Easy Ideas for Handmade Christmas Decor

Count down the days until Christmas with a handmade Advent calendar that is both decorative and fun. Use holiday-inspired fabrics such as plaid and gingham to stitch up small Santa hats. Then fill the hats with sweet holiday treats and toys and attach a paper number charm to each one. Hang the hats from a suspended rope with clothespins and display in an open window. Your kids will love opening a different hat for each day of December.

Whether you are looking for a fun Christmas craft or just a cute gift idea, these homemade ornaments are an easy and inexpensive option to make. Cut a natural fabric into small heart shapes with scissors. Stack two pieces on top of one another and use embroidery floss to stitch them together. Make sure to leave a small opening and stuff the interior with fiberfill before sewing the heart closed. Attach yarn or ribbon to suspend your new creation from a Christmas tree. Or, nestle a handful of them into a holiday display. These handmade ornaments also make charming decorations for gift packages.

Dressed in bright red knickerbockers and a matching knitted hat, this traditional Norwegian Christmas elf adds a fun and whimsical accent to festive holiday decorations. Make your own Christmas elf to use as either a quirky mantel topper or adorable stocking stuffer.

Red-dyed wool curls piled around tall paper cones form brilliant hearthside trees that reflect a modern yet organically inspired approach to Christmas.

Decorative wrapping paper made from plain paper and stamps and adorned with wool yarn and cotton ribbons adds a festive and personal touch to Christmas gifts. This holiday season, experiment with other natural and reusable materials like newspaper, linen, and organic cloth.

Instead of waiting for Christmas night to surprise your kids, why not put on daily celebrations that they will enjoy throughout the season? As the perfect addition to your family's traditions, instruct your children to place their empty boots or shoes by a door or windowsill on the night before St. Nicholas Day (December 5). While they are sleep, fill each with sweet treats and trinkets. When they awake the next morning, your kids will be amazed to find these special goodies.

This holiday season, spruce up your home with earth-friendly Christmas decorations. A clever take on the classic Christmas tree, this decorative little tree made from wood and bark will make the perfect addition to an organically inspired mantel.

This easy-to-make burlap stocking offers a natural twist. To make your own, cut a pattern out of cardboard. Trace the pattern with white chalk onto burlap and cut out two pieces with pinking shears. Stack the pieces on top of each another and sew them together with white thread in a zigzag stitch. Hand-finish the edges using a whipstitch in a contrasting white or red thick thread. Next, paint a wood initial letter (available at a crafts store) and attach it to top corner of the stocking with ribbon.

While ornaments always look great on a Christmas tree, these sparkly little stars deserve individual attention. Try hanging one in front of a window. You can create your own bright star ornaments by cutting felted wool into star and heart shapes. Next, use silver floss to hand-embroider the smaller hearts to the stars. Use fabric glue to accent your new ornaments with flat-back crystals.

These decorated letters are a great handmade project. Choose an assortment of decorative holiday papers. Then, using wood letters from a crafts store trace a front for each letter onto the blank side of your patterned papers. Cut out the shapes and glue the paper pieces to their corresponding letters. Prop on a windowsill or a mantel for cheerful and easy holiday display.

Make papier-mache clown ornaments for Christmas or simply embellish a store-bought version with fanciful adornments. The bow ties on these clown-inspired ornaments were cleverly crafted from cupcake liners and curlicue wire hangers.

Turn last year's holiday cards into this year's Christmas display. Stitch ribbons in flaps and sew a punchy bow at one end. Next, add a picture hanger to the back of the bow and hang it on a wall. Tuck a card under each flap, adhering them with double-stick tape.

Mini potted trees serve not only as cheerful Christmas decorations but also as a fun and eco-friendly holiday gifts.Cut salvaged Christmas cards to fit the sides of a plastic container or paper box and glue the pieces in place. Tie a pretty bow around the box with ribbon, then slide an adorable potted tree inside. Once the holidays have passed, plant the tree outdoors, where you can take pride in watching it grow.

These little homespun knit ornaments are an unbreakable alternative to shiny glass balls. To speed up production, machine-felt the ornaments' outside and fill with soft fiberfill. Hang them on your Christmas tree or tuck them in a bowl among fresh evergreen springs and holly for a quick holiday centerpiece.

Whip up a playful wreath inspired by everyone's favorite holiday treat. Use cookie cutters to form a wreath shape, and attach the cutters together with hot glue. Spray-paint the wreath in brilliant Christmas red and add a bow for festive flair.

Trade traditional gingerbread houses for dazzling little abodes. Construct a frame from mat board or card stock or purchase a papier-mache version from a crafts store. Paint the walls of your little house red and allow them to dry. Follow with a coat of crafts glue and finish with a generous sprinkling of radiant red glitter.

Celebrate the season with a banner perfectly embroidered in peppermint-stripe letters. Hang along a bookshelf or open cabinet for an easy Christmas display.

Put pencil to paper to make artful ornament decorations like these. Watercolor pencil gives paper cutouts a pretty, fresh look. For durability, spray your creations with either a sealant or a decoupage medium.

Painted red flowerpots adorned with shiny adhesive gems look fabulously festive when positioned in a straight line along a table or mantel edge. To create your own tiny topiary plants, push plastic foam balls through painted wooden dowels and use glue to decorate the balls with reindeer moss. Hold each little tree in place by tucking florist's foam neatly along the bottom of your newly bedazzled pots.

Show off Mother Nature's finest materials by crafting a garland made entirely of natural elements. String items like mini pinecones, dried oranges, and beads along an organic hemp string.

A bright bold display of paper cone trees is bound to pique your guests' interest. To make this foolproof tablescape, form decorative paper into simple cone shapes. Seal the seams with double-stick tape and display.

Decorate your Christmas tree with handmade ornaments that add color and personality to your holiday decor. This printed red-and-white paper bulb started as a simple papier-mache shape.

Continue to the next slide to learn how to make this patterned orb.

Start with a six-sided cardboard ornament and patterned scrapbook paper found from a crafts store. Lay the ornament on top of the blank side of your scrapbook paper. Trace six panels on the paper and cut the pieces out by following along the traced lines. Glue the paper panels in place, covering the ornament. Seal the covered surface of the ornament with a glossy varnish and let dry.

Next, attach a looped ribbon to the top of the ornament with a red bead and ball-head pin. Then attach a red bead to the bottom of the ornament with another ball-head pin.