42 Beautiful Handmade Christmas Ornaments

These Scandinavian-inspired wood bead ornaments are the perfect finishing touch for your traditional Christmas tree theme. Make them in classic colors for a timeless holiday look.

Turn wood slices into charming rustic Christmas ornaments. We started with wooden coasters, but you can also use slices found at crafts stores. Freehand-draw a snowflake design with a woodburning tool, or follow these easy steps. First, mark the center of the wood slice with a pencil. Use a ruler to draw a plus sign and then an X (like a compass). Trace the lines with a woodburning tool. Make short lines with a straight tip and press into wood. Use the same tip to burn lines around the edge of the wood slice. Use a round tip to make the dots. Twist a screw eye into the top of the ornament, tie with a ribbon bow, and hang.

Twirl cut cardstock to create this stunning handmade Christmas ornament. It may look complicated but requires just one tool. Add wood beads to finish. It also make a gorgeous Christmas gift tag.

With a cute deer pattern and a few simple supplies, you can make an adorable faux taxidermy homemade ornament. Download the pattern. Cut two pieces of white felt and a piece of cardstock, all slightly larger than the pattern. Glue the cardstock piece to one piece of felt. Trace the pattern onto the cardstock side; cut out with scissors. Glue the cardstock side of the head shape to the second piece of felt. Trim excess felt from around head shape. Fold the felt away from cardstock at the neck, and glue to a wood plaque cutout.

Your tree, your message. Pick a favorite carol lyric or holiday saying, and write it on a chalkboard tag. To make, spray unfished wooden shapes with chalkboard paint, then use a pencil to lightly plan your design. Finish with a chalk pen, jingling bells, and red-and-white hanging loops.

Trim your tree with mini succulent wreath ornaments! These DIY ornaments take just minutes to make and showcase the beauty of faux succulents. 

Embrace a nature-inspired look with terrarium Christmas ornaments. To create, simply add faux snow to your succulent terrarium and pop in a pom-pom snowman. To make, simply glue three white pom-poms together and add felt details. Finish by using marker to create eyes. 

My, what big eyes you have! These hoot-worthy companions are a cozy addition to your Christmas tree. Make a pair (or more) from wool roving and minimal hand-stitching. They're inexpensive to make and will look wise for many seasons.

Fill a whole tree with variations on these easy Christmas ornaments made from cardstock. Print the ornament pattern, and cut out the patterns. Trace the shapes onto heavy cardstock, and cut out with a crafts knife. Cover the cardstock cutouts with white transfer paper, and transfer the designs to the ornament. Fill in the designs with white and black markers. Punch a hole where indicated, and tie a ribbon through the hole.

Give the same look a go, this time with a snowflake pattern. You can trace the design on using transfer paper or freehand it.

PS: These ornaments also make great gift tags.

As ornaments or gift embellishments, little wintry trees add handmade flair.

Make the Triangle Tree Ornament:
Trace a triangular tree base onto medium-weight wood veneer paper; cut out. Punch holes in the tree shape using various-size hole punches. Glue the tree shape to a piece of felt; trim felt edges. Punch a hole in the top, and thread string through to hang.

Make the Scallop Tree Ornament:
Cut multiple-size triangles from felt and medium-weight wood veneer paper; use scallop-edge scissors to cut along the bottom of each triangle. Glue the scallop-edge triangles to each other, layering from bottom to top. Be sure to alternate between the wood veneer and felt. Use the wood veneer to create a tree base. Punch a hole in the top of the tree, and loop thread through for hanging.

Combine two Christmas favorites (stars and plaid) for one stunning and easy Christmas ornament. Start with a cardboard star, and for each spoke, fold plaid paper over the star and cut to fit. Fold down the center to make aligning easy. To distress paper, lightly rub using medium-grit sandpaper. Adhere papers to the star using a glue stick. For a little sparkle, hot-glue oversize chenille-stem trim around the edges.

What's the secret to these geometric Scandinavian-inspired Christmas ornaments? Metallic tubing and a simple threading technique. 

