Caution: these pretty ornaments are fragile, so they might not last beyond one holiday season. But the fun of making them is worth it!

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray. Select which shapes you want your ornaments to be from among Christmas-themed cookie cutters and coat those with cooking spray as well before setting on the parchment.

Break mini candy canes into smaller pieces to fill the cookie cutters in an even layer. Look at my littlest kitchen elf!

Bake at 350 degrees F for 6 minutes, just until the candy canes are melted.

Remove from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes, then use a skewer to poke a hole near the top of each ornament.

This was the trickiest part, as the candy canes need to be cooled enough not to run right back over the hole, but not so firm that cooled strands stick to the skewer. I confess we broke a few of our ornaments at this stage!

Let stand an additional 5 minutes, then remove the cookie cutters.

Thread twine or cord through each hole and tie into a loop before hanging from your Christmas tree.

And yes, that’s a Darth Vader candy cane ornament you see!