Fun-to-Make Christmas Holiday Crafts

Old sweaters add welcome texture and warmth to your holiday decorating.

To make the star: Place a pretty section from a sweater over a cardboard star form (available from crafts stores) and cut, leaving 1 inch excess all around. Starting at the center and working out, hot-glue to secure. Glue edges under the form.

To make the garland: Cut star shapes from sweater fabric using our free downloadable template. Adhere heavy iron-on fusible interfacing to the backs of the stars; trim. Hot-glue a large sequin in the center of each star. Glue stars to yarn and hang.

To make the stool sleeves: Cut the arms from sweaters in half lengthwise and sew a seam in each to create tubes to fit stool legs. Turn ends under 1 inch and hem. Slide onto legs.

Take a quick tour through holidays past with this retro-inspired photo tree. Perch a small tree in a silver bucket, and fasten old photos using small clothespins. If desired, intersperse paper tags marked with a script handwriting as well as mini garland or ribbon and twinkle lights.

Create a bright and cheerful holiday message for a door or above a table or mantel. Use a crafts knife to cut away the front surface of papier-mache letters to create an indent for the artificial flowers. Spray all surfaces of each letter metallic gold. Remove the flower heads from faux red silk carnation stems, and use a hot-glue gun to fill the letters with carnations.

Raid your kitchen for simple materials for this retro-mod tree. Buy a frame and attach colorful cupcake liners atop the glass so that their crimped sides pop off the surface. Use glue dots from the crafts store for a gummy, non-permanent stick.

Trust us, you'll want to craft several of these adorable felted friends. Pose them on your mantel for a too-stinkin'-cute holiday vignette, or give these woolly penguins as heartwarming presents -- if you can part with them!

Craft a classy wreath in minutes from the simplest of supplies. Grab a textured scarf and wreath form, and watch closely.

This simple advent calendar comes together with easy-to-find crafts-store supplies. Wrap a piece of foam core with linen, and frame. Choose a font you like, and print numbers on tags. Use little bits and baubles to decorate each tag. Pin tags tags to foam core.

Remember cans of faux snow? They can actually be the start of a fun, easy holiday accent. In a well-ventilated area, coat glass with a can of spray snow. While wet, use your finger to draw a tree shape, wiping the excess from your finger onto a paper towel. If you prefer, opt for a stencil instead. Follow the cleanup directions on the bottle; most can be cleaned up with soap and water.

Tiny throw-away pieces of sweaters fill miniature embroidery hoops for festive wall hangings or ornaments. Tighten the sweater pieces in 3-inch hoops, cut out, trim as needed, and hang with ribbon.

A teensy forest and wintry animals lend seasonal cheer to a tabletop.

To make the trees: Cut a small piece of sisal rope. (The length depends on how large you want your tree.) Untwist the rope strands, and continue pulling them apart until you have fine fibers. Place fibers in a pile. Continue to cut and untwist strands until you have desired amount. Cut a piece of 18-gauge galvanized-steel wire twice as long as desired trunk length. Bend the wire in half. Sandwich the fiber pile between the wires near the bend, and use scissors to trim the fiber pile into a triangular shape. Place the loose ends of the wire in a vise. Cut a small piece from the clothes hanger, and bend it into a hook shape (to use in place of a drill bit). Place the clothes hanger hook into the end of a drill. Insert the hook through the bent end of the wire. Turn the drill on, twisting the wire until fibers are secure. Turn off drill. Remove the clothes hanger hook from the tree and the wire from the vise. Use scissors to trim the spun (and now shaggy) fibers into a tree shape. Spray-paint in desired colors. Wrap exposed wire with florists tape.

To create the forest: Spray-paint a herd of miniature plastic reindeer or moose. Insert the trees into the holes of a cribbage board.  

Add cozy holiday flair to your mantel by embellishing plain glass vases with snug sweater wraps -- no knitting required! To make, cut off the end of a sweater arm to a length that will fit your container, plus 2 inches. Fold the edge under and secure it with hot glue. If desired, glue miniature jingle bells to the cuff.

These colorful Christmas trees are made using varieties of different baking cups. Cut down the side and around the bottom of your baking cups; discard bottom. Starting at the bottom of a foam cone, wrap a cut strip around the tree, securing the ends with straight pins. Cover any foam that remains visible with another strip. Add more strips, overlapping slightly and alternating patterns until you reach the top. For the last two strips at the top, roll a small pleated piece and insert it inside a slightly larger strip; pin to treetop.

