I am reluctantly working on some fall decor, starting with these adorable little wood candy corn decorations. Now, I love fall, but because winter comes immediately after (and sometimes during ), I often find myself dreading the start of it. What I love about this project is it is quick, easy, inexpensive, and since they are pretty small (as I make them), they are a nice addition to just about any area you are decorating. Now grab a Pumpkin Spice Latte and let's get started!
Deciding on Size
Before you get started, you need to decide how large you'd like them. For this tutorial, I used a 2x4, which will allow you to create the perfect size. You can probably make them anywhere form 6-7.5-inches for the proportions to be right, but any longer or shorter (without also cutting more off the sides) may give you a shape that doesn't as closely resemble the candy corn shape.
Mark the Height
Once you have picked the size you'd like, mark from the top how tall these will be. Draw a light line with a pencil so you have a guide when you cut it. Don't worry about any pencil marks as they'll get covered by the paint.
Mark the Top
You'll then need to decide how wide you want the top to be. You can make it come to more of a point, or a bit flatter at the top, as I chose to do, since Candy Corn are often rounded or flattened at the top. I wanted the top to be about an inch wide, so I marked equal in from each side.
Cut the Sides
Next, cut both sides with a circular saw. I recommend cutting the sides first, before cutting them bottom, as you won't be left with much to hold onto if you cut the bottom first.
Cut the Bottom
Now you can cut the bottom. I used a mite saw. You're almost ready for the fun part, painting!
Next, Sand the Corners!
I like to sand the sides a tad and the corners to give them a slightly rounded look and make the corners less blunt. This will also help with the overall antiqued look at the end. I recommend using an orbital sander for this, as it would take quite a bit of time with a sheet of sand paper.
A sneak peek at the ready-to-paint wood.
On to the painting!
Now on to the best part, painting!! You could prep for painting by marking areas with tape if you wanted really precise lines. Personally, I don’t think precise lines are needed here so instead I just eyed it by painting around the four sides and just tried to get it as level as possible. You’ll want to ensure the lines meet each other on each side. You can start wherever you’d like, but I like to work from the top down, so I start with white and wait for a moment for the paint to dry a tad between each.
Next up is the orange.
Finally, yellow is last.
Final Sanding!
Once they've had enough time to dry, you can sand. You don’t want to sand them too early because otherwise it’ll just pick up a bunch of paint on the sanding sponge or a piece of sandpaper, whatever you choose to use. Make sure the paint isn’t tacky and you should be good to sand as long as you had put on a light coat of paint. If it’s a thicker coat, you may need to wait a bit longer to ensure the paint is fully dried. I tend to be impatient and end up sanding sooner, but the worst that happens is the paint rubs off onto the sanding surface. To sand, you’ll just want to sand all of the corners to add a slight antiqued look, or more, depending on the look you are going for.
That's it!
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