Decorating the Christmas tree each year can bring back so many lovely memories of Christmases gone by. And as your little ones grow up, you'll cherish those decorations they made when they were little, forever.
Making your own decorations for the tree or some Christmassy ornaments, is a lovely festive activity to do with your tot in the lead up to Christmas, and there is plenty of inspiration online to give you some ideas for your own decorations.
To give you some inspiration, we've rounded up some of our favourite decoration ideas we've found on Pinterest with instructions on how to make them - that hopefully shouldn't be too tricky to make with your toddler.
Homemade Christmas decoration inspiration and how to make them
Twig hanging star
Not only are these stars super easy to make, they also provide a great excuse for getting your little one outdoors and exploring for the best twigs in the garden. You can make these stars as big or as little as you like, and you can also choose your own twine colour.
What you'll need:
5 twigs of similar size (cut the twigs down to size if needed)
Plenty of twine or string
Glue gun
How to make:
Firstly start by gathering your twigs and cutting them down to the right size. You may need to use some strong pliers for this part.
Assemble your twigs in the star shape, and use a little glue to secure the twigs into the star shape.
Secure the star even further by wrapping the twine around each join. When you're happy with the amount of twine used, glue the end to secure.
Salt dough ornaments
You've no doubt already had a go at some salt dough crafts, and your tot will be very familiar if they attend a nursery. They're very easy to make and can be customised and painted however you like.
What you'll need:
2 cups of flour
1 cup of water
1 cup of salt
Baking sheet and parchment
paper/silicone baking sheet
Paint, twigs, leaves, branches, cookie cutters, etc. to decorate
How to make:
First, combine the flour, salt, and water together to make the dough. You may need to knead for a little bit. If
it’s too sticky, add a little bit more flour. Then roll out your dough and you can use a cookie cutter to cut out specific shapes.
Transfer your shapes to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and poke a hole at the top of the soon-to-be ornament so you’ll be able to hang it up later. This will be almost impossible after it’s baked so do it before.
Now you can press leaves and flowers into the dough, or your baby’s foot/handprint, or using the
back of a pen, you can write out a word if you’d like.
Then bake at 200 degrees for 1-2 hours. Time will vary based on your oven and the thickness of the
dough so just check it after an hour to make sure it’s not burning.
After the ornaments have cooled you can string them up or you can paint and decorate them!
Pom pom pine cone decorations
Add some colour to your tree with these adorable pinecone decorations. You'll need to get foraging for some pine cones in the woods or you can order them online if that's easier.
What you'll need:
Pine cones
PVA glue
Paintbrushes
mini pom poms
natural string
How to make:
Use your paintbrush to add dabs of glue to your pine cone where you want the pom poms to be.
Once your glue is in position, add your mini pom poms. Push each one gently into the glue, to give it a good chance of sticking. The shape of the pine cone should help to hold them in.
Once the glue has dried, cut a length of string and tie it around the top of each pine cone. Aim to have the top of the pine cone in the middle of the length of string. Then tie both ends together to make a large loop.
Light-up snowmen and penguins
If you'd rather avoid real candles this festive season, these battery operated candles are a brilliant alternative. Best of all, you can customise them into fun characters, without needing to worry about getting burned.
What you'll need:
Battery operated tea lights
A Black Sharpie
Red Ribbon
Red pipe cleaners
Red pom poms
Black felt
Orange Sharpie
Glue gun
How to make:
Use the black Sharpie to draw on the face of your character, positioning the candle light as the nose.
Cut around 2.5cm of red pipe cleaner, glue to the top of the candle and glue on two pom poms either side to create an ear muff look. You can also cut a small piece of ribbon to cross into a scarf shape and stick onto the candle.
To hang up, weave some ribbon through the pipe cleaner and tie together in a loop.
Do the same for the snowmen, just add a cut out top hat on top of the candle instead of the ear muffs.
Mini pine cone wreath
We can't get enough of pinecones this season, and these mini pinecone wreaths are adorable to hang up around the home or even on the tree. If you fancy something bigger, you can simply add some more pinecones.
What you'll need:
Pinecones of similar sizes
Glue gun
Paint brush
White paint
Glitter
How to make:
First arrange your pinecones into a circle. If you're following this, you'll need five pinecones all of similar sizes.
