Easy Handmade Christmas Decoration Ideas

I am not the worlds most craftiest person. I am actually very bad at it. So any craft things I do, have to be simple and easy to do. I have some great ideas for making your own handmade Christmas decorations.

Victorian Style Decorations:

Some old Christmas cards, or you can purchase some from the store. Glitter and glue or glue gun. Very small garland, about one inch across tops, smaller if you can find it. Christmas hooks and icicles. A good pair of scissors. Shape cutters for scrap booking if you have any. A hole punch or paper punch.

First you will need to go through all of the Christmas cards. Pick out different scenes such as Santa, Elves, Reindeer, Angels, Stars, Snowmen, Manger, Jesus, Nativity scenes, Song sheets, anything that catches your eye. Cut them out following the shape or using a pattern you can buy for cutting paper for scrap booking. Pick one to start with.

You will first need to decide where you will be putting the hole, and punch it out. Decide if you want to put glitter on this or garland. Garland is best if you put it only around the outer edges of something as a border, glitter you can trace things and define it with the glitter. Glue on the garland around if you have decided to use garland. If not, do sections at a time with the glue, then sprinkle on the glitter, wait a bit and shake off the excess to use later, then repeat until you have done all of the parts you plan on putting glitter on. Loop the smaller part of the hook into the item, and set aside so that it will dry. You can also take strands of icicles, cut them to the length you want to use, and glue them on the edges too. Another good thing is to take the icicles, cut them into an 8 inch lengths about 5 or so together, and holding the ends in one hand, take the loop, reach through with your fingers or a crochet hook, grab the loose ends and pull them through the loop, making a knot. You can also hang this from the hook, or you can glue it to the bottom of your cut out for an extra decorative look. That is all there is to it.

Easy Colored Christmas Balls:

You will need as many balls as you are making in 2 inch balls, colored craft paint, ball of small string, long needle, long enough to reach through the ball all the way, ribbon, colored pins, glue, glitter, small colored beads, and paint brushes.

Start first by using the ball of string, and thread the needle. Leave the end still on the ball. Pierce the ball and push the needle all the way through, pulling the needle and the string out the other end. Using a bead, put the string through the bead, and pull the needle off. Knot the end over the bead. Pull the string back through the ball so that the bead is against the bottom of the ball. Make a loop at the top giving yourself enough length to hang the ball, and make the loop big enough to go around a tree branch. First, paint all the balls the colors you choose to use.

After they are all dry good and coated good, you can start decorating them. I remember my Mother used to have some really old balls that had glitter on them and they were in different patterns, around them, zig zag, criss cross, loops, and many other ways. You can do them like this, by putting glue on then cover in glitter, and when the glitter is dried, shake off the excess, then finish them. Or you can use more than one color of paint, or glitter. You can also take narrow ribbon, start at the top of the ball, and glue it around the ball, cutting it off at the top. You can do this with different colors or with same colors on the same ball. At the top, you can cover this with a small piece of material or you can make a tassel from icicles like you did in the first idea, and glue it on the top covering the loose ends. Another thing you can do is using colored straight pins, place them around the ball to give it more colors. You can design these anyway you choose.

Christmas balls with scenes in them:

Larger balls, in round, oval, or egg shaped. Craft paint and brushes, glue, old Christmas cards or tiny miniature animals and Christmas figures for crafting, glue, cloth if you choose to for the bottom of the inside of the ball, cotton balls or poly foam, glitter, ribbon, string and needles, a spoon and a table knife.

You will need to sort out your old cards to find scenes that will fit into the insides of the balls you have chosen. Cut out the scene by following the shape. If you are going to use cloth in the bottom of the ball, you will want to have it cut to about the right size that you will be using. Next, hollow out the balls by cutting a circle or oval or egg shape into the ball you are using. Scoop the inside out with a spoon, keeping the insides as smooth as possible. After you have hollowed it out, see what pictures will fit into which ball. Using the needle, you will want to pull the string through the ball, then instead of knotting it around a bead, you will want to push it back through to the top and giving yourself enough string, knot the string at the top for hanging on the tree.

Decorate the outside of the ball in the same manor you did for the second idea. It is not wise to use colored straight pins with this type of decoration. When you are done with the outside and they are dry, paint the inside if you are going to and let dry. If not, and you are going to use cloth in the bottom or inside, glue it in first. Cut any extra that is hanging out off. Glue the picture or miniatures into the ball. Then, glue in the poly foam or cotton ball pieces to just cover the bottom. If you have used cloth on the entire inside, you can use lace around the opening to hide the cut off edges of the ball and glue it into place. When this is dry, check it to see if there is anything else you may need, other than that, you are done.

There are many other handmade Christmas decorations out there, just use your imagination and have fun with it!