5 simple paper Christmas decorations to make at home

Homemade Christmas decorations are a delightful way to cherish memories and love shared with your family, creating keepsakes to display year after year. Whether those homemade decorations are a beloved pet’s pawprint, a red-nosed reindeer made from lollipop sticks or simple paper creations made on the kitchen table.

If you plan to make some new decorations before you put the tree up, here are some creative ideas, simple enough to complete in your chair.

• 2 strips of paper measuring 2cm by 19cm
• 2 strips of paper measuring 2cm by 16cm
• 2 strips of paper measuring 2cm by 14cm
• 1 strip of paper measuring 2cm by 9cm
• Stapler and staples
• String, ribbon or twine

1. On either side of the 9cm paper strip, place the rest of the paper in order of the 14cm, 16cm and 19cm strips. Ensure the 9cm strip is in the middle.
2. Fold the tops of your strips to the bottom to form a heart and staple together.
3. At the top of your middle paper strip add a hole and thread through the ribbon. Add to your tree and enjoy your homemade paper heart decoration.

• Tissue paper, plain paper and thick paper (like card or a cereal carton)
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• 2 coloured pens
• Ruler
• String, ribbon or twine
• Paper clips

1. Draw out lines around 1inch apart using a ruler, alternate the line colours with the 2 pens.
2. Place the tissue paper on top of your lined paper and glue lines following 1 of the colours. Put another piece of tissue paper on top of your glued paper and repeat using the other line colour. Repeat until you have a stack of around 50-60 pieces of paper glued together.
3. On the thicker paper, draw out a semi-circle and cut it out.
4. When the glue is dry, place the semi-circle on an edge of the paper and draw round the template. Cut around the lines.
5. Using the semi-circle template again, cut out another semi-circle from the thick paper. Cut out the middle of your semi-circles and a little bit from the outer ring.
6. Glue one semi-circle to each side of the paper, this will add stability when you glue the sides together.
7. Add ribbon about halfway down the straight edge, glue both flat sides and wrap your ball round to stick together. To make sure your ball doesn’t come undone, place paper clips around the seam. 
8. Hang on your tree for a rustic design.

• 10 strips of paper measuring 2cm by 21cm
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Double sided tape
• String, ribbon or twine

1. Lay the 10 strips of paper on top of each other and staple as close to the middle as possible. If one end of the strips is longer than the other, cut it down to match.
2. Place a small piece of double-sided tape to the tip of the strip, fold the paper to the middle and stick the tape down. Repeat with each strip until you’ve completed half a circle with loops.
3. When you begin the second half, put some double-sided tape on the underside of the next strip and loop it over and stick it to the last loop.
4. Continue adding the tape to the top of the strips and repeat until you have a full circle of loops.
5. Add the ribbon to one of the loops and hang your decoration up.

• This template
• Paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Small wooden bead
• Double sided tape
• Stapler and staples
• String, ribbon or twine

1. Print and cut out our template or roughly sketch one out for yourself. On your chosen paper, draw round the template and cut the shape out.
2. Make a hole in the centre of your flower. Use the glue stick to curl each ‘petal’, this will make it easier to fold.
3. Fold together 4 of the ‘petals’ so they meet at the tips and staple the centre. Fold the remaining 2 ‘petals’ to the middle and stick them together with double sided tape.
4. Thread your ribbon through the hole and add a bead.

• 3 identical paper circles
• Scissors
• Pencil
• String, ribbon or twine
• Bead
• Double-sided tape

1. Using a circular shape, draw out 3 identical circles and cut the shapes out. Fold each circle in half.
2. Tie the ribbon with a knot and add the bead. Put double-side tape on the inside of one of the circles, place part of the ribbon on the straight edge and stick the sides together.
3. Put double-sided tape on the inside of another circle. Stick the half circle with the thread inside the second circle, making sure the curved edges are facing each other.
4. Stick the inside of the final circle together with double-sided tape. On the outside of the semi-circle, place a strip of double-sided tape, stick the semi-circle to the other semi-circles to form the wings. Ensure the straight edge is facing up.

Settle down and rejoice in the Christmas spirit with these wonderful homemade Christmas decoration ideas. Use wrapping paper, Christmas stickers, draw festive shapes on the paper and decorate each bauble to suit your tree. 

This is a fun activity to get stuck in with the grandchildren or sitting comfortably at home in your favourite chair.

For more crafts ideas, check out our Feel Good Hub. Read our related articles,

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• Christmas Gingerbread Recipe
• How to decorate for Christmas when you have a disability