Glue them all together in the circle using a glue gun.
Use your paint brush and white paint to give the pinecones and snowy finish.
Give the whole thing a sprinkle of glitter and leave to dry.
Once dry, grab a nice piece of ribbon, tie around one of the pinecones into a loop and hang.
Pipe cleaner candy cane
These can be hung upon your tree or anywhere around the house where they'll be steady. They're super easy and safe to make for little ones of all ages. You can even make them into other shapes such as hearts or stars if you fancy.
What you'll need:
Green pipe cleaners
Red and white beads
How to make:
Start by tying a little knot at the end of one of the pipe cleaners and bend your pipe cleaner to be in a candy cane shape.
Thread on all your beads, alternating between red and white. When you're happy with the amount of beads you have on, tie the end of the pipe cleaner to make sure none of the beads fall off. If you have any ends of the pipe cleaner hanging out from the knots, simply cut them with a strong pair of scissors or pliers.
Reindeer twig decoration
These adorable reindeers can be made as big or as small as you like and can be hung upon any door or even be used instead of a wreath to greet people as they enter your home.
What you'll need:
Twigs
Googly eyes
Red button
Craft glue
Scissors
Twine or ribbon
How to make:
After you've collected your three twigs, glue them into the shape of a triangle and allow the glue to dry completely.
Once dry, glue on your googly eyes and the red button nose and leave to dry. Finally, tie your ribbon or string around the top (secure with glue if you like) and create a loop to hang up.
Paper straw Christmas tree
These lovely little Christmas trees are super cute, and in these festive red colours, they're a lovely way of spready Christmas cheer throughout the home.
What you'll need:
1 jumbo wooden craft stick
Red acrylic craft paint
Craft paint brush
Red craft jute twine
Paper straws in red, white, and gold
Snowflake sticker
Elmer’s School Glue
Scissors
Paper plate
How to make:
Place the large wooden craft stick on the paper plate. Using a paint brush, paint the craft stick with red paint. (I painted two coats to make sure I had full coverage) Let dry completely before moving to the next step.
Remove the backing from the snowflake sticker, and place it at the top of the red craft stick.
Cut a piece of one paper straw slightly wider than the width of the craft stick. Glue the piece right below the snowflake sticker. Repeat this process with different colour paper straws, cutting each straw slightly wider than the previous one, and then gluing to the craft stick. Continue until the last straw is approximately 1” above the bottom of the craft stick. Let dry completely.
Cut a piece of red jute twine approximately 10” long. Fold in half, and then tie a knot at the bottom. Flip the craft stick over, and glue the knotted end of the jute twine to the top of the stick (on the opposite side of the snowflake sticker).
Once dry, your Christmas Tree is ready to be hung!
Rudolph wood slice ornament
These are a really fun craft for toddlers to have a go at and should stand the test of time in your Christmas decorations box.
What you'll need:
Wood Slices Ornaments
Glitter Foam
Baker’s Twine, optional
Scissors
Glue
Paint pens, optional
How to make:
Trace the shape of a reindeer antler to the back of the brown glitter foam. Cut out the antler and use it to trace a second antler.
Glue the antlers to the back of the ornament, about a finger width apart.
Cut out a circle of the red glitter foam and attach to the front of the ornament, in the centre.
Use your paint pens to draw on two reindeer eyes.
Allow paint to dry before restringing the ornament and hanging.
Pom pom Christmas tree
These lovely glittery pom pom trees are nice and easy to make for your little one. They make a lovely finishing touch to any tree and can be made in a huge variety of colours.
What you'll need:
Popsicle sticks
Glitter Pom poms ( if you like sparkly shiny stuff)
Star shape sticker
Piece of cardboard
Some string and Hot glue
How to make:
Cut a triangle piece out from cardboard and stick it on a popsicle stick.
Cover the triangle paper with pom-poms. you can hot glue the pom-poms directly in the shape of a triangular tree.
Glue the star on the top of the tree. Or you can cut out a star shape from cardboard and colour it with golden paint. Lastly, attach a ribbon on the back to hang the ornament.
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