On a scale of 1-10, I love decorating for the Christmas/holiday season about a 7–generally enthusiastic about the idea of adding a fresh hit of festive decor to my home for a special few months, but often discouraged by the price tag or appearance of in-store offerings (you will simply NEVER catch me with a blow-up lawn ornament. I REFUSE). There’s still plenty I love to shop for…all of the twinkly lights, greenery, and glittery swag (minus the clean-up), a cute Christmas pillow or two. I love the festive colors and warm whimsy that come along with the season, and I have no problem leaning in each year. But whenever I can involve some kind of crafty decor element in my holiday home, that original spirit rating cranks to an 11. Off the charts! If you’re like me and want to make some DIY holiday decorations, but don’t know where to start, keep reading for some fun and easy ideas to bring a little bit of that crafty charm to your own space this winter season.

The “need-to-handmake” trait is one I was either born with or was drilled into me too early on to choose otherwise. I learned my ABCs (always be crafting) and never forgot their power. My mom and I spent countless hours of my childhood coming up with new ways to be creative. One year in particular, we made this Halloween art piece from a piece of scrap wood and about a million little magazine cut-outs.

We spent a good while cutting and separating tons of colors from a magazine into little triangles to glue them into the mosaic Jack-O-Lantern you see here. She still puts it out every year, and it’s a project that has inspired me 20 years later to make the first DIY of this year’s Christmas decor! Let me show you what I made:

Collage Christmas Trees

I love to collage, the EHD team can vouch. When we made our vision boards on our last retreat, I stayed up an extra few hours to keep working on mine. It’s a kind of flow state you just can’t disrupt, even if it’s 2 am. The cutting, the pasting, the admiring of images…it’s meditation for me. A few years ago, I decided to make some silly little collage Christmas trees that I could hang from my curtains using old magazines, chipboard, glue, a handful of brads, and some clothespins. It was so incredibly easy, and it’s a project I still bring out each year to display.

To make them, I started by collecting a variety of greens and festive, colored textures, patterns, and interesting shapes from my magazine pile. Then I cut random triangles from some chipboard (I used the back piece of old art pads, but any cardboard or sturdy material would work too).

I collaged the various greens onto each triangle, trimming the excess around the edges. I decided which triangles worked best together and stacked them, punching a hole through two pieces at a time to connect them with a little brad. Using a brad to attach them allows the pieces to move somewhat like a puppet. I love that added whimsy.

For the backsides, I just painted them with some watercolors I had on hand. You don’t have to do this if you’re just going to hang them against a wall, but since I wanted to hang mine from my window curtains, I wanted both sides to feel somewhat “done” and different.

Once enough trees were made, I simply clipped them to my sheer curtains with clothespins. They’re super easy to move around and style however you like!

You could also decide to make a garland with these trees, stringing them together through their top hole, even clipping the clothespins to the bottom instead to act as the “trunks”. I’ve done that with these exact trees in years past, and it worked out great. But as you can see in this pic, I’d already made a garland…which is the DIY I want to show you next!

Grocery Bag Garland

This holiday garland DIY was inspired by a TikTok. If you didn’t grow up crafting like I did, fear not. There are about a TRILLION quick, inspiring videos out there to show you just how simple and fun it can be (I gathered a handful of my favorites to show you for even more ideas, just keep scrolling).

This girl took her Trader Joe’s bags and decided to cut out the sweetest star garland to hang around her house. She started by drawing the shapes with Sharpie, then painting them, gave them cute little faces, and then strung them together to hang. Super simple.

Well, instead, I just decided to paint the whole bag. Actually, I painted a bunch of brown grocery bags with all kinds of different patterns and colors. You’ll want to cut open the bag to make the most of your material, paint it mostly solid with cheap craft paints or whatever you have on hand (doesn’t need to be perfect), and layer it with new colors–stripes, dots, squiggles, etc. Honestly, the messier, the more fun!

Next, I went in and drew the shapes to cut out with my metallic marker, because I wanted them to have a bit of “sparkle”. These are some of my favorite metallic pens to use. I loved her original simple stars, but I really wanted to stretch how many pieces I could get out of one bag, so I drew stars, spirals, little bursts, diamonds, and even little orange wedges. Idk why, I just thought it was fun. Go crazy here or stick to simplicity, it’s up to you!

Drawing with the metallic marker last made them even easier to cut out, and having a variety of patterns and colors made stringing them together like a fun game. No two colors next to each other. I poked two holes with a big needle and wove my string through, just like the TikTok girl.

I added it to my already tree-filled window and just love how they pair together! A little tricky to see the full pay-off in these pics because they’re so backlit and I’m no Kaitlin Green, but trust me that they are just so fun and colorful in person. The trees have held up for years, and the garland I plan to reuse as many times as it’ll last me. Neither are they so precious (or expensive) should I decide to let them go someday. But the joy of looking around your home to see holiday decor you made by hand? Priceless.

Here are some more easy ideas I’m saving for next year (or later this week if the mood strikes).

Paper Stars

These have been a HIT on my feed lately. I love that they’re so colorful and easy and that there are a number of styles and ways to make them. If you decide you want them to be reusable, use paper clips or velcro dots to secure the last pieces so you can fold them flat again for storage!

Paper Snowflakes

Like the paper stars, these snowflakes follow a similar technique, and I’m not actually sure if I can categorize them differently apart from the cut-outs. I’ve made the lunch bag versions in years past and loved them, but I recycled them after one use. I think the doily version is just to die for! Em actually showed me that one. The colorful ones would add a nice pop to any big display, and the twisty ones are a fun…twist on the classic snowflake look.

Paper Chain Garland

This one is truly a CLASSIC. Low lift with big payoff. Em and her kids made some paper chains for her tree this year from old wallpaper samples (such a cute idea), and sooooo many people on the internet are leaning in with their own colorful chains.

This girl shows you three ways to make them, each with their own vibe. I’m partial to the super short and chunky.

Gingerbread Garland

I HAVE TO TRY THIS. Such a simple idea, but oh so cute. I think it’d be fun to extend this idea beyond a garland. It would be so easy to make 3D “gingerbread” houses with cardboard and white paint, and they would last so much longer than the real, edible version does in my house. I can’t help myself but to immediately bite off the chimney each year.

So what are some of your favorite holiday crafts? Did you grow up making dried orange slice garland or string popcorn together? Are you a classic folded paper snowflake type? Have you tried making any of these fun paper crafts yourself? Or are there other festive crafts you made this year that I NEED to know about?? Sound off in the comments 🙂 I’m always looking for new inspiration!