DIY Christmas Decorations You’ll Love (and Save Money with)!

How to DIY Christmas decorations? I’ve got you covered!

Thanksgiving hasn’t even happened and I don’t know about you, but I’m all geared up for Christmas! Christmas is the ultimate cozy cuddly Winter holiday and one of my favorite parts of it is the DECOR! But let’s be real, Christmas decorations can be really pricey. So here are 10 unique and quirky DIY Christmas decorations that are festive, fun, and perfect for this Winter holiday!

I have read plenty of DIY Christmas decorations articles and honestly, I get kina annoyed with most of them. That’s because I feel like they’re kind of useless. A lot of them have ideas like garlands but garlands isn’t even a DIY Christmas decoration – it’s obvious and you don’t really add anything personal to it. I read an article once that said a great DIY Christmas decoration was pinecones – just pinecones. Not what you could do with pinecones but just pinecones…

I hope this article doesn’t make you feel that way. I chose the 10 most fun and unique Christmas decorations I love and I hope it makes your Christmas season more festive, fun, and cheaper from all the money you’ll save. For most decorations I have also added links for supplies you might need!

Let’s get right into it!

Check out these articles, too!

• Easy DIY Home Decor Ideas for Expensive Looking Spaces
• Stunning Fall Home Decor Ideas: Super Festive and Unique
• How to Turn Your Skincare Bottles Into Epic Home Decor

1. Christmas Advent Calendar

Advent calendars are so fun and make an awesome DIY craft project for Christmas. It’s actually really easy to make DIY advent calendars mainly because they’re so versatile and you can practically use anything!

For example, you could even use an old cupcake tray as an advent calendar. Each cupcake holder could be a day of the month and you could decorate it with felt, paint, and garlands.

This (left) mini box advent calendar is so customizable and you can DIY it to be perfect for the Christmas season. Hot glue some candy canes, add reindeer ears to the top of the boxes, and paint the front with big eyes and felt, fluffy red pom-poms and you have the perfect reindeer advent calendars.

DIY Christmas decorations are super easy with these advent calendars.

What I really like about them is how even the simplest of things can be made fun and exciting.

One of my favorite (and easiest) ways to make an advent calendar at home for Christmas is with mason jars! You’ll notice that mason jars make a few appearances in this DIY Christmas decorations article and that’s because they’re so easy and fun.

Mason jar advent calendars are super basic: put numbers on each of yours jars (use glitter letters or sequins to make it more festive and fun!), decorate the jar, and then add little gifts and trinkets in each jar!

To decorate the jar you can go the simpler route: add bows for simple decor, or you can go all out and frost your jar with sequins and twine to make it look snowy and Wintery (if you scroll down one of the other DIY Christmas decorations is making a snowy mason jar which you can use!).

DIY advent calendars are really great for kids, too, because this project will give them a fun activity to do AND they’ll be extra excited the entire month when every morning they go to their calendar and pick out a toy or trinket.

Check out this in-depth and detailed article by The Country Chic Cottage on how to make these mason jar advent calendars!

Another super fun and easy idea is this match box advent calendar. Just wrap the match boxes in festive Christmas wrapping paper and label the sides of the boxes with each day of the month and VOILA! that’s pretty much it.

Best Advent Calendars for Christmas

If, however, you don’t want to DIY this Christmas decoration, you can find really amazing advent calendars and place them around your home as a treat for every day of December!

Advent calendars can be a lot of work if it’s your first time doing them, so here are a few ready-made advent calendars that are affordable and will make Christmas extra fun this year.

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• Wooden Advent Calendar to Fill (DIY Set) – $32.99
• Refillable Advent Calendar – $23.99
• Bourbon & American Whiskey Advent Calendar – $253.00 (great gift for adults!)
• Wooden Advent Calendar with Reindeer Decoration – $49.99

If you’re looking for fun and easy DIY Christmas decorations, you have to try these advent calendars!

2. Candy Cane Wreath

Wreaths are the epitome of Fall and Winter decorations. But what screams CHRISTMAS! like candy canes.

These candy cane wreaths are fun, easy, and look so, so much more expensive than they actually are.

How to Make a Candy Cane Wreath (in 3 Easy Steps!)

I know, this candy cane wreath looks a bit too intense to be DIY, right? WRONG! This wreath is super easy and here are the steps:

1. We’ll be using a plain styrofoam wreath as the base. To add dimension and depth to your wreath, I would recommend using small and big candy canes and even little candy cane mints for an extra flair.
2. Now, using a hot glue gun, hot glue the candy canes to to the styrofoam base. I would recommend first gluing the bigger candy canes to cover as much area as possible, and then add the smaller candy canes. Honestly, the more the merrier! So add as many candy canes as you want – I think a lot of them adds texture and look so much more festive. Once you’re happy with all the candy canes on the wreath, add the little mints on top.
3. As a final touch, you can add whatever other decorations you see fit. Maybe add a bow, or a small garland, or honestly anything Christmas related! An adorable idea would be putting little snowmen on the wreath, so it looks like snowmen are standing on the candy cane wreath.

