DIY PHOTO ORNAMENT by Busy Kids Happy Mom
23 Homemade Ornaments for Christmas
We Heart Homemade Ornaments! We now have an updated Christmas Ornaments DIY page, with 50+ ideas to keep you busy – organised by age group this is a great resource to check out! We also have an easy to print (great as worksheets) 30 Ornament Ebook you can download here.
You may have noticed that we go Homemade Ornament crazy around from now until December. I am not sure what is about Autumn but all the nature crafts and walnut crafts lend themselves perfectly for Ornament making, which make dear little gifts in the run to Christmas.
So.. .without further ado:
Our Homemade Ornaments
Paper Crafts are magical and so so sooo versatile. Again, we have a whole set of Paper Ornaments to explore and browse. But 3 of our favourite include:
DIY Walnut Ornaments are gorgeous
We LOVE crafting with Walnuts and have a great Walnut Crafts Round Up for you to explore.. but in the meantime – 3 favourite Walnut Oranment ideas:
Dear Walnut Owls (Granny got some for her Birthday)
Walnut Raindeer – eat the nut AND make your reindeer!
In this Walnut Ornament range – we also have a Walnut Fox and a Walnut Penguin design!
Easy Christmas Ornaments For Kids To Make
How do you make Christmas decorations for kids? DIY Christmas ornaments can be one of the easiest Christmas decorations for kids to make themselves.
We have tons of fun ornament crafts for kids, and can be put together cheaply! Try simple Christmas crafts that look amazing but don’t take a ton of time, supplies, or craftiness to do.
We have even included our favorite science ornament that are sure to interest any non-crafty kiddos. Your kids will LOVE putting together these unique ornaments with you!
The History of Christmas Ornaments
The Christmas trees we know today originated in 16th-century Germany, where small evergreen trees were decorated with things like berries, candles, apples, and nuts. They were called “Paradise trees”. Eventually, Christians adopted these decorated trees in their homes during the holiday season.
Years later, a photo of Queen Victoria celebrating Christmas with her German-born husband, Prince Albert, and their family around a decorated evergreen tree began a trend that wealthy Americans soon were excited to share.
Over time, local businesses caught on to the ornament’s commercial potential, and the Christmas we know began.
Homemade Christmas ornaments are the best for your all Christmas craft needs this holiday season! I like to keep our DIY Christmas ornaments as simple as possible with easy-to-find and budget-friendly materials. Look for printable templates, instructions, and more!
GLUE ART ORNAMENT
Make art with glue! Get ready to explore a fun process art technique… dig around in the recycling bin and grab all the plastic lids you can find for these unique Christmas glue art ornaments.
SLIME ORNAMENT
Our Christmas slime ornaments make the perfect gift for kids to give to friends. Add fun trinkets to your slime for a cool science experiment or just hang them up on the tree! Try adding glitter too!
CODING ORNAMENT
Coding without a computer meets the classic candy cane ornament! Have you ever wanted to learn more about the Binary Alphabet? There’s some great information here as well as a fun way to make a Christmas Alphabet Ornament.
MAGNETIC ORNAMENTS
Explore magnetism with all sorts of fun materials and create a magnetic science ornament too. Are jingle bells magnetic?
CRYSTAL CANDY CANE ORNAMENT
Grow your own crystals for Christmas and learn about solubility. Our crystal candy cane ornament is beautiful and remarkably sturdy. Growing crystals is easier than you think too.
CRYSTAL SNOWFLAKES
You can also make your own science Christmas ornament in the shape of snowflakes.
SALT CRYSTAL ORNAMENTS
Another fun way to grow crystals is with salt! This is perfect for the youngest scientists because all you need is salt and water. These will take longer to form then the borax crystal ideas above, but it’s a terrific process just the same.
LEGO Christmas Ornaments
If you have a house full of LEGO, you can’t have a Christmas tree without a few simple to make LEGO Christmas ornaments! From a snowflake ornament to wreath ornament, check out these fun LEGO ornaments for kids to build.
REINDEER ORNAMENT
Wrap Popsicle sticks in yarn to make your own cute Rudolph ornament.
