Christmas Candy Cane Post

I usually go all out for Halloween and try to make cool props for as little $ as possible.  This year I decided to use my imagination and make some Christmas decorations of my own.  I used insulation foam, paint, PVC, etc. to make the side of my garage look like a gingerbread house.  These candy cane posts are just one element of my theme.  They are simple and cheap to make, but look very nice.  Give one to a friend so they can enjoy it at their home.  Hope you all enjoy my first Instructable!

Step 1: Supplies

Items you will need:

-  2" PVC pipe (Comes in a 10 foot length from most home improvement stores.  I cut
                           mine into five 2 foot lengths, but you can cut whatever size suits you)

-  Chain link fence post cap (2")

-  Painter's tape

-  Red Paint (Krylon Fusion for plastic)

-  White Paint ((Krylon Fusion for plastic)

- Circular Saw or Jig Saw or Dremel tool to cut the PVC pipe

Step 2: Painting

Paint the metal fence post cap white (or whatever color you like.  Maybe red, gold, or leave it silver).  I used the white paint for plastic and it seems to work fine on this small amount of metal.

Cut the pipe to your preferred length (mine are 2 feet long) and paint it white.  This covers the blemishes and markings and makes the pipe a crisper white.  I let it dry for 24 hours before moving to the next step.

Next, take the painter's tape and mask off the sections that you want to remain white.  I found that if you hold the tape at the same angle while twisting the pipe, the spacing will be pretty even.  I used 1 inch wide tape, but did two overlapping strips.

Step 3: Painting (continued)

Grab your red paint and give the post a good coat.  One coat is enough for this project.

*TIP:  Go out and buy a box of latex gloves.  They're 6 or 7 bucks for a box of a hundred.  I wear them whenever I paint or work with something I don't want to get all over my hands.  Saves you from all that hand scrubbing later.

Wait about an hour and then remove the tape. 

Step 4: A New Holiday Decoration for Your Yard!

Here is the finished product after the cap is placed on top.  I just set them on a small length of re-bar that I've placed in the ground.

Optional:  I screwed a cup hook into the back of each candy cane so I could string the lights across. 

Another idea would be to make a taller candy cane and attach a sign that maybe says, "WELCOME TO THE NORTH POLE".

You can see the larger "candy cane supports" on each side of my garage.  Basically the same process as the smaller ones.

Hope you enjoyed this and have a great  2010 holiday season.

Comments

[rudvirus]

I made this this year. I did the paint who said to use but it comes off really easy. Going to redo it and use waterproof red duck tape but its a very easy project.

[GlitzFreak]

I love it . That's so unique & adorable !!!

[kschumacher2]

This is exactly what I was looking for! I want to do supports on all of the corners at the front of my house. I had this vision after seeing a USPS comercial on TV, where the guy is living in a little house with candy cane supports. What size pvc pipe did you use for the supports? Did you cut angles at the top and bottom? I haven't figured out how to secure it to the soffet. How did you do that? I will probably only do two to start with, one on each side of the front porch, but I might do 8 in all. I like the smaller ones too. I envision a gingerbread house. Love yours!

[Freakyfoam]

Glad you like them. The large ones are 4 inch pvc and I cut them straight across at a length where they would basically go about 3 inches up behind the eves. In my case, the top is hidden by the eve and the bottom is hidden by the plants, so I didn't need to cut angles or anything to make it look absolutely structural.

They pretty much stay there by themselves. If you wanted to put them straight up and/or needed to fasten them, I would probably just drill a very small hole in the pipe and tack it to the eve with a small nail. It wouldn't take much to hold it in place.

Also, if you can find it, get smooth pvc like I have for the 2 inch posts. I couldn't find it and had to use the french drain type of pipe (luckily without holes) that has the ridges. The paint doesn't stay on as well. If you decided to make these, treat them with care because the paint does chip off easily.

Mine is also supposed to be a gingerbread house, but it isn't easy to see everything in the photo. Above the lights on the eves, you may have missed the candy canes. These were plastic ones from a dollar store that I drilled holes in and mounted. In between the candy canes are little round "candies" I made out of foam. They are really hard to see because they are a light mint color. I re-painted them red for this year and they really stand out now. These are attached using UGlu (www.uglutape.com).

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

[booturtle]

Cute! I may have to make these with my kids. Nice touch with the tilted ones under your roof line. Did you also make the lollipops? And I love the "snow" on your shutters. May I ask what you used?

[Freakyfoam]

I did make the lollipops. Plastic plate hot glued to 1/2 inch thick pvc pipe, wrapped with some colored cellophane and tied with a little ribbon. leave out the stick and tie two ends and you get a wrapped hard candy.

The "snow" or "icing" for my gingerbread garage was made from pink foam board. The larger part around the window was measured carefully so it could be wedged between the shutters. The smaller pieces on top of the shutters had holes drill into them and were place on the loosened screws for the shutters.

The large wreath is also foam board.

[bruno13069]

Deceptively simple and inexpensive to make. Easy to store and probably tough to destroy. (some outdoor decorations break too darn easily.) 5/5!

[ChrysN]

Neat, it makes your house look very festive.