You know the drill – every year you climb up into that dusty attic, search around for last year's baubles and decorations, only to find half of them are broken or are no longer to your taste!
Well this year, why not use your crafty skills to make your own DIY holiday decorations? It’s far more sustainable to use supplies from your stash rather than buying new, plus it’ll totally help to get you in the Christmassy mood.
Regardless of whether you’re an experienced crafter or just fancy being a bit thrifty this year, we’ve got loads of free patterns and tutorials to help you make your own homemade Christmas ornaments.
Read through for a range of inspiring makes, or use these handy links to jump to the craft you’re looking for.
Upcycling ● Papercraft ● Felt ● Air dry clay
Cross stitch ● Sewing ● Embroidery ● Crochet ● Knitting
18 ways to make your own DIY holiday decorations
1. Make button DIY holiday decorations
If you’re someone who has a jar full of mixed-up buttons then here’s a simple holiday decoration you can make… in the shape of a Christmas tree!
All you need is a selection of different-sized buttons (raid your sewing box or have a look in charity shops if you don’t have a stash of them) and a bit of twine or thread. Don’t worry if you don’t have any green buttons, you can always paint them afterwards… or embrace different colours, there’s nothing wrong with rainbow–coloured trees!
Can’t find any buttons at all – just get creative! Make your own by cutting out a range of different size circles out of card or foam board and using a pencil or wide needle to make your buttonholes.
- Find our How to make Christmas tree decorations from buttons tutorial on Gathered
2. Give your old baubles a new lease of life
If your Christmas baubles are looking a bit dull and boring after a few years of use, why not give them a fresh new look with our DIY Christmas baubles upcycling project?
We show you how to use nail varnish to transform bland baubles as well as using gold leaf to give them that extra-stylish shine!
- Check out the DIY Christmas baubles upcycling project on Gathered
Get thrifty with fabric scraps
Love the idea of giving old baubles a new look? Embrace upcycling with our How to turn fabric scraps into Christmas baubles tutorial.
3. Make pretty paper DIY holiday decorations
You don’t need a whole load of specialist tools or supplies to make your own DIY holiday decorations. All you need is coloured paper or card and a bit of glue.
Our tutorial on how to make DIY holiday decorations features three different designs to try – paper doves, poinsettia balls and vintage baubles. Your friends and family will be amazed by these detailed and impressive decorations.
- Try the How to make paper Christmas decorations tutorial from Gathered
4. Top it off with a paper star
Every Christmas tree needs a shining star on top. If you’re after a real show-stopper of a star, our tutorial on how to make a paper star will teach you how to make a fabulous 3D star to display at the top of your tree.
Alternatively, we also have another fab DIY origami Christmas star tutorial which is great for making slightly smaller 8-point stars out of shiny festive paper that you can use as decorations to hang on your tree.
- Learn How to make a Christmas star out of paper with Gathered
5. Stitch a felt gingerbread house DIY holiday decorations
We love making DIY holiday decorations out of felt, as they’re easy to construct with just some simple hand sewing (no need for a machine).
These felt gingerbread house decorations are a great example – just cut out the felt shapes then bring them all together with some easy sewing stitches. We think it’s the perfect way to spend a pre-Christmas evening!
- Find the tutorial on How to make gingerbread tree decorations from Gathered
6. Go kawaii this Christmas with felt animals
If you fancy making some felt DIY holiday decorations that really have the cute-factor, then you simply must try our felt animal Christmas decorations!
Our penguin, polar bear and reindeer will look absolutely adorable hanging from your tree.
- Check out the How to make felt animal Christmas decorations tutorial from Gathered
Delightful Doggy Decorations
If your puppy is part of the family, you'll love making our DIY dog Christmas ornament.
7. Craft your own clay decorations
Nothing says Christmas like pretzels, avocados and lobsters. Ok, so these are some of our more quirky DIY holiday decorations, but in our opinion they’re super cool.
Using air dry clay is a great way to try your hand at sculpting without the need for a kiln or other fancy tools, and our tutorial even shows you how to add a bit of sparkly glitter into your decorations - FAB-U-LOUS!
- Try our How to make air dry clay Christmas decorations tutorial from Gathered
8. Create a glamourous garland
Lose the tacky tinsel on your tree this year and instead get inspired by subtle yet stylish Scandinavian style.
This Christmas star garland is made by using mini cookie cutters with air dry clay to create the shapes, which are then attached to baker’s twine with the help of a glue gun.
- Make a Christmas Star Garland with Gathered
9. Make a mini-wreath bauble with cross stitch
Maybe you only want to do a little bit of crafting rather than making a whole tree-full of DIY holiday decorations. Then why not try this cute and easy cross stitch bauble? It’s so simple you could easily make one in an evening!
