How to Make a Candy Lei

Candy leis are a fun and easy gift you can customize for a variety of celebrations: graduation, birthday, thank you or just because! Once you know how, you’ll want to make a candy lei for everyone.

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Recently, one of my kids wanted to give out a fun treat to commemorate the end of an event a group of friends had all been participating in. I suggested making candy leis since it was something that could be given to everyone. I mean, what kid doesn’t like candy and/or chocolate? A friend of mine who I know has made candy leis in the past gave me a quick tutorial and away we went!

Once you know the materials needed to make a candy lei, you will want to start making them for everyone! Below I have a list of ideas for when to gift a candy lei, supplies needed, a list of candy/chocolate, the full tutorial on how to make a candy lei, plus candy lei FAQs.

Ideas for When to Gift a Candy Lei

• Graduation (any kind)
• Birthday gift
• Party favor
• Congratulations (could be for finishing an event, like a music recital or play)
• Thank You
• Just Because

Supplies Needed

• 2″ wide Clear Poly Tubing
• Assortment of Candy and Chocolate
• Ribbon (curling ribbon, satin ribbon, graduation ribbon)
• Scissors

List of Ideas for Candy and Chocolate for Leis

There are so many different options for candy and chocolate to be used to fill the candy leis! I have listed some suggestions to help you get started:

• Fun size candy bars
• Mini size candy bars
• Hershey kisses
• Lindt or Lindor truffles
• Hi-Chew, Starburst, Now and Later
• Hard candy: Lemonheads, Warheads, Jolly Ranchers
• Gum: Double Bubble, Large round gumballs, Chicklets, 5 packs of stick gum
• Reese’s (smaller size, the regular cup does not fit unless you go with wider tubing)
• Tootsie Roll
• Airheads
• Not suggested: any candy or chocolate that is not individually wrapped (with the exception of the gumballs)

How to Make a Candy Lei

*PRO TIP* Go through all the steps once to make one practice lei. This ensures you have the length correct, then make any necessary adjustments before cutting the rest of the tubing and ribbon.

Step 1: Decide how long you want to make your lei and cut the tubing and ribbon

Deciding how long to cut the tubing for your lei is up to you. It may depend on the age and size of the person. Or you might decide to make the same size no matter who you are giving it to.

For our leis, we cut the tubing to 48″, which allowed for 8-10 pieces of candy/chocolate, room to tie each section off and connect the ends.

For the ribbon, we cut it to about 5″. We used thinner ribbon which made it easier to tie, however, if you are using thicker ribbon, it may need to be longer. If you are planning on curling the ribbon, it will also need to be longer.

If you are making multiple candy leis, I suggest cutting your tubing and ribbon all at the beginning to streamline the process.

Step 2: Lay out candy and chocolate in a row

Having a variety of candy and chocolate makes the leis look even more fun and delicious. Of course, you can do all the same type of candy (Starburst, for example) or chocolate (fun size candy bars) if you think the recipient will like that better. We alternated between chocolate and candy for our leis. Laying the treats you use in a row helps the process go more quickly.

Step 3: Add treats to clear tubing

Tie one end of the tubing off with your ribbon, about 3″ up. Then start adding your treats. I wanted all the treats to be facing the same direction, with the front facing out. I thought this looked nicer and more intentional. For some treats, this may not matter, like Hershey Kisses or Jolly Ranchers.

Add the candy to all the leis you are making before moving onto the next step.

Step 4: Tie each section off

Tying off each section of the lei separates each piece of candy and creates more structure. When you are going through the steps for the first time, figure out how long you want your ribbon to be. We cut our ribbon to about 5″ lengths. Once you know how long to cut the ribbon, cut a pile of them. This will help speed up the process when you are tying the lei.

*NOTE* You can trim the ends of the ribbon to be shorter if you like the look. Or leave them long if that is your preference. Another option would be to curl the ribbon using scissors.

Step 5: Connect the ends

Now that your lei is tied off, you need to connect the ends. There are two options for this.

Option 1: Tie the two ends together by knotting them where the two end pieces of ribbon meet. This will work best if your tail ends are not too short. Otherwise, go with option 2.

Option 2: Cross the ends over the top of each other, lining up the ribbons on each end. Then use another ribbon to tie them together. You may need a longer piece of ribbon to do this.

And you’re done!

I was also thinking that this could be a fun addition to a luau party! Instead of flowers, you can gift candy leis. I have a couple of luau themed posts you can look at if this is the route you want to go. The first one is How to Host a Classy Luau Party on a Budget. And if you need labels for your food, you can use this Pineapple Place Card SVG.

Candy Lei FAQs

What is the best candy for candy leis?

The short answer: individually wrapped candy and chocolate.

The long answer: Choose individually wrapped candy and chocolate that will fit in the poly tubing. Most fun size candy bars will fit, although I found that the packaging for fun size M&Ms, Skittles and similarly packaged candy had to be folded around itself to fit. I didn’t like how it looked as much so I didn’t include as many of that type of candy in the lei, but that was personal preference.

What kind of ribbon should I use to tie off each section on the candy lei?

I recommend using at ribbon that is 1/4″ wide or thinner. If you are making the candy leis for a specific event, you could use coordinating colors. Another option is ribbon with a small image, pattern or word printed on it.

Additionally, I recommend staying away from ribbon that has any wire. Doing so will avoid getting poked or damaging any clothing due to snags.

For example, a graduation candy lei could be tied off with the school colors and/or ribbon that says “graduation”. This is where you can be creative and make the candy lei as personalized as you want.

So in summary, you want ribbon that is:

• 1/4″ wide or less
• no wire
• made from cotton, polyester, tulle, nylon, poly-satin
• with or without words, pattern or print

How should I store the candy leis?

• Chocolate: Keep them in a cool place to avoid melting. If you will be traveling and need to keep the leis cool, a possible option is a small cooler with an ice pack.
• All Candy, No Chocolate: No special storage needed if kept at room temperature.
• Mix of Candy and Chocolate: Keep them in a cool place to avoid melting.
• Unwrapped gumballs: Keep them in a cool place so the outer coating doesn’t melt or get sticky.

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