DIY paper Christmas ornaments

It's fun and easy to make these traditional paper ornaments, and there are lots of tutorials out there. I posted a how-to in 2006 and decided to make more for my tree this year. This time I didn't glue these modules into a star (which looks great; see the old post). I like them as simple individual ornaments, too.


To make cutting more uniform, here's the template I drew.
Large ornaments
Small ornaments

Print out a page and cut along the inner lines with an X-acto knife. (I freehand it.) Then cut out the squares.


Bend the center flaps inward.


Moving outward from the center, bend the next pair of flaps around to meet on the opposite side. Secure them with glue or tape.


Keep alternating the direction of the flaps until each pair is joined.

If you like, glue the points of six ornaments together to make a lacy star.

More ornaments to make

If you are not yet sick to death of making Christmas decorations, here are more projects with instructions:

Paper evergreens at Martha Stewart (shown above)
Styrofoam ornaments by Kathleen George
Flying felt birds at Disney Family
Very time-consuming garland at Craft Stylish
Fabric Christmas trees at The Small Object
A paper wreath from Real Living magazine
Clay ornaments at Living Creatively
Snowflake ornaments at Domino Magazine
Papercraft elves at macula TV
Paper bag gingerbread towns for kids at Family Fun

(Image from marthastewart.com)

How to make felt ornaments

If you're in the mood to make some felt ornaments, here's a round-up of cute tutorials to keep you busy:
Ice skates (shown above) at Better Homes and Gardens
Ball ornament at Zakka Life
Christmas owls at Diversions
Bird in a cage at Felt-o-rama
Retro-inspired ornaments at Fantastic Toys
Polaroid pictures at Katie Cupcake
Peppermint candies at Better Homes and Gardens
Jingle mouse at Pimp Stitch
Rosette wreath at Domestifluff

Cheap, homemade Christmas ornaments

Our Christmas tree has a few purchased ornaments on it, but most are paper things I've made. For a recap of the tutorials:

Modular balls
Flowers
Teardrops
Snowflakes
Ice cream cones
Striped bulbs
Retro foam ornaments
Origami garland (not on the tree at the moment, since it's in the process of getting longer.)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

How to make 25 paper Christmas ornaments

Here's a roundup of ornaments you can make from paper.
Above left: I made with these instructions
Above right: I made with these instructions

(Update: this is now an old post; some of the links no longer work.)

More:
Printable snowflake 1
Printable snowflake 2
Paper snowflakes stapled together into something 3-D
Not 3-D, but nice snowflake cutting templates

Origami star
Ornament made with circle cut-outs
Flower ornament
Ball-like star
Ball-like... ball
Flower ball
Geodesic ball
Multi-colored balls made this way, but fastened with wire
Many-pointed star
Mini star-shaped booklet
Glitter star ornaments
Moravian stars
Recycled paper ornament
Crystal ornament free download plus a gallery of inspiration
Huge spiky starOrigami Christmas tree 1
Origami Christmas tree 2
Kirigami Christmas tree 3

Happy folding!

Make your own Lego ornaments

Designer and photographer Chris McVeigh creates objects out of Legos and shares instructions for how to build your own Lego Christmas ornaments.

See all of his build-it-yourself projects here, including holiday bulbs, a turkey, and Santa's sleigh. Or check out the Star Wars ornaments, along with a piece of cake and a hamburger. Find the parts lists and instructions for the Christmas items right here. Awesome!

(Via ManMade DIY.)

Felt gingerbread ornaments

Friday's Chicago Craft Social was lots of fun. The theme was handmade gifts and holiday decorations, like these felt gingerbread ornaments. I made this half-eaten gingerbread man using Elsie Marley's free pattern, available here. These tiny houses are based on Betz White's design in the e-book Crafty Tree Trimmings: Six Festive Holiday Ornaments to Make, for sale right here.