- Try our Free Christmas wreath cross stitch pattern tonight!
10. Cross stitch your own adorable angel
Whether you’re placing it proudly atop your tree or making it as an additional hanging decoration, this angel is perfect for relaxing pre-Christmas stitching.
Once you’ve done your stitching, it’s time to make it into a 3D shape… And you won’t believe how easy it is!
- Make this Free cross stitch angel decoration pattern from Gathered
Have a happy cross stitch Christmas
Can’t get enough of Christmas cross stitch? Then you’ll love our list of 150 Christmas cross stitch patterns!
11. Easy sew DIY holiday decorations
These sweet DIY holiday decorations are super easy to make and you could easily stitch up a range of them in a few hours.
These 2D star, heart and Christmas tree shapes only require some simple sewing, so is a great project for new stitchers or more experienced sewists who are after a quick festive make.
They’d look great made in Christmas fabrics, but why not get creative by choosing a colour scheme out of fabrics already in your stash?
- Stitch these Easy sew Christmas ornaments from Gathered
12. Sew your own 3D DIY holiday decorations
Fancy a bit more of a sewing challenge? Then take your DIY holiday decorations to the next level and sew some 3D shapes!
Grab some fabric scraps, download our template and give them a go – They’re a great way of upping your skillset!
- Check out the How to sew your own Christmas baubles tutorial on Gathered
13. Use embroidery to create DIY holiday decorations
If you’d prefer to settle down with some hand stitching during the festive season, then we’ve got a range of endearing embroidery ornaments that you can make.
These simple Hexi ornaments really show off your stitching, and there’s four designs to make – a kawaii wreath and snowflake, plus ‘happy holidays’ and ‘season's greetings’ lettering designs.
- Try our Easy embroidered Christmas decorations today!
14. Enjoy embroidering a mini Christmas jumper
Everyone loves a Christmas sweater, but if you don’t have the time to craft up one big enough to wear, you can always make these mini ones to hang on your tree!
These little felt ornaments are easy to construct and feature some lovely embroidery stitches – we particularly love the whipped back stitches that create a candy cane effect. The tutorial even shows you how to make adorable mini clothes hangers too!
- Stitch some DIY holiday decorations with embroidery with this tutorial from Gathered
15. Show your love this Christmas with crochet
We love the simple folk-art styling of this Christmas crochet heart, which is also reminiscent of traditional gingerbread heart biscuits. They’d make adorable DIY Christmas tree decorations, but you can also use them as a festive brooch too!
They’re made up of simple crochet stitches but do involve shaping with increases and decreases – a great first shaping project for crochet newbies!
- Take a look at our Crochet Christmas heart tutorial on Gathered
16. Go super cute this Christmas with amigurumi crochet
Christmas is all about the food and indulging yourself, so what could be more appropriate than some tasty DIY Christmas tree decorations?
Lauren Espy has given traditional festive food the kawaii amigurumi treatment in the form of a cheerful Christmas pudding, a happy hot chocolate and a smiley sprout!
- Make these Amigurumi Christmas ornaments from Gathered
A whole Christmas of crochet
Crocheters sure do love Christmas, so much so that we’ve got over 100 Christmas crochet patterns for you to hook this year!
17. Knit some delightful decorations
Grab your needles and get ready to make some classic Christmas shapes with our free star and Christmas tree knitting patterns!
These simple shapes each have an extra element of interest to keep knitters entertained, like knitting in the round to make the star or using the backwards loop cast on method to create the ridged trees.
- Download the Free star and Christmas tree knitting patterns on Gathered
18. Sing a song with our Christmas mice!
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, apart from a carol-singing mouse!
If you’re looking to make DIY holiday decorations that really show off your knitting skills, these super-cute carol-singing mice are sure to impress your friends and family.
There’s three free patterns for these fabulously festive critters, plus extra instructions on how to make a special angel mouse too!
- Start making the Free Christmas mice knitting pattern from Gathered
Knit a really special Christmas decoration
Use your knitting skills to create a really cute and wholesome Christmas display with our Free knitted Nativity pattern.
Get creative with your DIY holiday decorations
Now that you’re feeling inspired and have plenty of ideas for DIY Christmas tree decorations, it’s time to decide which ones you’d like to have on your tree.
Try selecting a consistent colour scheme for your various ornaments to tie them all together, or mix it up with lots of different DIY holiday decorations – you could even get the whole family involved so you each have a special decoration of your very own!
Get really crafty by making your own Christmas cards
Let your friends and family share in your crafty skills this Christmas by sending them their own bespoke card. You can find a huge range of DIY Christmas card ideas right here on Gathered.