Adorable handmade ornaments are in the bag this holiday season -- quite literally! Craft these festive, button-embellished shapes from a simple paper sack using your everyday sewing supplies.

Kids will love to help create these easy Christmas ornaments. Trace a half-bell shape onto a piece of honeycomb paper; cut out. Unfold and glue the two end pieces together to form a bell (use a paper clip to hold the pieces together until the glue dries). Thread embroidery floss through a 3/4-inch-diameter wooden bead with a center hole, knotting one end. Thread the other end through the bell center and tie for a hanging loop.

Kraft paper goes luxe with the addition of gold leaf to create these shimmery holly handmade Christmas ornaments. To make the gold-leaf paper, unroll a section of kraft paper on a flat surface. Brush on random, imperfect strokes of crafts glue with a foam brush. Do not coat entire surface with glue. Allow glue to set until tacky. Apply gold-leaf sheets by gently rubbing onto the paper with your finger. Remove gold leaf from unglued areas by gently dusting with dry foam brush. For the holly ornament, download the template (link below) and use it to cut eight holly leaves from gold-leafed kraft paper. Fold each leaf in half lengthwise with a bone folder. Glue one side of a folded leaf to one side of another. Repeat, stopping short of gluing first and last leaves together. Sandwich a loop of ribbon inside leaves, and leave a 1-inch tail; glue first and last leaves. Tie a bead to each end of ribbon.

Deck your Christmas tree with a color-happy flurry of snowflakes. To make these homemade Christmas decorations, paint one side of lightweight wood veneer paper with a bright color. Cut the paper into strips (you'll need 14-16 strips per snowflake). Glue the ends of each strip together with fast-drying crafts glue to form a loop. Glue the loops together at the tips to form the snowflake. Glue circles punched from scraps of the wood veneer to the center. Tie thread through a loop to hang.

Trim your tree with one of our adorable embroidered snowman ornaments. All you need to make these snowy friends is our free pattern, felt, and embroidery supplies.

Delightfully detailed, these snowy-white ornaments take just minutes to make. Simply press air-dry clay onto Christmas cookie molds to imprint natural motifs and seasonal shapes. Trim as needed, and add holes at the top of each before drying. To hang, thread a ribbon or string through each hole.

Need a charming set of coordinating Christmas ornaments -- and need them fast? Look no further than your baking stash! Just wrap cookie cutters with narrow fabric ribbon (try red-and-white gingham for an extra-festive touch), and secure the ribbon ends with tape. Hang your finished ornaments from loops of bakers twine or yarn.

Fall in love with the look of festive red and white poinsettias popping against your dark evergreen Christmas tree. Bonus: Make the ornaments without hanging loops to use as Christmas present decorations.

Adorable? Very. Complicated? Not in the least! If you can cut fabric and do a running stitch, you can make this sweet-face frosty fella. Gather some felt fabric scraps, and click below for a detailed how-to.

All you need is a fine-tip white paint pen and some jewel-tone ball ornaments to create these striking decorations. Follow the design in the photo, or search online for basic paisley designs to get your creative juices flowing.

Editor's Tip: Draw the overall pattern of loops and branches first, then add embellishments, such as dots and squiggles, after the base design has dried.

For a simply styled Christmas ornament, our two-tone tree will do the trick. Trace a tree onto stiff felt using a stencil; cut out. Trace an overlay tree onto a contrasting color of felt, cutting it slightly smaller than the foundation tree; glue the two trees together as shown. Finish by gluing on a star topper and hot-gluing a hanging loop to the back of the ornament.

Add a festive message to your Christmas tree with our fun-to-make three-dimensional paper star ornament. Pick patterned paper in bright colors to make your Christmas craft stand out against the tree branches.

Make Christmas cookies last throughout the season by creating a few decorative versions from clay. Soft modeling clay works with your cookie cutters just like dough; use a straw to create a hanging hole and bake according to package directions. We used paint in place of icing and added cookie-decorating essentials (such as sprinkles) as ornament embellishments.

Editor's Tip: If you use edible items, toss them at the end of the season.

