Crochet Candy Ornament

The Crochet Candy Ornament is so cute! I was thinking about other decorations to make with my clear flat round ornament balls when my daughter said the round shape is just like M&M’s and I should turn them into these fun little guys you see here! I love M&M’s and love how these turned out. They use a very small amount of Size 3 (DK weight) cotton yarn so you could make one today with whatever is in your stash! Plus, I’ve made a free printable template for you to help you make the letters and arms/legs – see supply list below. 🙂

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Stitches Used in the Crochet Candy Ornament

To make these candy ornaments you will need to know how to chain, double crochet and single crochet. I use an adjustable ring in the beginning but if that is too tricky for you, I also give you an easier alternative. I also suggest using a “stacked single crochet” stitch at the beginning of each round. This stitch is simple to do and helps to eliminate that uneven look you can get when doing a ch-3 at the beginning of each round. Since the small crocheted circle is also the face of my ornaments I wanted to make the stitches as even and “clean” as possible. But, again, if you would like something easier, I give you the standard “ch-3” alternative below. 🙂

M & M’s and Me

M&M’s have always been a big part of my life. When I was a little girl my sweet grandfather would go through a big bag of M&M’s and sort out all of the green ones for me! I loved when he came to visit and presented me with my very own bag of only green M&M’s. (Of course, nowadays you can find bags like this easily but not back then.) Then my dad worked for M&M/Mars for several years and brought home many samples! YUM! One time he even took us on a factory tour – we all loved seeing how they make the candies. When I was in college I got my chance to work in the factory several summers and did my part to help make the M&M’s (see the photo above). Since they make millions of M&M’s over the summer and need to get ready for the Christmas demand, most of the colors we made were the green and red!

Skill Level: Easy

Measurements: 3 1/4″ across

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Supplies:

Click on the supply name to purchase

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Size 3 -DK weight yarn – small amount for each candy in candy colors (red, orange, yellow, lime green, blue, brown)

(Great yarns that work well for this: Sinfonia by Omega, Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton, Fundamental Cotton by Yarn Bee)

3.75 mm hook (This is my favorite hook to use with this size yarn)

Yarn needle

Ornament Ball  – round flat 2.36” clear glass or plastic (I accidentally bought these balls from Amazon but ended up loving the smaller size and they work perfectly for this project!)

(If you don’t have a ball like mine, you can stuff the project with fiberfil stuffing or stacked circles of recycled plastic padded envelopes!)

Googly eyes – 10 mm

Black yarn (Size 3 cotton crochet thread works great for face details)

White felt (Click here to printout the FREE template for the letters and arms/legs)

Hot glue gun/glue sticks

Sharp scissors

Special Stitches and Abbreviations:

Adjustable Ring: Wrap yarn around hand to create a loop; pull working end of yarn through lp with hk;

*Watch a short video tutorial of this technique here*

Sc (single crochet) = Insert hook into stitch, YO, draw up a loop; YO, pull through 2 loops on hook

S-sc (stacked single crochet) = ch 1, single crochet in stitch indicated, ch 1, single crochet in single crochet just completed by inserting hook into top loops of stitch (This helps you get the height you need for the double crochet stitches without having to chain 3 – it also helps the circle to look more even and smooth)

Dc (double crochet) = YO, insert hook into stitch, YO, draw up a loop, (YO, pull through 2 loops on hook) twice

Inv-inc (invisible increase) = When working 2 stitches into 1 stitch work first stitch in back loop only and then work second stitch in both loops (This helps prevent large holes in your work from the increases)

Sl st (slip stitch) = Insert hook into stitch, YO, pull through stitch and loop on hook

YO (yarn over)

Hk (hook)

Lp (loop)

Ch (chain)

St (stitch)

Sp (space)

Notes:

2 circled are crocheted for each candy

Circles are crocheted together over a flat round ornament ball

Facial features can be added before attached to ball or after using needle and hot glue

Instructions for the Crochet Candy Ornament:

Special stitches are written in bold and italicized text and defined above

Circle:

Make 2 – Fasten off one and hold working loop with stitch marker for second

Round 1: 

In an adjustable ring work: (S-sc, 11 dc); do not join with sl st. (12 dc)

(If you don’t want to do an adjustable ring, simply do this instead: ch 4, work 12 dc in 4th ch from hk; join with sl st to 1st dc)

(If you don’t want to do a S-sc, then simply ch 3 at the beginning of each round – it would count as your first dc of rounds 2 & 3)

Round 2: 

S-sc, dc in same st; (2 dc in each st around working an inv-inc for each set of 2 dcs) (24 dc)

(If you don’t want to do an inv-inc, then simply work 2 sts in the same st working under both loops as usual)

Round 3: 

S-sc, dc in same st, dc in next st; (2 dc in next st, dc in next st) around working inv-inc for each set of 2 dcs. (36 dc)

Finishing and Assembly:

Secure adjustable rings by knotting the beginning yarn tails and weave in this yarn tail on both circles with needle

Weave in ending yarn tail for first circle

**You may want to add the facial features (outlined below) before you crochet the circles together – if so, skip to that section for those instructions**

With Wrong Sides facing and making sure to work through both thicknesses, sc circles together; When halfway around insert ornament ball and continue with sc together;

(If you are stuffing with fiberfil or recycled padded envelope pieces, make sure to insert those when halfway around the joining as well)

When get to stem area, work 2 scs in each st across circle in front of stem (as shown by black arrows in photo above); join with sl st to 1^st joining sc.

(For when stuffing with fiberfil or padded envelopes, simply continue sc around the entire circle and join with sl st to 1st sc of round)

Fasten off and weave in end.

Face Details:

Click here to download the FREE printable template to help you make the letters and arms/legs

With sharp scissors cut out letter M and arms and legs out of white felt

Glue on eyes

Stitch on smile

Glue on felt pieces

(I simply glued the arms and legs to the back side of the ornament but you can insert the ends of the arms and legs between the circles and glue them in place before/while you sc the circles together)

Tie on ribbon to top loop for a hanger

Optional: Cut “S” out of felt and glue to center

Optional: Only glue on “M” without facial features

Your Crochet Candy Ornament is Complete!

Your Crochet Candy Ornament is complete! I hope you enjoyed making this project. I love how the flat round ornament ball gives the M&M sturdiness but is also very lightweight. Which look do you like better? The candies with eyes, arms and legs or the ones with just the white letter? I love both and am already enjoying having them on our Christmas tree!

If you would like to see more Christmas-themed projects, please click here.

And for ALL of my FREE crochet patterns, then click here.

Thank you for visiting! Happy crocheting and Merry Christmas!

Jennifer

Copyright – Jennifer E Ryan- www.celticknotcrochet.com- all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher but please do link to this page to share this pattern with others.

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