DIY Christmas Ornament Ideas

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I bought my very first Christmas tree this year. It’s my first time truly living all on my own and I decided it just wouldn’t feel right without a tree, even if I will be going home for Christmas.

So obviously since I have a whole tree to myself to decorate, I had to DIY some ornaments. And since I was DIYing some ornaments, I thought I better make it a tutorial to share with everyone here!

This post continues my holiDIY series, and if you missed you missed Saturday’s post btw, you can read it here.

Just like all my posts, you’ll find the video tutorial below. Under that you’ll find the links to the supplies I used and also the text instructions to help you follow along with the video.

1) Car carrying tree

Supplies:

Toy car - visit the toy aisle or even the dollar store
Small bottle brush tree
Twine
Clear glitter
Mod Podge
Hot glue
Scissors

Instructions:

If your car has markings, cover them up with matching paint. It took two coats to get it mostly covered.
Once the paint is dry, go in with some Mod Podge or glue and cover the sides and top with it. Then sprinkle clear glitter on the car to give it some sparkle.
After the glitter has dried, it’s time to add a tiny bottle brush tree. I pushed it down on the table a few times to flatten the bottom, applied some glue to the top of the car, and attached the tree on top
Next, take a long piece of twine and tie it into a loop in the middle. Using that loop as the first knot of your bow, tie a bow as I’m showing here.
After that, glue the bow to the top of the tree, then wrap the ends of the twine two or three times around the car and secure with hot glue
Now you have a cute take on a classic christmas ornament

2) Chalkboard Ornament

Supplies:

Wood ornament cutout - find at your local craft store (or buy an excessive amount here)
Black chalk paint - found in the craft paint aisle
Gold acrylic paint - same as above
Chalk
Paint brushes

Instructions:

First take a wooden ornament cutout-- which are pretty easy to find at any craft store this time of year-- and paint it with black chalk paint. I left the wood showing around the edges just to really give it a chalkboard effect.
After two coats of the chalk paint have dried, paint the top of the ornament gold if you want.
Once all the paint dries, prime your chalkboard by scribbling chalk on it, then rubbing it off with your hands or a paper towel.
Now it’s time to write on it! Have fun with it! And the best part is, if you mess up, you can erase it and do it again!

3) Pom Pom Bulb

Supplies:

Clear plastic christmas bulb
Various pom poms - the ones I used I’ve only seen at Pat Catans, but I know Michaels has a good pom pom selection!
Sequins
Letter stickers

Instructions:

For this really simple DIY, I’m filling a plastic clear bulb with purple and pink colored pom poms!
I also added some matching sequins for a little extra sparkle.
Once that was done, I took some letter stickers that also somehow match really well and spelled out “joy” on the outside of the ornament.

4) Clay Cutouts

Supplies:

White polymer clay
Black acrylic paint
Mod Podge
Gold leaf
Thin ribbon
Hot glue
Scissors

Instructions:

First thing’s first, preheat your oven following the instructions on your clay.
Take the clay and knead it until it’s soft, then roll it out between some parchment or wax paper. If you don’t have a rolling pin like me, you can use any cylindrical object, like this can of spray paint.
After it’s all rolled out, take a cookie cutter and cut out the shape. I made a snowman and a bell.
Next, following the instructions on your clay, bake it for . Mine said 15 minutes per quarter inch of clay.
Once they finish baking, take them out of the oven to cool.
After the ornaments are cooled, it’s time to paint. I wanted to keep my ornaments simple and chose to use only black paint for my designs.
To take these ornaments a step further, you can use some gold leaf to add details.
Just take some mod podge and apply it where you want to put the gold leaf, then add the gold leaf on top
After the gold leaf dries, use a fluffy brush to brush away the excess
Finally, flip the ornaments over, and use some hot glue to apply a ribbon to hang them

5) Macrame Succulent Hanger

Supplies:

Felt in shades of green
This felt succulent tutorial
Mini terra cotta flower pot
Thin rope/string/macrame cord
Hot glue
Scissors
Tape

Instructions:

The first thing you’ll need to make are some felt succulents. To save some time in this video, I already have an entire video teaching you how to make felt succulents. You’ll find it linked in the supplies above!
Once your succulents are made, glue them into the tiniest terra cotta pot you can find. These are easily available at the craft store.
Now onto the macrame hanger.
Cut two long lengths of string, the more the better. And a little hack, wrap some tape around where you’re cutting so the rope doesn’t fray.
Next, fold the ropes in half, then taking a smaller bit of the rope and some hot glue, wrap it around the top to form a loop.
Then use some tape to attach your rope to the surface you’re working on.
Now it’s onto the tying part.
First knot the pieces that are right next to each other to combine them into three bunches.
After that, take one string from the first bunch and the string next to it from the second bunch and knot those. Repeat that with the next set of strings. Then knot together the two remaining outside strings.
Here you’re just seeing me making the knots a little lower down because I had made them too short.
After that, insert your succulents to get an idea as to where you want to tie off the bottom, then remove them.
Like you did at the top, take a bit of rope and glue and wrap it around the bottom and cut off the excess rope.
Now you can insert the succulents.
Just to make this ornament extra secure, I added a little glue to the bottom to hold everything in place.
Finally, fluff your felt succulents and the ornament is ready to be hung on your tree!

So what do you think? That macrame ornament is definitely my favorite out of this tutorial. Tbh, it’s the whole reason I decided to make an ornament post/video. I hope you enjoyed and get! The third installment in my holiDIY series comes out Saturday!