There’s something special about hanging handmade Christmas Ornaments on the tree. Each one holds a memory and is made with love and care. And here’s the great news – it’s easier than you think to make ornaments worthy of a spot on your tree. Here are 25+ DIY projects that you can try this year.
25+ DIY Fun and Easy Christmas Ornaments
1. Shell Wreath Ornament
If you have a collection of seashells, a glue gun and some ribbon, you can make this wreath ornament. Arrange your shells in a circle and add an extra layer of smaller shells to hide the glue seams along the base. Add a pretty ribbon to the bottom for decoration and one to the top for hanging. This ornament is easy, pretty and meaningful!
2. Cinnamon Sticks Star Ornament
DIY ornaments don’t get much easier than this. All you need are cinnamon sticks, a glue gun, twine and an ornament hook. Create a star shape with the cinnamon sticks and use your glue gun to hold it all together. Tie the twine to create a loop, and hang it on the tree. You can use an ornament hook or skip it if you want to hang it directly onto the tree.
The best part? This ornament smells amazing.
3. Clothespin Snowflake Ornaments
For these ornaments, you can use old clothespins that you have lying around or grab a package from the dollar store. The fun part is decorating the pins to make them look like a snowflake. For this, you’ll need white paint, some decoupage glue and glitter.
Crafty Morning will walk you through each step of creating the snowflake shape using a glue gun.
4. Santa Handprint Salt Dough Ornaments
Kids will love making these Christmas ornaments, and you’ll love that they only require three kitchen ingredients to make: flour, salt and water.
Once you’ve made your dough, have your little one press their hand at the center to create Santa’s face.
Use paint to color in his beard, hat and face.
5. Yarn Wrapped Star Ornaments
These ornaments are so pretty and minimalistic, with a hint of rustic charm. If you have some old yarn, a glue gun and some paper, you can make these ornaments in an afternoon.
Bonus if you have a star cookie cutter or mold that you can use to create your star base. Just cut out your paper star, glue the end of your yarn to the back (to hold it in place) and start wrapping. This is a fun and meditative craft, and you’ll be proud to hang these on your tree.
Related: The Secret to Celebrity-Inspired Christmas Decor on a Budget
6. Frosty Pinecones Ornaments
An easy ornament project that the kids will be dying to get in on. You can use pinecones from your yard, or buy some from the craft store. If you’re using natural pinecones, make sure that you wash them first and let them dry out before you get started.
Roll your pinecones in a mixture of white paint and glue. Dip each cone into a bowl of glitter, and allow them to dry. Use your glue gun to secure a string to hand your new ornaments on the tree.
7. Pom Pom Ornaments
You’ll need just a handful of supplies to make these ornaments: pom poms, white craft glue, styrofoam balls and ribbon. It’s also helpful to insert a skewer into your foam ball to make it easier to work on your ornament. Start gluing your pom poms onto the styrofoam ball, let it dry when you’re done, and your ornament is ready to hang.
8. Embroidery Hoop Ornaments
This Christmas ornament is so pretty! All you need are 4” embroidery hoops, Christmas picks, ribbon and a printable design for the face of your ornament. You can use whatever you want, but Life as a LEO Wife has a cute printable you can use. Follow her tutorial to make this simple ornament that you can even give out as a gift or favor.
9. Wooden Sled Ornaments
How cute are these little sleds? To make them, you need nothing more than some paint, popsicle sticks, glue and Christmas picks. FrugalMomEh has a great tutorial on how to make these kid-friendly ornaments.
10. Beaded Snowflake Ornaments
These ornaments look like they were bought in a store. Dans Le Lakehouse has a great in-depth tutorial on how to make them. You’ll need some jewelry-making supplies, like 28-gauge wire, bugle beads, glass beads, needle nose pliers and few other things. But it will be well worth the time to make these because they are gorgeous.
11. Paper Star Ornaments
If you love origami, you’ll love making these paper star ornaments. If you want to save time, you can use Christmas-themed paper strips or pretty plain-colored paper strips.
Otherwise, you’ll need to cut the strips yourself. Folding the stars is simple enough, but make sure you follow the tutorial here so that you don’t miss a step.
12. Painted Acorn Ornaments
You don’t have to be an artist to make these cute ornaments. You just need some pretty metallic paint, a glue gun and a stretch cord. Paint your acorns, glue on the stretch cord to make a hook and voila! You have a handmade ornament for your tree. If you are a talented artist, you can paint on special designs or whatever you want.
