Handmade Christmas Ornament Ideas

Handmade Christmas Ornaments are always some of my sentimental favorites to hang on the tree, year after year. And there are so many great tutorials to make them! I’ve put together a list of some of my favorites, including a bunch that are perfect for 3″ embroidery hoops, pieced blocks, felt creations, and new-sew options!

I also love how quickly these mini projects can come together. If you’re like me, and you suddenly get in the mood to make something Christmassy when the season hits, but it also happens to coincide with one of the busiest times of the year, little projects are perfect because there’s a higher likelihood that they’ll actually get done.

Christmas ornaments are the perfect solution. Get your Christmas sewing fix, with a probability that they’ll actually get finished this season. AND they make great gifts for friends or neighbors!

I think it’s fun that you don’t need to have specifically Christmas prints to make some cute little Christmas projects – any combination of reds and green prints will do the job nicely.

You can find the original tutorial for the flying geese quilted patchwork tree ornaments here. (They’d also make really cute custom gift tags!) The one-piece trees are made with the original mini Holiday Patchwork Forest tree block tutorial.

Another variation on the pieced tree block tutorial is this version in an embroidery hoop. They’re scaled slightly smaller to fit inside a 3″ hoop.

I’ve had a bunch of really cute Christmas Ornament guest post tutorials on my blog over the years and seen a bunch of new ones on other sites, so I thought it would be handy to make a list of handmade Christmas ornaments all in one place, as well as include some other fun handmade stitchy-y ornament ideas!

Handmade Christmas Ornament Ideas Using Hoops

Hand-stitched ornaments in a hoop can be a quick little project depending on the design. (Plus you can buy the wooden hoops pretty inexpensively in bulk from places like Amazon). Most of these projects are perfect for 3″ embroidery hoops.

This tutorial is brand new this year. These Sketch-Stiched Ornaments from Andy of A Bright Corner would be fun to make in bulk.

Amy Chappell has some darling Christmas hoop art patterns as well as this tutorial for walking you through the steps of wrapping the hoop in fabric, embroidery tips, and and finishing the back.

Gift ornament tutorial from Fran of Cotton and Joy

Bev McCullough from Flamingo Toes has a huge variety of embroidery and free hoop art designs, including these chalk-art inspired mini hoops. You can find links to Bev’s other adorable Christmas designs here.

I also love the classic look of these traditional, simple wreath designs in this tutorial.

Felt is another medium for making simple shapes and designs quickly such as these Scandinavian-inspired felt applique designs from the Polkadot Chair.

If you are a cross-stitch fan (or have always wanted to try, but prefer to start with a small project) Bev of Flamingo Toes designed the cutest collection of free cross-stitch hoop-art ornaments. You can find three different sets of  free patterns here, here, and here.

You could also use felt to reverse applique a design – such as the tree shape – and use fabric scraps to fill in the background as in this simple, but effective felt ornament tutorial from Swoodson Says.

If you’re up for some fussy-cutting and paper-piecing, check out this adorable Ugly Sweater ornament from Rachel Erickson of Citrus and Mint!

Another foundation pieced block is this sweet little free tree pattern from Christopher Thompson.

Go to this post for even more free foundation-pieced and other patterns perfect for 3″ hoops!

Mini Quilt Block Ornaments and Handmade Gift Tags

Or this uber-adorable Home for the Holidays ornament from Retro Mama – so many fun ways you could personalize this one!

Simple, mini quilt blocks also make adorable ornaments. Here are a few mini quilts from Sherri at A Quilting Life.

Candy Cane Christmas ornament by Stephanie of Swoodson Says

This “Stars Hollow” Christmas tree ornament tutorial from Suzy Quilts is perfect for showing off cute fussy cuts or making into a modern, graphic patchwork design. (Love the fussy cutting too!)

These hand-stitched gift tags from Nana Company would make adorable souvenir ornaments after the gift was received.

And here’s a more modern version of fabric gift tags by Heidi Staples using fussy cut fabrics to do most of the work.

These quilted hearts are perfect to make from sentimental scraps or cutter quilts. Tutorial by Elizabeth of Quilter’s Candy.

No-Sew Hoop Handmade Christmas Ornaments

Here’s a no-sew version of a hoop ornament with a cute quilt block motif by Coral+Co. You could use this same method to come up with lots of other quilt block-inspired designs.

Doilies would also give a handmade look to an ornament but wouldn’t necessarily require any sewing.

Handmade Felt Christmas Ornaments

As previously mentioned, working with felt is a great way to make simple, but effective, handmade Christmas ornaments. Felt is so forgiving and easy to work with.

We made these super simple felt scotty ornaments a few years ago when my parents’ dog passed away. They’re still a sentimental favorite on our tree. They were also really simple for young kids to help with – matching thread will hid uneven stitches. It’s a good confidence booster for a beginning sewing project.

Here are a few more intermediate and advanced options. You can pretty much never go wrong with a classic red and white Scandinavian motif like the ones in this tutorial.

Or try these Ribbon Candy ornaments made from felt – tutorial from Purl Soho.

Orange Bettie walks you through the steps to make this darling felt House Christmas ornament. Wouldn’t it be fun to take this idea and make a custom felt house representing a favorite house either current or from the past? Or make your favorite State using this idea from Crafty Staci.

Another house variation using felt gingerbread house with this tutorial designed by Ameroonie Designs.

Or, if you’re going for something a little more complex, but amazingly darling, check out this felt sewing machine ornament tutorial from Betz White.

No-Sew Christmas Ornament Ideas

There are lots of great ideas for No-sew Ornaments and another great way to use up supplies you may already have on hand. (i.e. Fabric!) Here are some charming ideas from simple to more complex:

These simple spools with twine would make a darling gift for stitch-y friends.

The girls from Simple Simon show how easy it is to make this striking fabric no-sew ornament.

These Scandinavian Folded Stars (tutorial from Caroline at Sew Can She)are also made with fabric. If you would rather see a video demonstration, Erica Arndt will walk you through the steps on her YouTube Chanel.

And finally, check out this very striking Origami Star ornament made by Sachiko of Tea Rose Home.

One more fun quilt-y option are these cute wooden cut-out quilt blocks from Old Mountain Crafts. They come in a natural wood finish, but you can paint or customize them however you like. For example I painted a set white a few years ago and added different red fabrics between the layers.

This year I’m giving a bunch of these laser cut quilt block ornaments as gifts, but leaving them in their natural wood state with out the fabric addition.

SO many fun little Christmas projects when you make ornaments! And they’re great for short amounts of time (or attention spans) because you can finish and try something new when you’re done! A lot of these projects are also kid-friendly and would be a fun family project at home this month.

Here are some other fun, sewing projects for Christmas if you’re looking for more inspiration!

And if you’re looking for Christmas Quilt ideas, here are over 30 of my favorite Christmas Quilts.

Do you have any sentimental handmade Christmas ornaments? Share in a comment below!