5 Easy DIY Christmas Decorations

By Kelli Quinn

Making your home festive for Christmas can be affordable, easy and fun! Crafting your own holiday decorations lets you express your creativity while making Christmas memories and family heirlooms that will be cherished for years. From ornaments to decorative accents and more, here are 5 easy holiday crafts to display around your home this Christmas season.

1. DIY Christmas Ornament Wreath
   

This holiday wreath is a simple project that results in a unique and beautiful decoration! If you're looking for creative holiday decorations for your home, this craft is an interesting alternative to the classic Christmas pine wreath.

If you want a more traditional theme, opt for red and green ornaments; for a winter wonderland, choose blue and silver; or for modern Christmas decor, select a variety of fun colors such as pink and purple.

Supplies Needed:

• Wire or foam wreath frame
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Tinsel garland or garland of your choice
• Ornaments in various sizes and colors
• Mini pine cones & other accents (optional)

How To Make It

Step 1: Start by wrapping the garland around the wreath frame. This will be your base for the ornaments, so make sure to cover the entire frame.

Step 2: Hot glue gun your ornaments on top of the garland. Start with the larger ornaments, and then gradually fill in the spaces with smaller ones.

Step 3: You can also fill in the spaces with some mini pine cones or other accents like little bells.

Step 4: Once the glue dries, display your wreath on your front door or hang it on the wall above your mantel.

2. DIY Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

These homemade Christmas ornaments are a fun craft to do with your kids or grandkids! It's an affordable and easy holiday craft for families that creates treasured Christmas memories. 

Choose whatever shapes you want for your cookie cutters, whether it's stars, candy canes, trees, or other holiday-themed icons. You can also have fun with painting with any patterns and colors that you want. Make these salt dough ornaments special to you!

Supplies Needed:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• Cookie cutters
• Acrylic paint
• Toothpick
• Ribbon

How To Make It

Step 1: Mix together the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2: Next, slow pour the warm water into the bowl while continuously stirring. Keep mixing until all the water is poured in.

Step 3: Knead the dough until it's smooth and stays together.

Step 4: Now it's time to roll and cut your salt dough ornaments! Lay down some parchment paper and put a large portion of the dough in the center. Place another piece of parchment paper on top.

Step 5: Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it's about 1/8 inch thick. Make sure the dough is not too thick, as this will prevent it from baking thoroughly and could lead to cracking.

Step 6: After the dough is rolled out, use your cookie cutters to cut shapes into it. Make sure to not remove the shapes just yet.

Step 7: Once you've finished with the cookie cutters, you can peel away the dough around the shapes. Then, use a toothpick to poke a hole on the top of each ornament where the ribbon will later go.

Step 8: Now it's time to bake your ornaments. Arrange them on a cookie sheet and bake them for about 1 hour at 300 degrees. They're done once they are hard and sound hollow when tapped.

Step 9: Once the ornaments have cooled down, you can start painting! Paint with any colors and patterns you like.

Step 10: Finally, string each ornament with some ribbon on the top and hang them up on your tree!

3. DIY Sequin Christmas Ornament

If you enjoy a little glitz and glam, you'll love this DIY Christmas ornament craft! This craft may take a little bit of patience to place each sequin neatly on the ornament, but the results are worth it.

You can even swap out the sequins for something different, such as sparkly beads or other crafting items. If you want to make an extra sparkly ornament, you can even put glue around the ornament and sprinkle glitter to cover the entire surface area.

Supplies Needed:

• Blank ball ornaments
• Liquid glue
• Sequins or beads
• Yarn or ribbon

How To Make It

Step 1: Glue your sequins onto the ornament by doing it one section at a time. You can create a unique color pattern by planning out the different sections of the ornament.

Step 2: Make sure to cover up the entire surface area of the ornament to get the full effect.

Step 3: Lastly, cut some yarn or ribbon to tie on the top. Display your new sequined ornament on your tree!

4. DIY Santa Claus Chimney Decoration

Add this cute decoration to a mantle or Christmas centerpiece. Combine it with other DIY Christmas decorations to create a truly unique spread in your home.

What makes this craft extra fun is that it's great for kids and anyone can put their own touch on it with crayons, glitter, or stickers.

Supplies Needed:

• Empty toilet paper roll
• Red or brown paint
• Black fine tip marker
• Construction paper (red, black, and white)

How To Make It

Step 1: Paint the outside and inside of the toilet paper roll with the red or brown paint. Let it dry before going to step 2.

Step 2: Using a fine tip black marker, draw lines on the outside of the toilet paper roll to represent bricks. 

Step 3: Now it's time to create Santa's legs and gift sack with the construction paper. Cut out 2 thin red rectangles for the legs. Next, cut out 2 small white ovals (for the fur trim) and 2 small black ovals (for the boots). Glue the white ovals to the bottom of the red legs, and then glue the black ovals to the very bottom to act as the shoes.

Step 4: Glue the legs inside of the toilet paper holder. They should be sticking out slightly with the feet up.

Step 5: Glue the gift sack inside the holder so it's slightly hanging off the top. Let all the glue dry before displaying.

5. DIY Cinnamon Stick Christmas Candle Holder

Add some extra light and a beautiful scent to your holiday home decor. This cinnamon stick candle holder is a simple way to dress up a traditional or LED candle. If you use a scented candle, make sure to pick a fragrance that pairs well with cinnamon; try apple, nutmeg, pine, or even more cinnamon.

Supplies Needed:

• Pillar candle
• Cinnamon sticks
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Twine rope, festive-colored yarn, or narrow ribbon

How To Make It

Step 1: Hot glue the cinnamon sticks together one by one by lining them up around a candle. Make sure to place them tightly against the candle so the finished holder fits snugly.

Step 2: Let it dry.

Step 3: Finally, wrap a piece of yarn, twine or ribbon around the candle and tie it in a bow for a jolly finishing touch. 

Now that you have your handmade decorations ready, take your holiday craft skills to the next level with our 7 DIY Christmas Gift Ideas to Make on a Budget. And don't forget to check out our selection of wallet-friendly holiday decor to finish your winter wonderland! 

Which craft will you try first? Comment below!