If you would like an even more in-depth tutorial, check out this article by Better Homes & Gardens. It goes through all the materials you need, the steps to make the wreath, and some extra tips!

Best Candy Cane Wreaths Online

If you don’t want to make these at home, here are a few candy cane inspired wreaths I think you’ll love!

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• Sweet Candy Christmas Wreath – $140.99
• Traditional Red Wreath – $79.99
• Candy Cane Colored Wreath – $93.99

3. Reindeer Ornaments

Have you seen the prices of Christmas ornaments lately? Because I have and they’re getting more and more expensive every year and if you want to fill up an entire tree with store bought ornaments, that’s a hefty price tag.

How to DIY a Reindeer Ornament

An adorable and inexpensive DIY Christmas decoration idea is reindeer ornaments! This is so fun and cute, you have to try it!

All you have to is add bobble eyes with a little furry red nose and some reindeer ears on a regular gold/brown ornament and there you have it! Fun, easy, cheap, and memorable! If you are more artsy and good at painting, you can even paint the reindeer onto the ornament.

If you don’t want to buy the ornament as the base, you can even use a light bulb. Light bulbs have the same general shape and are a lot cheaper than buying an ornament.

Here are some links to the supplies you will need to make this reindeer ornament:

• Googly Eyes with Self-Adhesive – $3.87
• Red Mini Pom-Poms – $5.79
• Different Varieties of Gold Ornaments – $11.99
• Brown Ornaments – $15.99
• Multicolored Pipe Cleaners – $4.99
• Lightbulbs (2 pack) – $7

Reindeer Christmas Ornaments

Here are a few ready made reindeer ornaments that are super cute!

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• Kurt Adler Reindeer Ornaments – $31.44
• Reindeer in Truck Ornament – $17.99
• Felt Elk Ornaments – $14.99
• Swarovski Reindeer Ornament – $60.00
• Rudolph Reindeer Ornament – $19.99

4. Napkin Rings

Napkin rings are a subtle but festive way to incorporate Christmas into the dinner table. DIY’ing napkin rings is actually really easy and can be a really fun craft project!

The easiest way to make a napkin ring by scratch is by using felt and glue. This is hassle-free and affordable.

The specific way you’ll make a napkin ring depends on the design you want to achieve. But for popular and common Christmas designs, the colors of felt paper you should have on hand are red, white, green, black, and gold.

A really fun idea is to make a different Christmas themed napkin ring for each seat at the dinner table. You could make Santa for one of them, a reindeer for another, and so on.

Here are links to some supplies you will need to make your own napkin ring!

• 42 Multicolored Felt Papers – $5.98
• Mini Hot Glue Gun with Hot Glue Sticks – $12.49
• Gold Metallic Pipe Cleaners – $6.98
• Red Mini Pom-Poms – $2.99

Best Festive Napkin Rings

If you’re not into making these napkin rings at home, I have found some great Christmas themed napkin rings that you will love for this holiday season!

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• Christmas Wreath Rhinestone Napkin Rings (Set of 6) – $14.99
• Christmas Napkin Rings (Set of 8) – $15.99
• Gold Snowflake Napkin Rings (Set of 6) – $19.99
• Silver Deer Napkin Rings (Set of 6) – $12.85
• Wreath Napkin Rings (Set of 6) – $16.99

5. Alternative Christmas Trees

Regular Christmas trees, while classic, are becoming less popular and alternative Christmas trees, like all the ones in the pictures, are becoming more and more popular.

This obviously doesn’t mean you should skip the regular Christmas tree, but these alternative trees are funky and creative and will add so much to your home.

DIY Christmas decorations have never been more fun!

If you’re looking for makeshift Christmas tree ideas, here are a few!

• Use pinecones to create a Christmas tree
• Flip plant pots and stack them on top of each other and then hang twine on them as decor
• Draw a tree on a chalkboard and then hang ribbons and pin ornaments
• Stack books to make a tree
• You Christmas wrapping paper to make a triangular shape and stick it to the wall.

6. Chandelier Decor

DIY Christmas decorations are meant to be easy and affordable and Christmas chandelier decoroations are just that!

