25 DIY Handmade Ornament Ideas

One of my favorite parts of the holidays is decorating our Christmas tree. We make a whole night of it- we make hot cocoa, put on Christmas songs, and lay out the dozens and dozens of ornaments we’ve collected over the years.

Make your Christmas tree unique this year with some easy DIY homemade Christmas ornaments! Come check out over 25 ideas including some that kids can do. There are personalized ornaments, photo ornaments, glass glitter ornaments, and even rustic wood ornaments. You can even get some of the supplies at the dollar store!

We have such a wide variety of ornaments that we came to own in all different ways. We had a tradition in my house growing up where we each got to pick an ornament every year, so I have a large collection of puppy ornaments from those years.

Justin’s family had a tradition where his Grandparents would buy him an ornament for their own tree each year that reflected an interest he’d had that year- and then when we moved in together and had our own Christmas tree, they sent all those ornaments to us for our tree!

In our family, we’ve continued on both traditions- we let the kids {and ourselves!} pick one ornament each year for the tree, and Justin’s parents are continuing the tradition of buying an ornament for each kid each year that they’ll hold onto until they’re grown.

While every one of those ornaments means a lot to us, I especially cherish the handmade ones.

I have ornaments that I made on the back of cereal boxes with my Great Aunt 25 years ago. I have a pinecone my sister threw some glitter glue on in the early 80’s. And I have ornaments that my kids have made throughout the years- some with pictures of them or their thumbprints and some that they took the time to create themselves.

Below you’ll find some great handmade ornament ideas that you can make- whether by yourself or with your kids. Most of these aren’t quite preschooler-friendly, but a lot of these could be made even with mid-elementary aged kids.

Or you could make them yourself and give them as gifts- if your recipients are anything like me, that will quickly become one of their most cherished ornaments.