Christmas is the most wonderful time to hang out with your family and friends, hunt for the perfect gift, and cozy up your home for winter. But after all that, we bet you (and your wallet) are feeling pretty drained. If you want to save money on your holiday decor, opt for a few DIY Christmas decorations this year. If you think you’re not crafty or don’t have time, just wait until you see these ideas. Our favorite Christmas crafts are quick, easy, and actually pretty meditative.
DIY Watercolor Christmas: Easy Painting Ideas and Techniques for Cards, Gifts and Decor by Ingrid Sanchez
Make this Christmas a watercolour wonderland with this creative guide to painting through the festive season. Christmas is the perfect time to get creative with watercolours with lots of handmade cards to paint – but cards are only a small part of the ideas that you will get from this book. Here you’ll find a wealth of inspiration and techniques for all sorts of watercolour projects this Christmas! First, the book covers the materials and equipment you need for watercolour painting – from paints and brushes to paper and other materials such as masking fluid and watercolour ground.
You’ll then learn how to create both traditional and contemporary colour palettes for Christmas, and discover a wide range of watercolour techniques including washes, layering, blending and gradation, plus experimental ideas to try such as using salt, bleach and masking fluid in your work. Twelve creative projects follow, with easy-to-follow step-by-step tutorials so that even beginners to watercolour can jump right in. Learn how to paint your own Christmas cards, gift tags and gift boxes, create seasonal table settings, hand-painted Christmas crackers and garlands, and unique hand-painted Christmas gifts including a watercolour wreath.
Using innovative but accessible watercolour primer products, you can now prepare a wide variety of surfaces for watercolour painting. This inspirational book will also show you how to use these exciting new products to paint onto glass baubles, 3D cardboard letters, wooden tree ornaments and more. And once you have the skills, who knows where your imagination will take you? Finally, a gallery of additional Christmas motifs and designs that can be used for further inspiration can be found at the end of the book including reindeer, robins, mittens, snowflakes, stars, baubles, snowmen, candy canes, winter foliage, presents, decorations, elves and much much more!
Join the rock painting community!
Join I Love Painted Rocks on social media to get inspired, watch rock painting tutorials and connect with rock painters around the world:
- Join the I Love Painted Rocks Facebook group
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- Get inspired by rock painting ideas on Pinterest
Christmas and Winter Rock Painting Ideas
Carissa B (our painter in chief!) painted this rock with penguins wearing Santa hats for her local rock painting group’s monthly rock painting challenge in December of 2017. Check out more painted rocks in the I Love Painted Rocks Instagram account.
Make a nativity set you don’t have to worry about your kids breaking if they play with it! Artist, Natalie Shaw, shows you step-by-step how to paint a Christmas nativity set on rocks.
Draw a festive Christmas wreath on a rock using these tips and the video tutorial. It’s perfect for creating fun holiday rocks that are wintery.
With Christmas coming up try decorating some seasonal gingerbread house painted rocks. You could even make a small village of painted rock gingerbread houses!
This snowman story stones set is a perfect Christmas rock painting idea and makes a great (and quick) gift for the kids. Also comes with easy to print step by step instructions!
These cute Christmas rocks will make you smile. These three Christmas rock painting ideas are fun and easy to paint. There are directions for an Elf inspired rock, a reindeer painted rock and Santa stuck in a chimney on a painted stone.
These adorable penguin painted rocks are an easy Christmas rock painting craft that we think you will love. You can make them plain (as pictured) or add Santa hats to make them extra festive.
The Cutest Christmas Gnomes Rock Painting Ideas
These cute Christmas gnomes add a little holiday cheer into your painted stone hobby! Sarah has lots of adorable gnome ideas on her website and these cute Christmas gnomes are equal parts whimsical and easy to paint.
This beautiful Christmas in nature painted rock was painted by Seneca Peterson at Painted River Rocks.
Mom-Approved Christmas Rock Painting Crafts
These six Christmas rock painting ideas are crafts that your kids will love!
This painted rock idea features a beautiful home decorated for the holidays.
Create this fun dotted Christmas tree rock with this fun video tutorial. This Christmas rock is perfect for beginners and is sure to bring smiles this holiday season!
Peace and Joy Metallic Rock Painting Without Paint
Because of this time-saving trick, these elegant “painted” rocks are quick to make and are an easy rock painting idea for beginners.
Christmas Santa Painted Rock
This classic Santa painted rock would be a pretty addition to holiday decor or to give as gifts. This rock was painted by Patrician Malcolm. Her local rock group is Prescott Rocks.
Create a beautiful nativity scene on your painted rocks with this step by step tutorial. This Christmas rock painting idea is perfect for stocking stuffers, Christmas decor, or hiding this season.
This Christmas Otter inspired rock is an adorable addition to Christmas. especially if otters are your favorite like me!
These Snowman painted rocks come to us by A+ Teaching Resources. These rocks come with printables to make drawing them easier. They also help teach children math, colors, counting, and length. Have fun learning with your kiddos!
Nothing sings Christmas quite like carolers… And these cute little angels are the perfect way to spread cheer.
Jack Skellington Painted Rock by Deborah Alling
Use this Nightmare Before Christmas painted rock as inspiration to make your own Jack Skellington this Christmas season. See these and other rocks at her local rock group, 305 Rocks.
If you’re looking for some creative table setting ideas, these glittering snowflake and monogrammed rocks will make the perfect addition.
Learn to make this fun North Pole Christmas painted rock to display, give, or hide as a kindness rock this season. It’s in a fun, bright, cartoon style everyone loves!
No matter how many people you know, you are bound to know someone that just loves unicorns! Here is a basic unicorn for beginners for this Christmas season.
This Christmas lights rock art is easy, fun, and a perfect painted rock to give as a gift or hide in your nearest park.
Who doesn’t love the thought of Santa? What if you had the ability to paint a Christmas rock that looks just like Santa’s belly? The great news is that with this Santa rock painting idea, you can do just that easily and in a flash
Thanks for stopping by! For more information on how to get started painting rocks, check out these articles:
- Where do you get rocks for painting?
- What is the best paint for painting rocks?
- How to deal painted rocks
About the Author:
Carissa is a lifelong crafter and mom of two creative boys.
The owner and lead writer of both I Love Painted Rocks and Creative Green Living, she has won multiple awards for her craft writing including the Craftys Award for the “Best Craft Blogger” category in 2016 and the ShiftCon award for “Best DIY blogger” in 2018.
Her projects have been featured in magazines like Kids Crafts 1-2-3, Country Sampler Farmhouse Style and more.
Pinecone Tree Centerpiece
Family Holiday
If you’re in need of last-minute Christmas tabletop decorations, look to your backyard for a festive idea. Glittery star toppers turn these simple pinecones into miniature Christmas trees.
Ribbon Tree Decorations
Gwen, The Makerista
Once the gifts have been wrapped, you might be wondering what to do with all that leftover ribbon. Rather than fill your tree with ornaments and tinsel (even though we do love the sparkly look), opt for bows instead. Easy to DIY, a ribbon tree is a holiday take on fashion’s fall bow trend.
Santa Christmas Ball Wreath
MK Creations
Ornament wreaths are a great, allergy friendly (and shedding friendly) alternative to traditional winter greenery. This one by MK Creations is an ode to Christmas’s big man himself: Santa! Adding a simple paper belt to this red wreath makes it instantly recognizable.
