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Holiday Crafts and Recipes: A Creative Twist on the Candy Train Christmas Craft for Kids

We are getting ready for Christmas in A Mama’s Corner of the World—and it’s time to begin a busy month of holiday crafts, handmade gifts and holiday food creations! One of our family traditions involves creating special gift baskets for the girls to give to family and friends—from handmade or homemade items. We literally spend the month of December working on crafts and recipes to include in those gift baskets.



One of the girls’ favorite holiday craft activities has always been building a candy train. We try to add our own unique twist to even old, traditional favorites. I published this unique twist on the traditional candy train craft idea many years ago as a writer for Yahoo! Voices.

Many have seen and created a candy train or an ornament from rolled LifeSaver candies, rolled mints, packages of chewing gum, and other wrapped candies. Ready to get the creative juices flowing and make a fun candy train that can be used in a tabletop display or even as a Christmas ornament!  This year, we chose to use foil wrapped candies in festive Christmas colors to mimic the shiny steel locomotives that inspired so many in years gone by.

Gather the Supplies for a Candy Train Christmas Craft
Hot Glue Gun (I have a Surebonder Mini that we use SO often for projects!)
Glue Sticks
Assorted Candies
  
Suggestions for the Candy Train Shown Here   
Small Packs of Chewing Gum
Starlight Mints
Foil Wrapped Candies in a variety of shapes
Hershey's Bell Shaped Chocolates
Licorice for connecting the train cars
Nerds candies, Animal Crackers or Teddy Grahams, Fruit Shaped Snacks, and Tootsie Rolls for filling the train cars

Plan the train cars.
This is a little trial and error.  I like to group together pieces that I think will build nice candy train cars.  Sometimes as I build the car, things do not fit as well as expected and I find myself taking away pieces or colors.

Build the cars.  Begin with a flat base.  Sometimes I use mini chocolate bars.  Sometimes packs of chewing gum.  Attach four round candies for wheels and allow them to set up.  It is important that you attach the wheels fairly evenly so that the train cars set level.  Then--it's time to use your imagination.  Maybe the cars are simple flat, "trailer"-like cars or cars with sides and filled with candies of various types or more complicated like the engine or caboose examples in our photos.

This was the original train created for this article in 2010--with a photo from 2010! 

Attach the cars together.  Using either string or ribbon or pull-apart strands of licorice (like Twizzlers)--blue the cars together to resemble a train connection.

Display on a table top or turn the candy train engine into an ornament.  Find a stable surface or create a village around the train.  If creating an ornament, attach ribbon to both sides the candy train engine's base with hot glue and allow to dry. 


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2 Comments

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  2. I would like to do this but can not find what materials were used and in what order. Does anyone have all the needed list?

    ReplyDelete

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