5 Homemade Christmas Ornaments

When you're ready to deck the halls and trim the Christmas tree, skip the stores and consider a few DIY projects for you and the family instead. Holiday DIYs are a great way to bring people together, spend time being creative, and unwind after a hectic day. And who knows, maybe you’ll even find a new family tradition.

Salt Dough

Salt dough ornaments have been around for a very long time. In fact, we have salt dough ornaments hanging on our tree that our grandparents made over seventy years ago. The trick with salt dough is to pick a recipe that works for the climate that you're in.

If you live in a very dry climate, you may need to add a little more liquid to your salt dough. It should feel like a gritty Play-Doh when you make it up. There are tons of salt dough recipes online for different climates, so pick a recipe and start creating.

Painted Bulbs

Painted bulbs are an easy DIY that allows you to completely customize your tree. Find clear bulbs and pick out a few coordinating paint colors you like. Just use cheap acrylic paint, maybe with a little glitter for some razzle dazzle.

Remove the top from the bulbs and squirt a little paint inside the bulbs, swirl it around, and then let it drip upside down. Leave it upside down until the paint is dry. You now have colorful plastic bulb ornaments that look like glass.

Reattach the tops of the bulbs and glue them down if necessary. Then add a string and add them to the tree.

Air Dry Clay

If you have little kids, these homemade ornaments are lots of fun. Purchase air-dry clay from a major retailer or local craft store and begin rolling it out into fun shapes. You can use cookie cutters or cut your own shapes with a butter knife.

Once you're done make sure to use a straw to poke a hole for a string to attach your ornaments to the tree. Then let your ornaments dry for as long as the box recommends. You can paint your dried ornaments or leave them the natural clay color. This ornament-making activity is really great for little kids and adults alike.

Felt Ornaments

There are two kinds of felt ornaments that you can DIY. Firstly, if you know how to work with felt, you can purchase felt fabric and felting needles to create cute little shaped animals and Christmas objects with the felted fabric.

If felting something isn't something that you know how to do, you can make ornaments with sheets of felt. We love felt ornaments because they feel fun and nostalgic.

While we do recommend having a sewing machine handy for whatever felt ornaments you decide to create, you can use hot fabric glue instead of a sewing machine to attach your felt pieces to each other.

As a bonus, we also made a felt garland this year by simply imitating a paper chain using felt strips. We wrapped it around the tree and it's our favorite part of our decor.

Picture Ornaments

If you're looking for something personal and sentimental, try a picture ornament. Purchase a thin sheet of balsa wood or stiff paper that you can cut yourself or that is pre-cut to about an inch by an inch or two in by two in. Then take the photo that you want to put on the tree and cut it down the size of your balsa wood.

Next, glue your picture to the background and then Mod Podge over the top to steal it all together. Attach a hook or a paperclip to the back of the balsa wood so that you have a place to string your ornament up and place it on the tree. It's fast and simple, but really personal.

Looking for more Christmas DIYs? Try out some German Christmas DIYs and DIY tree toppers.