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Make your holiday season crafty and merry with super easy DIY ornaments for Christmas that you can make with your punch needle!
Cutesy homemade ornaments will light your tree up with Hygge and delight. Plus! Who doesn’t love a glass ornament, but then there’s the risk of it breaking? Not with these DIY ornaments for Christmas!
Not only will I walk you through the six simple steps of crafting your very own homemade ornaments with a Punch Needle (beginner-friendly!), but I’ll also show you even more DIY Xmas Decorations you can try out with the kiddos/fam and bonus free Punch Needle designs you can use to make more homemade ornaments for Christmas.
It’s about to get holly and jolly up in here!
Easy Steps for Homemade Ornaments for Christmas
Let’s get rocking around the Christmas tree for this easy-to-follow DIY ornaments for Christmas! There are so many unique and fun directions you can go in for homemade ornaments. In the last section of this article, we’ve got some fun ideas that you can print off or run with if you feel inspired.
For this walk-through of how to make an ornament, I wanted to show a straightforward design to keep things nice and easy. But as you can see from my other pictures of homemade ornaments for Christmas, you can punch needle just about anything to your merry heart’s desire!
Before we kick off, if you’re new to Punch Needling, I would highly encourage you to spend some time in the section below, where I’ve listed some great Punch Needle resources with tips and tricks that will make these DIY ornaments for Christmas easier.
Punch Needle Guides
Punch Needle is an incredibly fun, relaxing, and fulfilling hobby that I absolutely love. But it did take some practice and learning to get there! That’s why I took the time to create these Punch Needle guides so Punch Needle beginners can have a place to go that’s clear, simple, and fun.
You can check out all our Punch Needle goodies here!
- 4 Steps: How to Thread a Punch Needle & Vital Q&As!
- #1 Punch Needle Tips & Tricks for Everyone
- Punch Needle 101 Why You Should Start TODAY!
- How 2 Embroidery Punch Needle: Easy-Peasy!
Materials for DIY Ornaments for Christmas
Let’s gather our materials before diving into our DIY Christmas ornaments. If you’ve been punching for a bit, you most likely have most of these materials already!
- Punch Needle (Size will depend on how large you would like your loops to be)
- Wire Threader
- Hot Glue Gun (With hot glue sticks)
- Monks Cloth
- Embroidery Hoop
- Yarn (Colors vary on design)
- Fabric Scissors
- Ribbon/String
- Felt
- Painters Tape (Optional for taping around Monks Cloth to prevent fraying, as seen in picture)
Push play on that ultimate jolly Christmas Playlist, and let’s get to punching!
Step One: Prepare Embroidery Hoop & Trace Design
First things first, you’ll need to choose what size embroidery hoop you’d like to use for your homemade ornaments. I went with a smaller hoop to make a cute little ornament; plus, it gets done a little faster!
Once you have your desired embroidery hoop, cut out a piece of monks cloth that is larger than your hoop.
Now, you can fasten your monks cloth in your embroidery hoop and ensure it’s taut/tight. If your monks cloth is not tight, your loops/yarn will unravel, and we don’t want that!
Lastly, for step number one, you can take a fabric marker or sharpie to outline your chosen DIY ornaments design. It’s important to note that I have drawn my design on the back of the hoop because I want the looped (fuzzy) side to be my presenting side. If you want the flat stitch side to be your presenting side, you’ll want to draw your design on the front side of the hoop.
NOTE: If you are doing a design from the back, you need to “flip” your image before you trace it on. Otherwise, your image will be in the reverse when you punch it in.
I’ve gone with a very simple design for the purpose of easy-to-follow DIY ornaments for Christmas instructions for you crafty folks!
Step Two: Choose Yarn Colors & Thread Punch Needle
This part is a fun one: choosing your yarn colors! This will depend on what homemade ornaments designs you’ve gone with (how exciting!), but once you have them all ready to go, pick which color you will use for the smallest details in your design. That’s what we’ll be starting with!
When that yarn color is picked out, you can get your punch needle all threaded and ready to go!
The length of the needle will determine the exaggeration of your loops. Big Loops = Long Needle. Small Loops = Shorter Needle.
Unsure or need a reminder on how to thread your punch needle? I’ve got you covered! Check out my article, 4 Steps: How to Thread a Punch Needle & Vital Q&As!
Step Three: Begin Punching the Smallest Details 1st
I suggest starting with the most minor details of your design first (and an outline, as I’ve punched in the picture below) because these details can be complicated to punch if the more extensive details are punched first. I don’t want you to have a frustrating or negative experience with punch-needling because it really is a super fun hobby!
I decided to punch a little border around my DIY ornaments for Christmas because it gives the homemade ornaments a bit more depth and detail.
Once you’ve finished one small detail, you can move on to the next largest! In this case, it’s the smaller horizontal lines that I’ve drawn for my design. So that means it’s time to thread a new color of yarn on the punch needle!
I’ve gone with this fun and cute multicolored Christmas yarn that makes me feel all cozy inside, and I can’t WAIT to use this yarn for more DIY Xmas Decorations. Why, it would even make an incredible festive string for Christmas presents!
Start punching away at those adorable details, and you can turn your embroidery hoop over to check on your progress.
When you finish up a detail, or in my case, a row, turn your hoop over and snip the yarn.
Ensure you have some slack so you don’t have to rethread your punch needle.
Before pulling your punch needle through, hold your finger on the yarn you just snipped to ensure it won’t accidentally get snagged out by the punch needle pulling through.