DIY paper teardrop ornaments

I made a few more ornaments for my mostly paper-decorated tree. It's been super gloomy outside, so the corner of the living room with the tree is too dark for picture taking. Imagine these on a silver Christmas tree, instead of hanging from the wooden skewer I taped temporarily to the window sill to obtain maximum natural light. Ha!

To make these paper teardrops, download the template and print it on colored paper.

Cut out the drops, then fold them in half lengthwise with the printed side facing out. Cut out the hole in the middle.

Align the sides of two pieces and glue them together. Keep gluing in more pieces until the ornament is as full as you like. I used 16 pieces for these, but you could add even more. Then string the ornaments on thread.

Easy paper ice cream ornaments

I added some more DIY ornaments to our Christmas tree. I'm having trouble adjusting to the thought of winter; can you tell? These ice cream cones are made from tissue paper and a grocery bag.

To make the cones, cut circles from a brown paper bag. Mine were about 4 1/2 inches in diameter. Cut each circle in half. Shape the semicircles into cones, cutting off any extra paper you don't need (the section that's sticking out in the photo.) Secure the cone with hot glue.

Wad a couple pieces of tissue paper into balls. I used chunks that were roughly 6" x 12", folded them in half, and crumpled them up.

If you plan to hang the ice cream cones, thread a needle with a doubled piece of thread. Poke the needle down through the top of the ball that will be the top scoop, so that a loop of thread sticks out of the top. Secure the loose ends on the underside with a dab of hot glue and trim off the excess.

Line the inside rim of the cone with hot glue and push the bottom scoop into the cone. Spread glue on the underside of the top scoop and add it to the cone. Let the glue dry for a minute and hang it on the tree.

Free vector frames and ornaments

Vectorian is a great resource for graphic designers, featuring beautifully digitized vintage ornaments, illustrations, and frames. Best of all, there are some great free .eps files you can download. If you like art nouveau or calligraphic illustrations, and you've got Adobe Illustrator so you can open and use them, go check 'em out!

Make your own Christmas decorations

Here are tutorials for a handful of unique holiday decorations. There's plenty of time left to make them... along with shopping and wrapping and mailing and cooking and hosting and visiting. No problem. Right? Try your hand at these projects:

Felt Christmas ornaments at The Purl Bee
Paper bag wreath at Bloesem Kids
Helvetica stockings from Teal & Lime
Amigurumi bear ornaments (make pandas, koalas, and teddies) using this pattern by All About Ami

Origami diamond ornaments

I tried out Emma's directions for how to make an origami diamond from two squares of paper. Each half is folded separately and then the two pieces are glued together. The folding was easy but the gluing was a challenge! Getting all the peaks and valleys aligned at once took some fiddling, but the result is really cute.


After making these, I decided to hang them on our Christmas tree. I poked a hole in each end with a needle, then threaded a piece of wire through. I bent the bottom end of the wire into an acute angle so the gem won't slip off, then wrapped the top end of the wire over a pencil to form a hook.


If you already know you're going to make these into ornaments, you could make your life easier by adding string or wire to the top half before gluing the diamond together. Or leave the hanger off and put them in a bowl on the coffee table.

Find the tutorial here at Design and Form!

Paper flower ornaments

I was trying to think of other ways to make easy ornaments from paper and created these last night while watching CSI reruns. They're made from cheap computer paper. How to:

1. Cut one piece of 8 1/2" x 11" paper into 1" strips (oriented landscape so you end up with 11 strips).

2. Stack them and staple them once in the center, then fold the stack in half to form a little book. (If the strips are too long for your stapler to reach the center, either trim them a bit shorter or swing your stapler open and staple the stack on a magazine or cutting mat. Then bend the staple closed.)

3. Put a little piece of double-stick tape at the tip of the first "page." Then bend it inward toward the center and stick it down. Repeat for every "page" until you have a circular flower shape.

4. Hang with invisible thread. (Yeah, there is such a thing! You can buy clear thread at a fabric store.)

Of course I had to do an orange one.

