How to Make Cute Candy Corn Art in 30 Minutes

Inside: Forget everything you know about candy corn. This easy-to-make candy corn art project shows off this iconic candy in a whole new way. (Just don’t eat the whole bag before you’re finished.)

People have big opinions about candy corn. Some people love it. Some hate it. I like to decorate with it.

Whether you eat the stuff by the bag full or wouldn’t touch it, this iconic candy corn of the fall season has another use I love: decorating.

I challenged myself to turn this beloved Halloween treat into a sweet decorating project.

Here’s how I did it.

Candy corn is tricky to decorate with because there aren’t a lot of ideas out there beyond filling up glass vases or jars with the candy.

If you look on Pinterest, there are tons of projects that mimic candy corn—pinecones painted like candy corn, pumpkins painted like candy corn, wine bottles painted like candy corn—but not many that actually use candy corn.

I had a bag of Brach’s Indian Corn on hand, which is different from traditional candy corn because it has a chocolate brown color on the end instead of bright yellow. And, I think that brown color is what actually ended up giving me the inspiration for this candy corn pumpkin art project.

After staring at the candy a long time trying to come up with an idea that hadn’t been pinned a million times already, I think the orange and brown blurred together and I saw a pumpkin!

You’ll need just a few supplies for this candy corn pumpkin art project. (I already had everything I needed around the house.)

What you’ll need:

• Brach’s Indian Corn
• Piece of wood
• Stain (optional)
• Hot glue gun
• Paint stick
• Twine

Here’s how I made this candy corn craft that doubles as décor.

Step 1: Grab your piece of wood

If your board isn’t shaped like a square, trim it so that it has that square shape.

Next, stain. I stained my board in a dark espresso color. I thought the dark espresso color would really help the bright orange in the candy corn pop. But there are so many options!

Other options for your wood board:

• Stain it (like I did)
• Paint it (white would be my next choice)
• Leave it raw

Step 2: Arrange the candy corn in a pumpkin shape

I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, so I started arranging my candy corn pieces into a pumpkin on the table beside me before transferring them to my board. (You could just start on your board, though.)  It’s easiest to create the pumpkin outline first, and then fill in the middle.

Step 3: Hot glue the candy corn to the board

Once you have your candy corn arranged into a pumpkin shape, start hot gluing the pieces down.

Step 4: Add a stem

Your pumpkin isn’t complete without a stem! I broke off the end of a paint stick (the free ones from the hardware store) for my stem. I like how the ends frayed a bit, which made the paint stick stem look more natural. I also added a curly piece of twine to look like a vine.

I love the simplicity of this craft project. It’s great for using up that extra candy corn. And, this art piece isn’t too Halloweeny, so it can last well through Thanksgiving. Hang it on the wall or add it to a fall décor arrangement on a side table or shelf.

Creating this candy corn pumpkin art put me right in the mood for fall. I’m ready to pick apples, go to the pumpkin patch and sip hot cider. Now if the leaves would just hurry up and change color!

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