How to Make a Halloween Wreath DIY You Can Be Proud Of

Learn how to make a Halloween wreath with just a few supplies for much less money than it takes to buy one with this simple Halloween wreath DIY. My Halloween wreath was inspired by a Grandin Road Halloween version that costs $199, while this version costs around $25 to make yourself. It’s a no-brainer!

With the changing of every season, I eagerly await the release of the new holiday and seasonal products from some of my favorite companies. I love getting inspired by the new products, and often challenge myself to create some of their looks for much less for my home.

I spied the sweetest candy wreath on Pinterest from Grandin Road. It featured many faux pieces of candy that were rolled up in coordinating fabric and tied with an orange ribbon on each end. SO cute and creative!

Imagine my shell-shock, however, when I clicked over to their site to get a closer look at the Halloween wreath and saw the ginormous price tag. $199?! Of course I decided right then and there that I would create my own candy Halloween wreath DIY version for much less, and I’m so happy that I did.

While this Halloween wreath DIY took a few hours to make, I think it turned out just as cute as the original Grandin Road candy wreath and I’m so proud to display it in my home.

Keep reading to learn how to make a Halloween wreath for under $25 that looks just like the high-end designer version.

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Candy Halloween Wreath DIY

Supplies:

3/4″ Closed cell backer rod– 1 bag
16″ Wire wreath form (or any other size you’d like to use)
1/8 yard each of 8 different Halloween fabrics (for a total of 1 yard of material)
Glue gun
3/8″ Light orange ribbon (I used 5 rolls of ribbon that were 21 ft long, so 100 feet total)
Fabric scissors
Pinking shears

I brainstormed for a while trying to figure out what to use for the inside of each candy roll. I wanted foam because it needed to be light weight. Of course I found exactly what I needed at Home Depot, but it’s also on Amazon too!

Closed cell backer rod is basically one big long foam snake and the 3/4″ size is the perfect thickness for the inside of the candy rolls for our Halloween wreath. I found the backs of these hanging vertically on hooks by the concrete, since they are used to fill in cracks that will be repaired with concrete.

Cutting the foam pieces to create the candy

First you’ll need to cut the backer rod (foam snake) into 1 1/2″ pieces. I cut one piece, then used that piece to cut all the rest to the same size. Cut the entire bag and you’ll have enough for the candy wreath and another project I’ll be sharing soon.

Next you will want to wrap each piece of foam in Halloween fabric. Even though you’re getting 8 different Halloween fabrics, you will only need 1/8 yard of each different design, so you’ll only be using a total of one yard. I found all my fabric at Joann and bought it on sale.

Don’t forget to use coupons in the app or online!

I used solid black, solid orange, gray with black dots, orange with black dots, black and white striped (my favorite), black and gray striped, pumpkins, and ghosts.

Wrapping each piece for the candy wreath

Turn one of the 1/8 yard fabric pieces so that it runs across horizontally. Make one long cut horizontally so that you now have two long pieces.

Now you will cut each long piece into individual pieces to wrap around the foam “candy” so that there is some excess fabric on each end.

Place a foam piece across the top center of the fabric piece and attach it with hot glue. Roll each piece down, then placed a strip of hot glue along the bottom of the backside of the fabric.

Push the foam down to hold in place for a few seconds while the glue cools. Be careful, it will be hot where you put the glue.

Finishing each candy piece for the Halloween wreath

To make this little tube look like a piece of wrapped candy, you will need to tie a piece of orange ribbon to the end of each one. I cut mass amounts of ribbon in the beginning because it was faster to do it that way.

Tie a piece of ribbon to each end of the tube, then trim the ends of the ribbon. I didn’t want the ends of my bows to start fraying, so I used a lighter to seal the ends.

Be careful doing this! To seal the ends, hold the lighter near (but not too close) to a ribbon end and you will see that the heat starts to seal the ribbon so that it won’t fray. This just takes a second. Make sure to seal the whole end, then repeat for the other ribbon end.

I know this takes a bit more work, but trust me, it is totally worth it! If you’re going to all this effort to make an amazing Halloween wreath, then you definitely want to do it right so that it will last for years and years.

You’ll also want to finish off the candy by trimming off the fabric ends with pinking shears. If you don’t do this, the ends will start to unravel and you’ll have strings that won’t look very good on your wreath. It’s a simple step, but a very important one!

Finishing up the Halloween wreath DIY

To put the candy wreath together, you will be hot gluing each candy piece onto the metal wreath frame. I used a 16″ wreath and had a few extra candy pieces. I’ll be sharing what I did with the leftover candies soon!

You can make this wreath any size that you would like, just keep in mind that if you go bigger you will need more fabric, more than one bag of the closed cell backer rod, and more ribbon.

To assemble, apply a good amount of hot glue to the back of a foam candy. Press candy firmly onto the inside ring of the metal wire frame. Hold in place for a minute with pressure while the glue dries slightly. Make sure that the ribbon pieces are facing up and the fabric seam is facing the back.

Glue down another piece and repeat, a section at a time. Make sure to vary the patterns and colors so you don’t have the same patterns or colors right next to each other.

After finishing a section of the inside ring, I would do a section directly behind it on the outer ring. With the back ring, tuck the bottom end of the candy fabric wrapper down under the first row of candies, so that it fills in the little hole and makes the wreath look fuller.

Here’s a shot of the back of the wreath. Yes, there’s lots of glue back there, but no one will be seeing this part so it’s totally okay. 😉

Repeat until the entire Halloween candy wreath is all filled up with sweet little treats.

Isn’t it adorable?! I’m so happy with how this Halloween wreath DIY turned out. It was so inexpensive to make too! Definitely beats paying $200 for a wreath. 😉

I hope you enjoyed this Halloween wreath DIY as much as I did. I love that this festive Halloween wreath looks almost identical to the expensive designer version and cost just a small fraction of the cost!

Here’s a few more Halloween + fall favorites!