Count down to Christmastime with our easy, do-it-yourself calendar. To make this holiday craft, cut twenty-four 2-1/4-inch circles from an adhesive magnet sheet. Adhere them to patterned paper; cut out. Use a 1-inch circular punch for the inner circles. Number and glue them to the magnetic circles. Fill the wells with fun trinkets, notes, and candies.

Editor's Tip: Be sure you pick a muffin pan with 24 wells (one for each day leading up to Christmas).

Make fancy folded treat holders as a pretty home decoration, food gift, or party favors. Our free download includes a pattern and instructions. Pick out pretty scrapbook papers for the pyramids, plus decorative ribbon and metallic twine or yarn for finishing touches.

These cool, contemporary ornaments will certainly attract attention; they pop right out of the frame! To make, print the free patterns and trace the shapes onto a sheet of balsa wood. Cut out shapes with a crafts knife. Paint the shield-shape backgrounds with desired colors. Cut out holes as marked on the pattern, and assemble each animal. To display, string decorative ribbon across an empty frame and hang finished ornaments from ribbon with embroidery floss.

A few pantry staples and some snowflake cookie cutters are all you need to create these charming, customizable ornaments. To create, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Mix 1/2 cup salt, 1 cup flour, and 1/2 cup water until it forms a sticky dough. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick, and use cookie cutters to cut out snowflake shapes. Pierce each shape with a skewer to create a hole for hanging. Bake for 4 hours, and let shapes cool completely. Decorate shapes as desired with a permanent marker.

Upcycle gently used Christmas sweaters into gorgeous holiday decorations. Create trees in various heights for a simple, eye-catching centerpiece or mantel display.

Mismatched ceramic plates (available by the dozens at local thrift stores) serve as an ideal base for this festive message. Cut letters from spray-painted chipboard, varying letter sizes and fonts for extra appeal, then glue each cutout securely to a ceramic plate. For a 3-D effect, glue a letter onto a small saucer and affix it to a larger plate using epoxy. Hang stockings below in coordinating hues for a bright, cheerful scene.

No room for a tree? This hangable wall decoration is the perfect holiday craft for small spaces. To make, draw a large triangle on a large shipping pallet to desired size (ours is 44 inches tall). Cut out the triangle using a jigsaw; use sandpaper to smooth all surfaces. Paint tree slats with alternative shades of green paint. Predrill holes, then screw small cup hooks and drawer pulls to the front. Hang cards and decorations on the cup hooks. Tie rope between knobs; attach clothespins to rope. Garlands, globe lights, and mini presents also make fun tree decorations.

Make a gift even more special by embellishing the wrapping with a needle-felted tag or adornment you've made yourself. Simply cut out pieces of felt in whatever shape you like best and adorn with extra felt strips, triangles, stars, or other festive shapes. Needle-felt designs into your tags, or stitch letters and patterns for extra decoration.

Give a plain pillow a holiday makeover by giving it a new slipcover made from red burlap and acrylic paint.

A little glam goes a long way on your holiday table. We used glitter in winter blues and white to coat a simple vase. Follow our video to make your own.

This holiday crafts idea transforms inexpensive materials like pinecones and felt into a trio of wise gnomes. Let your imagination run wild as you style their beards, scarves, and hats.

Propped on a windowsill or a mantel, these papier-mache letters will greet your guests with cheer. Use them to display a holiday sentiment or your family's last name.

This hand-sewn felt stocking will brighten your fireplace mantel with its colorful 1950s-style ornaments and white Christmas stars.

Display a friendly season's greeting to all guests. To create a ribbon card hanger, simply stitch ribbon in flaps and attach a kicky bow at one end with a few stitches. Add a picture hanger to the back of the bow and hang on the wall. Tuck a card under each flap and adhere with double-stick tape.

Gather your favorite collectible ornaments and trim the boughs of a whimsical art piece. Hung inside a frame topped with a bow, the ornaments are the center of attention.

These rock candy-embellished cones are a fun and easy holiday crafts project. Pour horizontal rows of candy crystals in three or more colors on a baking sheet with the rows flush together. Wrap solid light color cardstock around foam cones, slightly overlapping the paper at the back of the cone and securing it with hot glue. Do not apply the hot glue directly to the foam cone, which will melt. Larger cones may need two sheets of paper to be completely covered. Spread crafts glue on the cones and roll them in crystals; let dry. Repeat process, if needed, to cover cones completely with crystals. Use hot glue to fill in small gaps with hand-placed crystals.