Whip up a batch of these mini Christmas ornaments -- hang some from the tree, and give a few as gifts, too. Simply trace a design onto a small piece of brightly colored linen or cotton. Embroider the design, then place in a miniature embroidery hoop (use hot glue to seal the edges).

This Christmas ornament threesome transforms plain pinecones into gnome figurines with felted caps and beards crafted from wool roving. These simply adorable gnomes make a perfect tree-hanging trio.

Kids can help assemble these miniature Christmas ornaments. Choose tinsel pom-poms in assorted sizes. Cover a small foam wreath with 1/8-inch-wide ribbon; secure ends with short pins. Make a hanging loop with 1/4-inch-wide ribbon. Hot-glue the pom-poms to the ribbon-covered wreath, and fill in gaps with tiny pom-poms.

This adorable character makes a charming addition to your tree or a too-cool present topper. Download the pattern and trace onto felt; cut out. Hand-stitch the facial features to one body piece; add the belly and wings, stitching the inside curves of each wing. Layer the body pieces with wrong sides together; insert the feet between the pieces.

Fold a short length of ribbon in half and insert the ends between the body pieces for a hanging loop. Hand-stitch the body pieces together, catching feet and hanging ribbon as you stitch. Leave a 1-1/2-inch opening in the body; turn and stuff with polyester fiberfill. Stitch the opening closed.

Ribbon stripes add holiday flair to any plain ball ornament. To make the Christmas tree decoration, simply remove the ornament cap and hot-glue strips of similar-color ribbon to the ornament (beginning at the base). Tuck the ends of the ribbons into the top opening and glue into place. Re-place the ornament cap and tie a bow around the hanging loop.

These adorable bird ornaments -- made from almonds and handmade felt caps -- are a simple way to add a natural element to your Christmas tree.

Do you have small ornaments or figurines that you no longer use but want to display? Try creating a still life with an inexpensive clear bell ornament. Use a small chipboard circle cut to the size of the dome's base. Arrange small items onto the chipboard, adhere into place, then add small pieces of tinsel or garland. Glue the dome to the chipboard base.

Add instant sophistication to plain ball ornaments; all you need is ribbon and glue! To make, hot-glue a velvet ribbon around the middle of a ball ornament, overlapping the ribbon ends slightly. Then simply tie a length of ribbon into a bow (using one of the techniques found below), and hot-glue the finished bow to the ornament where the ribbon ends meet.

Transform silver frames and silhouettes (either of your children or grandchildren, or use free online clip art) into one-of-a-kind, antique-inspired handmade Christmas ornaments. Find inexpensive hammered-metal frames; cover with layers of brown paint and gently wipe to give an aged effect. Print and cut the silhouette to size; attach a ribbon or hanger at the back using hot glue.

Display your family's initial with this easy, elegant ornament. Paint a piece of mini artists canvas black. Using stamps and a gold stamp pad, stamp a gold crown or other image and your family's surname initial, let dry, then rub the surface with chalk. Set the canvas on top of a sturdy tree branch, or add a hanging loop to the back.

Customize the look of plain glass ornaments for your Christmas tree in a pinch. Remove the top of a glass ornament, and swirl around crafts paint diluted with water on the inside of the ornament until it's coated. Let it dry upside down, swirling with another layer of paint if necessary. Re-place the top, and add a Christmas message with adhesive scrapbooking letters.

Hang a few of these neatly gift-wrapped box ornaments in addition to the presents sitting underneath your Christmas tree. Die-cut a box shape from heavyweight patterned paper, then fold and assemble to make a cube. Pierce a small hole at the top of the box. Loop bakers twine through the hole and tie a large knot at the end; thread the loop through the hole in the box top. Adhere two pieces of curling ribbon and a bow; dangle a tag from the ribbon.

Replicate a snowy winter scene on a ball ornament to decorate the Christmas tree this year. Follow our step-by-step instructions to master the winter wonderland design.

Add a quaint homespun feel to your Christmas tree with this heart-shape snowman ornament. The sweet shape and adorable snowman will brighten the holiday season.

A quick dip in spray paint gives these handmade Christmas ornaments their shimmer and shine. Mix up any colors you like and give them as homemade Christmas gifts.