Gorgeous homemade Christmas ornaments really can be made quickly and cheaply with :
- Basic nature finds
- PLUS upcycled bits & bobs.
And I have for you here a stunning collection of the simplest and loveliest DIY Christmas decorations.
There are natural ornaments from :
- Pine cones
- Tree branches
- Dried oranges
- Twigs
- And other nature finds.
Then budget beating up-cycled Christmas decorations made with :
- Ribbon scraps
- Buttons
- Wood offcuts
- Random old beads
- Tatty baubles
- Yarn & wool
- And scrap paper.
None of them need fancy craft skills & all come with step-by-step tips.
I do hope they help you enjoy a simple beautiful Christmas that doesn’t break the bank…
Table of Contents
Natural Homemade Christmas Ornaments
DIY Christmas Ornaments Made With Pine Cones
Pinecone ornaments are beautiful with both a rustic Christmas decor and more modern minimalist Christmas decorations.
You can even make them look glam!
And you can pick them up easily for FREE in a local park or woods.
The simplest way to transform pine cones is to glue on ribbon bows
Or to glue on twine and tie big bows around the twine as shown here by Make It Love It (whizz to end of Ashley’s post for instructions) …
Neutral and gold ribbon looks gorgeous with bleached pine cones (Stone Gable Blog) …
Whilst lengthier pine cones look incredibly elegant with long slim shape-flattering ribbon tails …
Adding tiny snips of foliage from the garden to your pine cones creates adorably pretty ornaments …
As do old bells – or anything similar – you have cluttering the bottom of your Christmas decoration boxes …
Whilst bright ribbon adds a fabulous pop of colour to your decorations …
For all of the ideas above you can leave your pine cones au-natural – a big win if you’re short on time!
You just need to :
- Brush them down with a stiff brush to remove leaves or creatures!!
- Air dry on some newspaper
- Or gently rinse them
- And then dry pine cones in oven.
Or for that paired back Scandi look you can easily bleach pinecones. If you worry about the safety of bleach – I do – use natural bleaches
Or dunk your pine cones in a DIY whitewash for a similar Scandi Christmas feel minus the bleach …
Bleached or not you can easily add some serious glamour to your pine cone Christmas ornaments.
You can simply dot cones with glue and roll them in any old glitter or sparkle you have leftover …
Or finish off any random cans of gold spray paint you have hanging around from Christmas long past.
If you are going for gold with your Christmas decor you can get more glisten by adding gold leaf to your cones – it’s fiddly but not hard …
But pine cone Christmas ornaments don’t have to be all about glistening gold or Scandinavian style neutrals.
They are also a brilliant cheap and easy way to switch to a new bright and bold Christmas colour scheme.
Covered in shiny acrylic teal paint these pine cone ornaments ooze glamour but made with any leftover colours you have plus up-cycled bead toppers they barely cost anything to make …
You could also use any bright bold paint you have to give your DIY ornaments a cute modern look …
And if you find lots of little cones when you are out and about it is easy to transform them into a super simple garland with this step-by-step tutorial from Magic Onions …
Homemade pinecone Christmas ornaments are winners in so many ways but there are other lovely ways to make natural DIY decorations.
Tree Branch Ornaments
These beautiful natural Christmas ornaments made from fallen branches look a tad tricky but aren’t. You just need a saw & screw driver …
All you need to do is :
- Collect sticks of different diameters
- Saw into rounds
- Screw holes through them
- Thread different sizes onto ribbon.
You could leave the wood rustic style natural or sand it or paint it for a more minimalist Christmas look.
Dried Orange Ornaments
Dried orange ornaments take a bit more time than other homemade natural decorations but are still easy.
And they make the house smell scrumptiously Christmasy …
You don’t have to stick to dried oranges for your decorations. Other citrus fruit – and in fact other fruit – can be dried the same way to add to homemade Christmas decorations including wreaths and garlands.
If you do dry a range of different coloured citrus fruits, you can thread them together with cinnamon sticks in these beautifully fragranced homemade Christmas ornaments …
Nature Walk Ornaments
If you love rustic Christmas decor you can easily make a lovely little collection of Christmas ornaments from nature walk finds …
Simply add natural twine and odd scraps of leftover ribbon to :
- Holly cuttings
- Pine cuttings
- Rose hips
- Acorns
- Chestnuts
- And more …
Or you press your finds into super simple DIY salt dough ornaments …
You can of course also make all sorts of fabulous DIY Christmas decorations from piles of twigs …
Twig Christmas Ornaments
Twig Star Ornaments
These twig star ornaments are super simple to make with kids. Just glue the twigs together and then wrap the stars roughly with rafia or ribbon …
And these similarly simple twig star ornaments could be easily tied together into a Christmas garland …
Twig Snowflake Ornaments
These tiny twig snowflakes need some good glue and nimble fingers but are adorable both plain or spray painted white and glittered …
You can easily jazz up twig snowflake and star ornaments with cuttings of Christmas greenery or any old buttons or beads going spare …
Twig Tree Ornaments
Arranging twigs for Christmas tree ornaments make a lovely sorting and sizing activity for little kids.
