DIY Christmas Ornaments - 6 Cute Ideas

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Last Updated on November 18, 2021 by Katherine

There is something special about DIY Christmas ornaments, isn’t there? It truly is an exciting idea to create a tree load of custom ornaments or to gift those you love with something handmade by you.

If you have ever wondered if it was possible for you to create your very own Christmas ornaments, this post is for you. I will show you how to make 6 simple, yet totally adorable DIY Christmas ornaments so that you can get that custom feeling for yourself!

These ornament projects are beginner friendly and you can easily get started for under $20. Ready to get started? Let’s go!

Materials You Will Need:

Pipe cleaners;
Small pom-poms;
Craft felt;
Hot glue gun and glue;
Scissors;
Plastic or glass ornaments balls (clear);
Christmas Ribbon;
Buttons;
Cinnamon sticks;
Bottle caps;
Wine corks;
Paint markers;
Craft Paint; and,
Christmas “greens” or picks (think evergreen sprigs or poinsettias).

Curious about how to keep all these projects straight? Fire your brain and snag a free copy of my crafting workbook by joining my email community. Details below:

Where to Shop:

I will be 100% honest, I had most of the above materials already (hazard of running a crafting blog), but here are some of my favorite stores to shop for these supplies:

Michaels
Wal-Mart
Amazon
Create For Less (Affiliate Link)
Local Dollar Store

If you’d like to learn about other cool places to shop, be sure to check out my earlier post: How to Find, Buy & Store Your Craft Supplies: The Best Tips.

Alright, let’s get down to making some ornaments!!

Ribbon Balls

a round ornament and some ribbon will get you this!

We’re going to start with a really easy, but stunning project. All you will need is a selection of clear ornament balls (glass or plastic will work fine) and unwired ribbon.

Simply feed your ribbon inside the ornament ball and cap it off. You can use a smaller length of the same ribbon as the ornament hook or use a metal one if you prefer.

I recommend using a thinner ribbon (around ½ inch in width) as you might have difficulty feeding a thicker ribbon into your ornament ball!

Pretty easy, right? Let’s get a bit more complex.

Painted Balls

All this needs is some nice glitter paint and a christmas ball!

The second project involves more of those clear plastic or glass ornaments and some craft paint.

Add a generous portion of your chosen craft paint into the ornament and seal the top (you can use a gloved finger if you can’t find a proper lid) and shake the paint around the inside of that ornament until well coated.

Allow the paint to air dry and then stick the ornament topper back on and use some ribbon or an ornament hook to finish it.

Snow Globes

For the "snow", you can use epsom salts and some lovely "christmas" greens to finish it up.

This is the last project idea with ornament balls, I swear! I had to include this charming piece because it’s just so darn cute!

For this project, you’ll be tossing some craft snow or you can use Epsom salts into your ornament ball. The rest is up to you, you can simply add in some lovely sprigs of holly or leaves or if the opening of your ornament allows, you can add in tiny figures and create an ornament sized diorama!

Simply cap your ornament as usual and add a length of ribbon or an ornament hook to finish it.

If you’re concerned about the snow or Epsom salts leaking, you can create a seal using your hot glue gun. Start with slowly building up hot glue around the opening until you seal it completely.

Cinnamon Stick Trees

I never would have thought about using buttons as "tree ornaments", but they do look cute on this DIY Christmas ornament!

Little else says “Christmas” like the smell of cinnamon. For this project, you will use a cinnamon stick to create charming little tree ornaments.

Begin by cutting three lengths of evergreen sticks, you’ll need three different lengths so they form a “tree” shape. You’ll then glue these pieces to your cinnamon stick to create your tree. You can then glue small buttons on the evergreen branches to make “ornaments”. Cool right?

Finally, glue a length of ribbon to the top of your tree and let everything dry.

Instead of buttons, you can also use small pom-poms for your ornaments and perhaps you can find a suitable sized star for the top!

Snowman Bottlecaps

bottle caps make for a great snowman and a cute DIY Christmas Ornament!

Amy Latta’s Bottle Cap Snowman Ornaments inspired this absolutely adorable ornament project.

You will need three bottle caps besides craft paint and ribbon.

First, you’ll want to paint the inside of those bottle caps white, you can also paint the outside if you like. Once the paint is dry, you can use black and orange sharpie markers (or paint markers) to draw some eyes, a mouth and nose and then the buttons.

Then, using a length of ribbon, you can use hot glue to attach the bottle caps.

You can also add thinner ribbon scarves as well for a cute little accessory.

Wine-Cork Reindeer

this is the more complex of my diy christmas ornaments as it's a lot of pipecleaners, corks and glue!

I honestly think that I saved the best DIY Christmas ornaments for last. You can check out the original inspiration at Insideways’ Homemade Christmas Ornaments 2013. I love how adorable these little reindeer turn out to be and you can create unique looks easily.

For this project, you will need wine corks, pipe cleaners, small pom-poms and googly eyes.

I like to start with the “head” by forming antlers with brown pipe cleaners and attaching them to the wine cork with a small dab of hot glue. A red pom-pom to the nose will make you a lovely Rudolph or a black one for another reindeer.

You can use a black paint marker to draw more facial features on your reindeer’s face if you like as well, and then glue some googly eyes on the head to complete the look.

Another wine cork will form the body and you can use more brown pipe cleaners to form the neck and legs. You can continue to customize your reindeer with a jaunty felt “scarf”.

DIY Christmas Ornaments Are A Great Way to Spend an Afternoon

If you are short on time, DIY Christmas ornaments are a quick and easy craft to complete. In the space of an afternoon, you can have an entire army of new handmade ornaments ready to go. You can also get started with this for under $20, especially if you’re able to find most materials at your local dollar store!

I hope this post has inspired you to create your own handmade ornaments this year for Christmas. Do you have a favorite Christmas ornament craft? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you.

Also, please share this post on your favorite social media platform and pin this post to Pinterest. I’d appreciate your help in spreading inspiration out there!