Look at those pretty rows! I wanted a fuzzy look to my homemade ornaments for Christmas, so my loops are pretty big. But if you’re doing a more intricate design, I suggest you shorten your needle to smaller loops. Otherwise, your precious details may get lost in the big loops.
Step Four: Continue Punching Larger Details
It’s time to fill in the spaces and continue punch-needling the larger details of my homemade ornaments for Christmas! I’ve decided to go with a calm and cozy green yarn for the remainder of my homemade ornament.
Whichever color is next up for you, thread that punch needle, and let’s get to punching!
Sometimes, punching different colors close together can be challenging because the loops can get intertwined by accident.
You can try to prevent this by using your free hand that’s holding the embroidery hoop and using your fingers to hold the opposite yarn back from your punch needle. It may initially sound a little tricky, but you’ll get the hang of it!
When your DIY ornaments for Christmas are finished, you can use the tip of your Punch Needle to untangle loops from each other if you missed a few.
When you finish a section of your design, just like you did before, take your scissors and snip the yarn.
After you’ve filled in all the nooks and crannies of your adorable homemade ornaments for Christmas, you can use your scissors once again to snip off the tails of thread on your project’s backside (non-presenting side).
Holy buckets of holly, we’re almost done with our DIY ornaments for Christmas! There are only two more steps to go before you’re a pro at punching homemade ornaments.
Step Five: Take Hoop/Tape Off & Cut Slits Around Design
Pro Tip: Plug in your hot glue gun now so it can be ready to go when you’re done with this step!
Before we can genuinely make our punch needle project look like real homemade ornaments, we’ve got to get it off the embroidery hoop and remove the painter’s tape from the monks cloth.
Don’t worry about tugging a few strands of monks cloth off as you take off the painter’s tape; that’s normal!
You’ll need those fabric scissors handy for the next few steps.
First, cut the extra monks cloth around your design, leaving an inch or two around.
You can repurpose the extra monks cloth as extra padding for your ornament (before you glue down your backing), or if you do other projects that require stuffing, you can save it for that!
Then, use your fabric scissors to cut slits all the way around your homemade ornaments to create little monks cloth tabs that we’ll be gluing down in the next step.
Step Six: Hot Glue Tabs Down & Backing (Final Steps!)
Once your hot glue gun is heated up, carefully glue down the tabs to your non-presenting side. In my case, it’s the flat stitch side!
Next up, another delightful part: grab a piece of ribbon or string you want to use as the hanging device for your DIY ornaments for Christmas.
I went with an elegant and simple white ribbon! Cut your ribbon to the length you’d like your ornament to hang.
Make sure your design is in the position you want it hanging from (make sure it’s not upside down!), and hot glue your ribbon like in the photo below.
Now we’ll get our backing out. I use basic felt as my backing, but I’ve also used leftover fabric from my DIY Fleece Tie Blankets!
Isn’t repurposing the best? Nothing goes to waste!
When I hot glue my backing to my homemade ornaments for Christmas, I start by hot gluing down the middle of my design and adhering my backing to the spot I just put glue down on.
This makes it easier to glue around the rest of the backing; it stabilizes it.
After you’ve got your backing securely glued to the back of your homemade ornaments and given time to dry and cool, you can start cutting.
Cut along the edge of the homemade ornaments for Christmas to ensure a nice crisp line.
Before cutting around where your ribbon/Yarn is, hold it against your ornament, and don’t cut directly on the ribbon/yarn.
We don’t want to cut off our hanging device accidentally!
Ho ho ho! You’ve gone through all the steps to make an ornament with your punch needle!
You can keep cruising along this merry craft train for DIY Xmas Decorations list and Free Designs for DIY Ornaments for Christmas!
DIY Xmas Decorations List
We’ve got all sorts of holly jolly homemade ornaments and holiday fun ideas that you’ll love! Below, we’ve compiled a list of our merry DIY Xmas Decorations that are easy to follow, beautiful, and fun to create. Plus, you may have many of the materials already at home!
Just click away, and you’ll be on your merry way to DIY Xmas Decorations fun!
5-Step DIY Christmas Ornament Super Easy & Extra Cute
20+ Homemade Ornaments for Christmas {easy how-to}
20+ Homemade Gift Ideas W/ Punch Needle
How to Stencil Gift Wrap for Christmas
How to Make Wood Slice Reindeer Ornaments
How to Repurpose a Ceiling Fan Blade into Christmas Decor
Holiday DIY Hygge Decor: 4 Easy Steps!
3 Delightful Hygge Christmas Crafts: Paper, Scissors, Tape!
Hygge Christmas: 22 Simple & Wholesome Tips!
Ideas for DIY Ornaments for Christmas
An excellent resource for free ideas I like to suggest and that I use very often is Canva! Even with their free version, there are HUNDREDS of graphics you can use, print off, and enjoy for your DIY ornaments designs.
My suggestion is to choose simple designs, though. If a design is too intricate, it could risk getting lost in the yarn. But you can always give it a whirl and find out for yourself!
Here’s a free downloadable PDF of DIY Ornaments for Christmas Punch Needle Designs! No email is required or anything. Just hit that download button, and it’s yours.
I really hope you find joy and fun in these homemade ornaments for Christmas ideas. This wintery time of year is meant to be spent surrounded by the people we love and appreciate the beauty in our lives. May your Christmas tree glow with hygge and love with your DIY ornaments for Christmas!