Homemade Ornaments For A Personal Touch

When adorning our holiday trees and seasonal shelves, we love displaying unique ornaments from years past, which usually hold some personal meaning. For some, that involves baby or paw prints; for others, it’s framed moments from earlier holiday seasons. The beauty of DIY ornaments is that you can make them as personal as you’d like!

Below, we’ve shared five easy homemade ornaments to try, with supplies you’ll usually have around the house at this time of year anyway! From upcycled sweaters to citrus fruits to cinnamon sticks, you can be just as festive with less-tive—with materials sourced right from your own home.

You can also turn these DIY ornaments into holiday gifts, or check out our DIY gifts and minimalist gift guides for more ideas.

1. Citrus Garland

Supplies Needed | Citrus fruits, knife, pan, oven, needle or nail, twine, additional decor optional
Time Needed | Five hours

Citrus garlands aren’t just festive—they’re deliciously aromatic and easy to make. Cut citrus fruits into ¼-½” slices, then put them in the oven at 200F for four hours. After cooling, string through with any added decor like cinnamon sticks or bay leaves, and voila! This reel from our very own Social and Community Lead walks you through the process step-by-step, or you can check out this tutorial from Francois et Moi accompanied by some cozy photos.

Make DIY Citrus Garland

2. Paper Straw Ornaments

Image from The Soccer Mom

Supplies Needed | Paper straws, craft sticks, pipe cleaners or string, scissors, glue, ribbon
Time Needed | 30 minutes

We love a DIY ornament that also involves upcycling! Gather up old paper (or plastic) straws to craft star-, angel- and tree-shaped ornaments. This TikTok from The Folding Lady shows you how to make these handmade ornaments in just a few minutes. Or, take things to the next level with craft sticks or stock paper, using these ideas from The Soccer Mom. Add on a ribbon or some string to hang and you’re all set!

Make DIY Paper Straw Ornaments

3. Cinnamon Stick Snowflakes & Bundles

Image from Camille Styles; photo credit: Buff Strickland

Supplies Needed | Cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, hot glue gun, string, scissors
Time Needed | 30 minutes

For some spice and everything nice, we turn to cinnamon sticks! This gorgeous ornament transforms cinnamon sticks, cloves, and star anise into a snowflake using only a hot glue gun and string to hold together. Check out the full DIY over at Camille Styles. If you’re looking for something a little less structured, try Factory Direct Craft’s cinnamon stick video tutorial—the only other supplies you’ll need is greenery.

Make DIY Cinnamon Ornaments

4. Sweater Ornaments

Image from Apartment Therapy

Supplies Needed | Ornament balls, sweater, thread, scissors, needle, hot glue gun, wood skewer
Time Needed | One hour

Got an old holiday sweater (à la the ugly Christmas sweater) lying around? Recycle them into these cute sweater ornaments! For a very simple DIY involving only an existing ornament, sweater, and string, we like this option from The Lily Pad Cottage. For something a bit sturdier, we’re into this craft tutorial from Apartment Therapy using a hot glue gun. Either way, make up to six ornaments at once from just one sweater!

Make DIY Sweater Ornaments

5. Cookie Ornaments

Image from Wholefully

Supplies Needed | Flour, table salt, warm water, mixing bowl, large spoon, rolling pin, straw, baking sheet, string, parchment paper, cookie cutters, optional decor or paints
Time Needed | Two hours

If your family loves baking, they may doubly enjoy making DIY cookie ornaments using salt dough. Mix flour, warm water, and table salt (a long-term preservative), cut the dough into shapes using cookie cutters, then bake in the oven for about an hour. Once they’re cooled, you can decorate them as-is or spray paint for an even finish. Wholefully‘s demo offers suggestions to help these cookie ornaments last year after year, as well as some decoration tips. For a video visual, we particularly like hauz.and.co’s mesmerizing TikTok.

Make DIY Cookie Ornaments

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