You can attach the branches to the trunk very simply with glue and thread or yarn lashing …
Or alternatively with twine or string macrame style to make a three dimensional decoration …
Twig Reindeer Ornaments
If you have got nimble fingers these simple painted twig reindeer ornaments are fabulously cute.
They are really not at all complicated but you will need a little patience with the glue so they stick straight …
Gorgeously Elegant Christmas Twig Ornaments
For more grown up, elegant ornaments you can simply gather bundles of long sprayed twigs in a big bow of ribbon …
Or gather some fir twigs and a few ornaments together with some copper tape as shown on My Scandinavian Home …
It’s basically just a freestyle arrangement but definitely an advertisement for how less really can be more in Christmas decor.
All the DIY natural ornaments above can be made using nature finds PLUS leftover craft supplies and we can whip up even more gorgeous homemade Christmas ornaments for free by up-cycling old clutter.
Upcycled Homemade Christmas Ornaments
Ribbon Christmas Ornaments
Any leftover bits of ribbon you have from previous Christmas gifts can be super easily upcycled into these lovely ribbon twig trees ornaments from Fireflies and Mudpies …
You could go for a rustic Christmas decor feel with twigs and twine but also a modern minimalist Christmas look with ribbons tied round any little sticks you can recycle from your kids toy box or the kitchen.
If you don’t have ribbon, no worries. Simply recycle some from old cotton pyjamas, shirts or hankies.
Scrap Wood Ornaments
These simpler wooden homemade Christmas star ornaments are simple to make from any scrap wood you have around the house …
You just need to :
- Draw outline with cookie cutter
- Saw round roughly
- Sand all over
- Using heavier sandpaper initially to create the bevel around the edge
- Drill a small hole for thread or screw in a small hook.
With a little help and guidance even children can make them. If they are not old enough to help saw they can still have a lovely calming time sanding down the stars.
Button Christmas Ornaments
You can make super lovely homemade ornaments with kids from any old buttons you have lurking around your home.
I made these button tree ornaments with my daughter when she was tiny. They couldn’t be simpler …
Just thread 2 holes on each button with strong thread or wire and pop a white button on top as a star.
You can use the same technique for these button angel ornaments …
This Christmas star needs a bit more time to fix the buttons to the star frame shaped from a wire hanger but is still easy to make …
(Original source : Julias Vita Drommer)
If you do have a big stash of old buttons you can simply thread them together loosely with yarn, twine or ribbon to create a super simple, super cute Christmas garland …
(Original source : One Thousand Oaks)
Or if you can only muster a few odd buttons sew them onto fabric Christmas trees as ornaments. I made these eons ago with my then four year old and they are a lovely simple Christmas craft for kids …
Recycled Bead Ornaments
Old beads from broken jewellery or kids craft sets can be recycled into sparkling homemade Christmas tree ornaments that light up the room.
These beautiful little bead Christmas wreaths couldn’t be easier …
And with not much more skill and effort you can create lovely bead snowflake ornaments like these …
If you only have a few beads you can thread them onto bits of wire with leftover ribbon to create sweet little Christmas tree ornaments …
Or layer them with fabric circles as in this easy DIY ornament tutorial …
Old Christmas Baubles
Tatty old baubles we never hang can be given amazing quick makeovers for the latest Christmas look.
You can create this stunning terracotta effect with just left over paint and baking soda …
Or ceramic-stone styling with papier-mache, string and old ribbon …
Left-over strips of paper napkin or gift wrap can be modge-podged to old baubles to create beautiful toile-style ornaments like these …
Or for a rustic look stick on strips from old books or newspaper as in these by Craft and Creativity …
Scrap Paper Christmas Ornaments
Any old scrap paper that needs decluttering can be transformed into beautiful Christmas ornaments.
So gather up old newspaper, gift wrap, fallen apart books etc and create amazingly simple origami stars like these for free …
Or use this step by step Moravian star tutorial to craft these beauties …
Simple homemade Moravian star ornaments can be made into garlands but also look lovely hung by a window with the winter light behind them …
Yarn Christmas Ornaments
Leftover yarn is a great material for quickly making Christmas ornaments to go with country cottage rustic Christmas decor.
These wool stars from Live Laugh Rowe are super simple to make …
They look great here in natural colours but could also look super fun and cool in bright neons if that’s the only yarn you have leftover.
These Christmas tree ornaments are a great way to use up small bits of leftover yarn in different colours …
More Rustic Style Christmas Decor Ideas
For even more natural and homemade Christmas decorations do check out this collection of 35 Rustic Christmas Decor Ideas …
And for more simple Christmas ideas check out my other Christmas posts which are full of lovely but practical and affordable ideas for :
Varga says
Dear Sloely!
We create an online Advent calendar for railway colleagues, which we publish on http://www.vasutasmagazin.hu. We would like to ask for your permission so that we can take one or two Christmas DIY ideas from you, with a source sign, of course.
Are we allowed to do this?
Thanks to:
Alice says
Hi – that’s fine as long as any images are linked and attributed to the correct source.