There are plenty of ways you can amp up your chandelier this Christmas season and here are the easiest ways to do this:

• Wrap your chandelier in garlands
• Hang ribbons and ornaments from your chandelier
• Add big bows to make it more festive!

Here are a few links to help you get started with your chandelier decor:

• Artificial Garland Greenery – $16.99
• White Garland – $25.99
• Christmas Garland with Pine Cones – $45.99
• Red Velvet Ribbons -$15.99
• Red Velvet Bows – $14.95

7. Christmas Mason Jars

We all have mason jars at home and DIY’ing them for this Christmas season is a great way to use them up and display Christmas decorations.

This toy truck in a mason jar with twine and bells and ribbons is so cute and a great decor item to display on tables and is perfect for kids.

If you want to recreate the mason jar Christmas tree idea on the left, it’s super, super easy! Either you can just leave a Christmas tree shape and paint around it, or if you have a hard time doing that (like me!) then you can use a stencil and paint around it. To make it even more festive, Add a ribbon on the jar and some bells and tassels and you’re good to go!

You can do the same for the jars on the right!

These snowy mason jars are a bit more work but still pretty easy! Follow this article for a very detailed and in-depth tutorial on how to make these beautiful DIY snowy mason jars.

These mason jars would also be a great idea for the DIY Christmas advent calendars I mentioned above.

If you’re looking for DIY Christmas decorations, this is a really easy option!

8. Pinecone Christmas Tree

I mentioned pinecone Christmas trees in the alternative Christmas trees section already, but this is a more in-depth version because they are just that cute!

Pinecone Christmas trees are so fun and are perfect for kids! What’s even better is that they are super customizable!

How to Make a Pinecone Christmas Tree

There’s a million and one ways you can make a Christmas pinecone but the easiest way is:

1. Collect the pinecones you want to use. If you want little, decorative trees, then smaller pinecones would be best. If you want something bigger, then use bigger ones.
2. Find the colors you want to paint your pinecones and decide how you would like to paint them. You may want to paint each leaf different colors or paint them all the same color. It’s completely up to you!
3. Add any decorations or final touches. This can mean adding little pom-poms as ornaments or pearl balls or little ribbons.

I have added links to some supplies and materials you might find helpful if you want to make a pinecone Christmas tree:

• Bulk Package of Natural Pinecones – $17.99
• Acrylic Paint Set 24 Colors – $18.99
• 90 Pieces Christmas Tree Bows – $8.98
• Pearl Beads – $6.49
• Mini Pom-Poms (red, white, green) – $8.99

9. Holiday Card Display

What I love about DIY Christmas decorations is how personal they are. There’s a certain pride I always take after completing a DIY project because I know how much love and work I put into it.

I think of all the DIY projects I’ll list here, this one is the most personal. It’s basically just displaying your holiday cards on garlands and trees and staircase bannisters. This simple idea adds color to your Christmas decor and will make your place feel so much more homey and warm!

I added these photos just to give an idea on how you can display your holiday cards and photos. I love the idea of putting garlands on doorways and on the sides (like in the first photo) and clipping your favorite cards to them with pins.

Making a simple Christmas tree with some twine and then adding your holiday cards as the ornaments (like in the photo on the left) is also a great idea. You can also out garlands on your stairs and clip the cards that way, too!

10. Festive Wine Glasses

If you are artsy, then this DIY Christmas project is perfect for you! Christmas wine glasses is so fun because you can paint anything Christmas-y on your glasses, like Santa’s belt, reindeer, snowmen, the Grinch, and so much more! You could also paint catchy Christmas phrases like ‘Naughty’ and ‘Nice’ or ‘Ho!Ho!Ho!’.

All you have to do is find out what you would like to paint and then just go for it! Like the photo above, another awesome idea is that after you paint your wine glass, you can flip it over and put candles on it and transform your wine glass into a candle holder, too.

These supplies will help you for this creative DIY project:

• Paint Pens – $15.99
• Glass Paint Set – $16.99
• Fluffy Trim (white) – $16.91
• Assorted Glitter Set – $9.99
• Holographic Chunky Glitter (multicolored) – $12.99
• Googly Eyes – $5.99

Festive Christmas Wine Glasses

Even though DIY’ing these wine glasses is such a fun activity to do at home, if you’d rather just have the wine glasses ready made, check these out:

• Christmas Wine Glass – $19.98
• Santa Belt and Snowman Wine Glasses – $24.95
• Holiday Wine Glass Set – $32.00
• Merry Christmas Wine Glass Set – $24.51

I hope this list of 10 fun and festive DIY Christmas decorations makes your holiday season more exciting and smooth. If you guys do any of these DIY projects, I would love for you to share pictures! Happy holidays!!