How to make paper lantern ornaments

Well, kids, I had tons of ideas for other ornaments and decorations and lovely new things I wanted to make before Christmas. But my ambition did not quite correspond to the amount of free time I have. Too many graphic design projects to finish before we head out of town this week. But during my internet travels I did come across these nifty paper ball decorations, complete with instructions. Nice work, anonymous blogger at The Creative Place.

This just in: A shortcut to making these. Thanks, Whitney!

(Image from The Creative Place)

How about orange ornaments?

Here's a paper ornament I made the other day during a coffee break with my downstairs neighbor. They're hanging in my office windows. The ornaments are, I mean—not my neighbors. That would be creepy. To make your own:

1. Download the template here.
2. Print it on colored paper.
3. Cut out each shape, score it on the dotted line, and fold it in half so the printing is on the outside. (It's easiest to cut out the middles after the shape is folded.)
4. Use a glue stick to adhere the side of one piece to the side of the next piece, and so on.
5. Trim off any parts that hang over or don't match up properly.
6. Poke a hole through the top and thread some string through to hang.

Craft project: Retro ornaments from foam

I had a few sheets of that strange craft foam lying around, so here's my attempt to make something out of it. You can download the template I whipped up right here.

You'll need: Foam sheets, sharp scissors, X-acto knife for cutting out holes, craft glue, string for hanging, and tape.

What to do: For each ornament, cut out two "frame" pieces, one solid ornament piece with the center intact, and whatever doodads you want to stick in the middle. Form a loop with your thread and knot the ends. Tape the knotted end to the top of one side of your solid shape. Then glue your frame pieces on each side like a sandwich, hiding the ends of the string. Glue some doodads to the hole in the middle. Place it under a light book while you wait for the glue to dry.

Tips: Cut your shapes very carefully. Make the inner solid piece a tiny bit smaller than the frame pieces so it doesn't poke out around the edges. Once it's glued together, don't try to trim the edges further. It will end up looking like your dog chewed on it. Cut it well the first time.

Candy ornaments

I saw this great idea on flickr and had to make some for myself because they're awfully cute.

Good news: no serial killers.

Last night was the little gathering of blog readers at my house. There were nine guests, and each person turned out to be very, very wonderful. A large knife was brandished at one point, but it was only used for cutting cake. Whew. We all managed to fit at my long dining room table and ate desserts, made some paper ornaments, and compared thumb flexibility. One person had heard a theory that the further your thumb bends backwards, the more artistic you are. I'm not sure we arrived at any conclusions, but we had a good time. Guys, thanks so much for coming over!

How to make 3D paper ornaments

Here's a Christmas ornament you can make with colored papers or magazine pages. I'm not sure what to call it. A funnel ball? The instructions:

1. Cut out 10 paper circles (any size, as long as they're all the same). Text weight paper will be easier to work with than cardstock.
2. Cut each circle along the radius.
3. Put a small piece of double-stick tape on each side of the cut near the edge of the paper.

4. Flip the circle over so the taped side is down; then pull each flap across the circle toward you and twist to form a cone. Press the taped ends down to secure. You should end up with two cones that look vaguely like a fortune cookie. Do this to each of your 10 circles.

5. String the double cones together with a needle and thread. Make sure they're gathered snugly in a ball and tie a knot. Use the trailing ends of the thread to make a loop for hanging.

Here's one made from magazine pages. If you like recycled crafts, give it a whirl. Or try a felt version!

Greetings from Kuwait

A reader from Kuwait wrote to show me photos from a dinner party that she and her sister organized. The girls invited friends to come, and they all made paper ornaments based on the tutorial I put here. Look at their work! Amazing! To see more photos, visit their blog here (it's in Arabic, but if you can't read it, you can still look at the pictures.) I was thrilled to hear from far-away How About Orange readers. Does anyone else outside the U.S. want to say hello? Leave a comment and mention what country you're from. It would be fun to share where we all are and exchange greetings. (Access to this site is blocked in China. Hello to you anyway, Han and Ming. Miss you!)