STAR ORNAMENT
Kick off the holiday season with a fun handmade Christmas star ornament! This festive Popsicle stick star is easy to make with just a few simple materials.
CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT
All you need are colorful pop poms, popsicle sticks and yarn to make this easy ornament craft.
BIRD SEED ORNAMENTS
Studying nature and natural life is an amazingly easy science activity to set up for kids, and learning how to care for and give back to nature is equally important. Hang these DIY ornaments on a real tree outdoors to share with the birds.
CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT
Get the kids to make this cute and colorful Christmas tree ornament ready to decorate the house with this season with cardboard and buttons!
CINNAMON ORNAMENTS
Easy Christmas ornaments for kids with this beautifully scented cinnamon salt dough ornaments recipe.
SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS
Similar to our cinnamon ornaments above, salt dough ornaments are super easy to make. Then paint and seal them for a shiny finish!
MELTED BEAD SNOWFLAKE ORNAMENTS
Make your own plastic snowflake ornaments with melted pony beads. Follow our step by step tutorial to create these simple melted Christmas ornaments.
MILK AND VINEGAR ORNAMENTS
Who would have thought you could make these pretty ornaments from milk and vinegar? Combine science and art this holiday season with a fun DIY Christmas ornament activity.
CHRISTMAS SHAPE ORNAMENTS
Download our free printable Christmas ornament template and get the kids making these colorful and easy shape ornaments. A simple Christmas math activity and art project in one!
MONDRIAN CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
There is so much you can do with some cardstock and our free Christmas tree printable. These Mondrian-inspired Christmas tree ornaments will add a unique look to your tree and are easy to do at home or in the classroom.
MARBLED CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
Combine art and science to create these fun marbled Christmas ornaments! Use magnets to paint and make unique Christmas ornaments to hang on the tree this year.
STRAW CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
Fun with straws and a Christmas ornament that kids of all ages will enjoy making! Plus, it’s nearly mess free and uses super simple and budget friendly supplies. Includes free printable Christmas tree template.
POPSICLE STICK SNOWFLAKE ORNAMENTS
Create this fun snowflake ornament from glittery popsicle sticks!
LEGO SNOWFLAKE ORNAMENT
Yes, you can make Christmas ornaments from LEGO bricks. Follow the step by step instructions to make an easy LEGO snowflake ornament based on a real snowflake.
FRIDA KAHLO CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT
Combine the color and beauty of flowers with a Frida Kahlo Christmas ornament inspired by the artist herself!
COLORFUL CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT
Who says you have to use the traditional red and green for Christmas decor! Have making this colorful Christmas ornament inspired by artist, Bronwyn Bancroft.
ICE ORNAMENTS
If you live in a particularly cold climate this time of year, why not decorate the outdoors too! Make winter outdoor ice ornaments for the animals to enjoy in your yard. These sweet ornaments are so simple to make and look so festive on our tree outside the kitchen window.
GRATITUDE ORNAMENTS
Gratitude is one of the most powerful things we should all have in our proverbial toolbox. But sometimes our kids need extra encouragement to understand the importance of being grateful. I made these printable gratitude ornaments for a simple family Christmas activity to do together.
BELL ORNAMENT
This tin foil bell ornament is super easy to make and doesn’t require glue or paint, so it’s not messy either! Plus it’s super frugal if you are looking to keep your ornament-making simple this year.
ERUPTING VOLCANO ORNAMENTS
Ok, this is not an ornament you would want to hang on the tree! But it does use plastic ornaments, and a cool baking soda and vinegar chemical reaction.
DIY PLASTIC GLOBE ORNAMENTS
Easy Christmas ornaments for kids to make. We used what we had on hand, and a few plastic globe ornaments. From feathers, pom poms to colored rice, there are so many options for filling your DIY ornaments.
RECYCLED REINDEER ORNAMENT
We made this sweet reindeer ornament and everyone who has seen it has thought it was super cute, so I figured I would share it with all of you. This reindeer ornament started in my recycling bin and came to life with a few little additions!
