I love the look of a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. We have an artificial tree that we purchased on clearance at Michaels about 5 years ago. Every year I like to add some new ornaments to the tree but with the kids I can’t usually add something too fragile because it won’t last for long. My solution has been to find a variety of kid-friendly ornaments that we can all enjoy making. It is a wonderful holiday tradition and is also a great frugal way to decorate the tree, and the rest of the house for that matter.

Some of the ornaments we’ve made have been nice enough to give as gifts to teachers and friends so I get started early with my plans. It gives me time to purchase the materials and to actually make the ornaments so they are ready when decorating time comes around. Sometimes we’ll have friends over and have an ornament making party.

I’ve compiled a list of 23 Christmas ornaments you can make to decorate your tree - Some are ones we’ve made in the past and others are links to some I found on the web. I hope you enjoy them and happy ornament making!

1. Jan Brett - Make Your Own Ornament - From the children’s book author Jan Brett, here are directions on how to make a medallion, dove, and heart ornament.

2. Mouse in a cup - Adorable little ornament with a tiny mouse peeking out of a cup.

3. Candy cane reindeer ornament - This is absolutely sweet and very easy to do. I made mine from candy canes I purchased at the dollar store!

4. Coffee Filter Angels - Wonderful idea for using coffee filters to make precious angels for the tree.

5. Drum Ornament made from T.P. roll - I think this idea takes the cake for most creative. A tiny drum made from the end of a toilet paper roll!

6. Christmas Bell Ornament - Simple to make yet very cute!

7. Christmas Package Ornaments - I love the idea of this - just make little paper boxes and cover them with decorative wrap!

8. Beaded Christmas Ornaments - We’ve made these for several years now and they turned out great!

9. Clothespin Soldier Ornaments - These are absolutely too cute!

10. Clothespin Reindeer - Really easy craft project for the kids to do.

11. Tissue Paper Ornaments - A great way to get nonbreakable decorative round ornaments on the tree.

12. Lacy Gold Paper Star Ornament - This is a rather fancy looking ornament which would probably be more suitable for teens to make.

13. Cinnamon Teddy Bear Ornament - Cute and smells great too!

14. Sandpaper Gingerbread Ornament - Great idea for making gingerbread ornament without the need for cooking!

15. Jingle Bell Ornament - A very easy craft for all ages.

16. Make felt ornaments. This is pretty easy to do. Purchase felt in a variety of colors. Cut out shapes like a christmas tree or bell. Then glue on sequins or decorate with glitter.

17. Use Christmas cards. This is the main ornament I used when the kids were really little and prone to ripping everything off the tree. I simply took any Christmas card we received, let the kids use glitter glue to decorate it, punched a hole in the top, and tied a small piece of ribbon to hang it from the tree. It was easy for the smallest of hands to do!

18. Pipe Cleaner Bead Wreaths - Using a pipe cleaner, string pony beads on it and and bend it into the shape of a wreath. Then twist the ends together so the beads don’t come off. I usually used red pipe cleaners and red, green, and white pony beads but you could use any colors you choose. This requires supervision if you have any little ones prone to still putting things into their mouths!

19. Foam Cutouts - For this you will need to visit your local craft store and pick up some of the foam sheets. Cut out a variety of Christmas shapes like a star, bell, angel, gingerbread man, etc. Decorate with glitter glue. Punch a hole in the top and hang with a ribbon.

20. Ribbon Candy Twist Ornament - I love the “candy” look of this ornament.

21. Recycled Juice Lid Ornaments - A great way to recycle those juice lids.

22. Mini Flowerpot Reindeer Ornament - This is from Michael’s site and is really adorable.

23. Pine Cone Christmas Tree - Great idea to use up pinecones.

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