15 Stunning DIY Ornament Ideas for Every Holiday Vibe

Colorful, store-bought baubles certainly have their charm during the holidays, but there’s something undeniably unique about crafting your own ornaments. DIY Christmas ornaments add a personal touch to your decorations and serve as a way to create new holiday memories. Plus, if you don’t have all afternoon to craft a tree’s worth of homemade ornaments, you can still get creative by making one or two.

Many of these ideas use items you already have around the house, and there are plenty of beginner-friendly how-tos almost anyone can master. Whether your holiday vibe is classic red and green or you have a hot pink tree brightening up your living room, there’s a DIY ornament that’ll fit your style.

Deck your halls with the merriest group of carolers. Brittany Watson Jepsen of The House That Lars Built shows how to transform old-fashioned clothespins into a cheery crew with some paint and ribbon. Find the instructions here.

Give your vacation seashells new life when you bake them into clay. Almost Makes Perfect blogger Molly Madfis took inspiration from her son’s treasures that he collected over the years. The mosaic ornaments serve as a beautiful keepsake. She notes that the shells stayed in place after baking without glue, but you can always use superglue afterward for more security. Find the full how-to here.

Journey back to Christmases of yore, specifically the 1950s, with Pam Kessler’s diorama ornaments. Her finished products in the House of Hawthornes blog are perfect for a retro-themed tree. You can also draw on nostalgia from your own childhood to further personalize the ornaments. Get the full tutorial here.

Add a playful visual punch to your tree with Allison Murray’s delightful multicolored pom-pom ornaments on her Dream a Little More blog. Made with yarn and a pom-pom maker, these colorful orbs are an excellent way to introduce texture and color to the rest of your ornament collection. Find the full instructions here.

Have snacks handy when you embark on this project because Murray’s ornaments look good enough to eat! Her faux gingerbread cookie ornaments made with ceramic ornaments and paint are a great alternative to actual gingerbread ornaments that don’t last year after year. Find the full instructions here.

Thrift stores are a treasure trove for ornament supplies. I transformed these figurines into gilded trinkets with spray paint and used screw hooks to turn them into ornaments. You can also get very creative: In the comments on the original DIY, someone shared that they upcycled Happy Meal toys! Find the full tutorial here.

With a little bit of jewelry wire and beads that fit your holiday aesthetic, you can easily create Brittni Mehlhoff’s hanging stars. Once you’ve mastered the celestial version, you can craft your ornaments into any shape to suit your style. Pro tip: Print out different outline shapes to use as guides. Find the full tutorial here.

If you’re looking for a bauble you can complete without a trip to the craft store, try Mehlhoff’s paper balls. Simply cut circles from medium-weight cardstock, paint, fold, and glue them together — you’ll soon have enough to cover your whole tree. To make it more budget- and eco-friendly, you can also cut out circles from old magazines. See the full how-to here.

Silhouettes have an inherently sentimental quality. Sara Albers and Melissa Fenlon of the Alice & Lois blog walk you through capturing your family’s likeness in this classic style. All you need is unfinished wood circle ornaments, black card stock paper, Mod Podge, and string. Get the complete how-to here.

Decorative paper napkins might not be great at drying spills, but they are perfect for crafting. DIY Beautify’s Cindy Long decoupaged these gorgeous, Chinoiserie-esque napkins over ornaments she no longer loved to give them a second life. See the full instructions here.

Miniature picture frames are another quintessential thrift store find. Insert your favorite photos from the year and hang them with a decorative ribbon to beautifully display your cherished memories. Get the instructions here.

So much thought and design goes into your paper announcements. Relive the special events each Christmas with a milestone ornament. On the Thinking Closet blog, Lauren Lanker used a wedding invitation, but you could do this for graduation announcements and more. Find the full how-to here.

Speaking of milestones, celebrate a new home with easy house- and key-shaped ornaments I detailed in my ctrl+curate blog. You can personalize them by stamping the year or your new address. Get the full instructions here.

Velvet ornaments give any tree a luxe upgrade. The texture works with every aesthetic, from rich, chocolate brown sets to sweet pastels. Albers and Fenlon share how to DIY the look with paint and baking soda to your taste and budget. Find the full instructions here.

Clothing is so personal and can stir up wonderful memories. Fill a miniature embroidery hoop with a swatch of an outgrown onesie or remnants from a wedding gown and make them a part of your holiday tradition. Get the full how-to here.