13. DIY Felt Ornaments
If you’re into felt crafting, you can make these adorable Christmas Ornaments. Auribuzz shares a collection of different tutorials for felt ornaments, including a pickle, snowflakes, mittens and poinsettias.
Along with felt, you’ll need felt glue, ribbon for your ornament hook and a few other supplies.
14. Glitter Ornaments
These glitter ornaments are easy to make at home, and you need just three things: clear ornaments, glitter-it glue and glitter. Use fine or extra-fine glitter to get the most coverage and shine.
15. DIY Macrame Christmas Tree Ornaments
This macrame ornament is simple to make, especially if you’re already experienced with macrame. You’ll make a square knot chain with cord and use a needle and thread to “squish” the chain together and create a tree shape. A Wonderful Thought has a helpful tutorial that you can follow.
Related: 47+ Festive Christmas Tree Ideas to Transform Your Holiday Decor
16. Bottlecap Snowmen
Do you have some old bottlecaps lying around? With just a few basic supplies, you can create your own bottlecap snowmen ornaments. Just use a hammer and the end of a screwdriver to create little holes in the caps. Use wire to connect them, and paint them to finish the job. Follow the tutorial above to make these.
17. Crochet Christmas Ball Ornament
Christmas ornaments are so much fun to make, and if you have a knack for crocheting, this is a simple ornament to make. Simply Made by Erin has an entire video that you can follow along with on how to make these:
18. Quick and Easy Rustic Snowman Ornaments DIY
If you have mason jar lid rings handy, you can make these neat snowman ornaments. Jute twine is the go-to option here because of its rustic look. Wrap the twine around the rings and tie off when you’re at the end. With your hot glue gun, attach the ribbon and you have an adorable , rustic snowman ornament.
19. Button Christmas Tree Ornament
Stacked buttons to make a Christmas tree? What a neat idea. This Christmas tree ornament requires a dozen green buttons (each one slightly larger than the last), string, star button and three brown buttons.
You’ll start with your star button and tie the thread with the smallest green button and then continue to thread in the next smallest button until you’re done.
The small brown buttons will act as the trunk of the tree and will come last. Tie a knot when you’re done and that’s it. Here’s a video to help you visualize this:
20. Personalized Scrabble Tile Ornaments
Scrabble tile ornaments are so much fun to make. Where do you buy Scrabble pieces in bulk? Amazon! You’ll need some ribbon (red and green work well), and then use hot glue to attach the tiles to the ribbon.
Twine can be used to hang the ornament when the glue is done drying.
And don’t forget to add a ribbon and bells to the ornament to complete it.
21. Wine Cork Reindeer
Do you have wine corks lying around and want something to do with them? These DIY wine cork reindeer are a simple option. You’ll need a glue gun, an Exacto knife and a few additional crafting supplies to get started.
22. Quilling Paper Snowflakes
Quilling paper snowflake Christmas ornaments are a bit complex to make until you realize that The Papery Crafty gives you four free printable templates that help this craft go from ultra-intimidating to easy-to-make.
You’ll need your own quilling board and some wax paper for this design.
23. DIY Pinecone Gnomes
Gnomes and pinecones. What’s not to love? If you have pinecones in your yard, go grab them. You can also buy them at your local store. You’ll need felt, white craft paint, a foam paintbrush, white pom poms and wooden balls or beads for this craft.
Sarah has a YouTube video that shows you how to make these gnomes in just five minutes:
Related: 15+ Outdoor Christmas Decoration Ideas That Are Full of Style
24. Jingle Bell Ball
Jingle bells remind everyone of Christmas, and they’re surprisingly easy to make. Chenille stems are shaped to allow the 36 jingle bells to slide on them before shaping into a ball. A ribbon is used to complete the look and hide the stems.
25. Wood Bulb Photo Ornament
Add your favorite photo to a wooden ornament with this DIY tutorial. You’ll need a photo that you want to use, craft paint, paint markers, acrylic sealer and Mod Podge glue. Additional supplies that you’ll need are:
- Sandpaper block
- Paintbrush
- Exacto knife
26. Wooden Slice Rudolph Ornament
You’ll need a pack of unfinished wood slice ornaments to get started with this ornament, and with a pack of these, you can make over a dozen cute ornaments. Glitter foam, baker’s twine and a printable antler template are all you need to make this adorable ornament.
You’ll paint on the eyes, drill a hole through the wood slice and attach twine to hang the ornament.
