 1 ½ inch Styrofoam ball, you want your crocheted rectangle to be 4 ½ inches wide and 3 ½ inches long. See template at the end of the pattern.

Abbreviations

ch(s): chain(s)
sc: single crochet
sk: skip
st(s): stitch(es)

Directions

 –  You are going to crochet a rectangle that is 4 1/2 inches wide and 3 1/2 inches tall. You can use the template at the bottom of this tutorial as a visual guide. Just print it out at full size, and you can fit your work against it. Work enough chains to wrap around your Styrofoam ball. (4 ½  inches, 17 chs). Photo 1

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Row 1: Sk 1st ch and work 1 sc in each remaining ch. (16)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn. Work 1 sc in each st. (16)

Rows 3 – 14: Repeat Row 2, until your rectangle is 3 ½ inches tall. (16) Photo 2

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– Break off, leaving about 18 inches of yarn for sewing.

– Place Styrofoam ball onto the center of your crocheted rectangle Photo 3a and sew one short edge of the rectangle to the other short edge, encasing the ball in a tube. Photo 3b

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– Cut two lengths of yarn (can be same color or a contrasting color) about 8 inches long each to tie the ends of your candy together. Using a surgeon’s knot Photo 4a two times will help keep your knot tight while you create a cute bow. Photo 4b, 4c

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– To hang as an ornament, simply loop some gold thread, invisible thread, or, or an ornament hook to the center of the candy.

– To create a garland, work about 12 crocheted candies. You have many options for stringing the garland. You can simply thread some yarn through a big tapestry needle (long enough to pierce your Styrofoam ball and come out the other side) and sew the candies together, or you can use a thin, sparkly gold ribbon, leaving space in between each candy. Or, you could string a bunch of colorful or sparkly beads between each candy, or even use colorful pompoms as spacers.

19 Comments on “Free Crochet Pattern + Video Tutorial: Candy Garland or Candy Ornaments”

  • Ashley

    says:

    I love this!! Thank you so much for sharing the pattern!! I cannot wait to whip some of these up for my tree 🙂

  • Liz W

    says:

    Love it, thank you for another amazing pattern! 🙂

  • Holly

    says:

    Thank you for sharing this! I have liked these since you showed them for your class.

  • Angel

    says:

    So cute!!

  • Grace

    says:

    WOOOHOOO!!!!!! I’ve been waiting for this! Thank you!!!!!

  • Tracy Marie

    says:

    LOVE these! Thank you so much for sharing!:)

  • Joan

    says:

    Thank you for sharing such a sweet cute pattern, I love it. May your holidays be happy, merry and brite.

  • em

    says:

    thanks for sharing, super cute!

  • Fiona

    says:

    Yes! I’m going to bookmark this so I can come back and attempt my first ever crocheting! I actually have crochet hooks but that was when I had dreadlocks and used them to neaten my dreads 😛 I know how to knit (well a straight line anyway) and I always thought crochet was more difficult but it seemed not too bad (or maybe you just make it looks super easy!) I love the surgeon’s knot too, I think I’ll try and commit that one to memory for other uses too 🙂

    Super cute and your sewing + bow skills were awesome too!

    • Fiona

      says:

      Guess what I got in the mail today my cupcake beret and heart pin! I was so happy I dug out some yarn, grabbed my crochet hook and watched your video a thousand times and I ended up with something resembling candy 😛 I struggled with having the whole thing being too tight and not being able to easily slide off stitches (err sorry don’t know terminology) I also lost heaps of stitches and just kind of made up how you add them back, I’m sure I put the hook in the wrong hole 50% of the time too and no joke the whole thing took me three hours 😛 It ended up resembling a christmas tree shape rather than a rectangle but the stitching at the end helped to bring it all together (read: hide all the flaws :P)

      Compared to knitting I think I like crochet better, it definitely feels firmer, I know my first knitting experiments were a right royal mess but crochet seems more forgiving. Will hopefully try again but even if I don’t I have an awesome beret and heart pin to wear! I just need it to get cold enough here in Australia for the beret!

      Ahh sorry this so long just super excited and I wanted to say a huge thank-you! Your skills our beyond amazing and I have a totally new found respect for what you do!

  • Scarlet

    says:

    Thank you for such a cute idea and tutorial. I am just beginning to learn the fun of crocheting and I can’t wait to make more of your patterns. I bought your book for my sister for Christmas and I have a feeling I will be getting another one for me 🙂

  • BlueMangoBanana

    says:

    Can I use felting wool to stuff it? Felting wool in a ball?

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