Candy Holder Craft – Puppy Dog and Cat Candy Holder Paper Craft with Templates
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Dog Candy Craft with Plastic Christmas Ornament Balls
One of the latest trending projects for crafters is to use plastic ornaments to create a candy-filled Christmas ornament craft with a layered paper design cut out by your Cricut machine. Even though we are featuring plastic Christmas balls here, this craft concept can be applied to any holiday or occasion! Since I love chocolate and I love pets, especially dogs, I decided to create several new layered paper puppy designs that you can build around the plastic ornament ball and fill with your favorite treat. Valentine’s day isn’t far, so I created these in mind as easy DIY Valentine’s Day Crafts that your recipient is sure to love. Who doesn’t love chocolate and fur babies?!
If you know someone who loves pets but is not a chocolate fan (I know, we’ll forgive them), then you can opt to fill the plastic Christmas ball with anything small enough to fit!
I plan to gift these candy ornament puppy dogs as an easy DIY Valentine’s Day craft, but you can make them for any occasion.
Download the Dog Candy Ornament Templates
All of our pet file designs are available inside our Member Vault! If you aren’t a member yet, you will want to sign up for all our crafts here. There are currently hundreds of designs, such as paper flower templates, SVG cut files, and printables, plus a dozen new ones added each month!
Here is a list of all the current breeds available for these pet candy holders. Looking for another breed? Leave me a comment below, and I’ll add it to my design list!
- Golden and chocolate labs
- French Bulldog
- Pomeranian
- Westie
- Boxer
- Poodle
- Cocker Spaniel
- Border Collie
- Australian Shepherd
- German Shepherd
- Beagle
- American Eskimo
- Cats
Supplies for Christmas Ornament Craft
- Cricut machine (Explore Air 2, Explore 3, Maker, Maker 3. The Joy is limited by size with this craft, but if you resize the templates and find another ornament ball that is smaller, you could make the Joy work.
- 65-100 pound cardstock
- Plastic half-ball ornaments. I use 8cm here, but you can choose other sizes; just be sure to follow the resizing instructions in the video.
- Bearly Art Glue
- Foam tab tape or Bearly Art Cubbies
- Weeding tool
- Pre-wrapped candy such as Hershey kisses or Reeses, etc. You can also substitute candies for small toys also!
- Originally I had created these with the perforation tool in mind that works with the Maker machines, but since then, I have had perforated lines that do not require any perforation tool!
- Dog and cat candy holders. Find them in the Member Vault here, along with access to hundreds of other crafts!
Puppy Dog Candy Holder Paper Craft Video Tutorial
Watch the full step-by-step video for our DIY candy holder puppy craft below. You can also keep reading for a picture overview. I will also show you how to set up the files in Design Space!
Kitty Cat Candy Holder Craft Video Tutorial
After so many of you loved my dog candy holders, I decided to add a kitty cat as well! Here is a look at my cat candy holders. You can make these in any color to match your furbaby! Get the cat templates here in the Craft Vault!
Setting Up the Candy Holders In Design Space
My favorite part about this easy DIY Valentine’s Day craft is how easy it is to peel the back off to access the candy or gift inside. The recipient can enjoy the cute pet gift long after the candy gift is gone! To make our candy holder ornament craft open effortlessly, I created a perforation on the back of all my pet candy holders.
Uploading the candy holders to cricut design space
Start by uploading the candy holder templates into Cricut Design Space. Go to Upload > Upload Image > Browse and select the SVG file. Once the file is on the canvas, ungroup it, right-click > ungroup and double-check that that spare circle measures about 3.14 inches.
I have the files set so that an 8cm plastic ball will work, but if you wish to resize, then be sure to scale as a group and use that spare circle included in the files as a guide reference.
Once you have double-checked the scale or adjusted if you choose to use another size plastic dome ball, click the Make It button and select the medium cardstock setting.
Get quick step-by-step instructions below, or hit play on this video to see how to assemble the puppies.
DIY Pet Valentine’s Ornament Candy Craft
- Download the templates in the Abbi Kirsten Craft Vault.
- Import the files into Design Space. I used my Cricut machine for cutting the SVG templates. If you are new to Cricut, read my tutorial on uploading an SVG file to Design Space.
- If you wish to change the size of your pet candy holder, then at this point, you will need to scale the files as a group – this is important to keep proportions correct. See how I do it here in the video. Note: the video mentions the perforation tool, but I have since done away with that and built-in perforation that is cut with the fine-point blade, so you can ignore that step.
- Once you have cut out all layers in your choice colors of cardstock, start with the two largest layers (the base and the one with the hole for the half ball), which will sandwich the ornament ball.
- Add foam tabs along the back of the layer with the hole.
- Fill your plastic ball with candy and place it down on the solid base piece.
- Layer the piece with the hole cut out over the plastic ball.
- To complete each pet add the facial details. For some, I use the bearly art glue (usually the more intricate pieces). For the face layers, paws, and such, I will use the foam tabs again to add more 3D dimension to the project.
- And that’s it! Make several and hand them out to family or friends and watch their faces light up!
Video Tutorial Part 2
Below is a second look at using the 3D foam cubbies by Bearly Art with more puppy dog breeds!
What breed of dog do you have? I plan to expand this dog and cat candy holder craft collection, and I would love to know! If you have another idea for a candy holder, tell me that too!
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About Abbi Kirsten
Welcome to my colorful corner of the internet, where we play with vibrant crafts and unlock your creative magic! Hang out with me and get lost in a fun array of projects, tutorials, and products, from stunning papercraft ideas to flower templates, Cricut help for beginners, and endless crafter’s hacks.
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