Are your store-bought ornaments clashing with your tree this year? Maybe they’re starting to look a bit too flashy and you’re looking for some ways to bring some earthy vibes to your home. Are you looking to bring a bit of nature indoors this season? You know, in addition to the living tree that’s already taken over the family room! Or maybe you can’t have a real tree but want to somehow still have some nature tones this Christmas. Well, this compilation of Christmas ornaments from nature is perfect for you!

For these nature Christmas decorations, you can use ingredients from your own backyard to create beautiful and fun decorations. Not everyone keeps miniature trees, jars of buttons, and swaths of felt on hand for just such an occasion as once-a-year ornament-making. So using cheap, easy-to-find natural materials as bases, I’ve put together a list of ideas for really cool DIY Christmas ornaments from nature. These nature Christmas ornaments project ideas will supply your kids with a craft for later and get them outside for some fresh, crisp air too!

Ideas For Christmas Ornaments from Nature:

Every year I decorate our family’s Christmas tree. For the past five years or so, I’ve done it almost single-handedly, except for the lights, which my dad always helps with. It’s quite a feat, since we tend to chop down trees of about six feet, and with five kids who have forgotten to take their ornaments with them when they moved out, our boxes of ornaments are stuffed full. Every year I go through our ornaments, deciding which ones to put on, and which ones to keep as fillers if there is any space left over (there never is). I always decide to put on our personal ornaments first, the ones we were gifted with growing up, or we bought matching ones for the whole family, or those that the craftier of us kids made during those few years where crafting was still an interesting activity. Those fraying or unglued ornaments made with tiny kid-fingers always make me smile, and are the first on the tree, hanging proudly as a declaration of our childhood time well spent.

Looking through the nature Christmas ornament ideas of today, I found a lot of cool ideas, many that outstripped the simple ornaments we used to make. I love how glitter and paint can turn practically anything into an ornament! Since our own crafting years were few, we rarely had a surplus of crafting supplies and mostly had to make do with what we could find. What was always readily available were things we could find in the yard, if there wasn’t already a foot of snow of course. Twigs, acorns, pine cones and the like were all readily available, and still can be turned into a fun craft activity for those chilly days stuck inside. I love our Christmas ornaments made from natural materials because they are extra special since we gathered the materials ourselves.

*Warning, before making these ornaments, you’ll want to consider investing in some glitter. It’ll be worth it.

10 Nature Christmas Tree Decorations

Let’s start off this list of Christmas ornaments made from nature with sticks!

This project for homemade Christmas ornaments made from nature uses hot glue and twigs together into the shape of a star. There’s nothing earthier than a few sticks, except maybe dirt, and dirt doesn’t make a very good ornament. If you have bits of ribbon or lace too small for presents, let your kids wrap them around the star ornaments for extra glamour! They turn out pretty neat:

http://allendesigns.typepad.com/blog/2011/10/stick-stars-holiday-decorating-craft.html

http://happyhooligans.ca/twig-ornaments/

Or instead of stars, have your kids glue sticks together in the shape of a letter, and then wrap them with twine, string, or yarn! Simple, cheap, and neat, these natural wood Christmas tree ornaments can even be given as gifts!

http://3-squeezes.blogspot.com/2012/11/diy-monogram-stick-ornaments.html?m=1

I never before knew the power of glitter until I saw these pine cones making some of the coolest ornaments ever. With just some glitter and ribbon your child can make a pretty ornament! Now to find some pine cones…I’m going to have some of these on my tree this year…

http://momspotted.com/2010/12/make-your-own-glittery-pinecone-ornaments-kid-friendly.html

This project is a combination of nature’s findings to make a cute owl ornament. There’s probably quite a few different creatures you can make from just some pine cones, leaves, and acorn shells. How many Christmas ornaments made out of nature can you come up with?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117070231/natural-pine-cone-ornament-owl?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

This acorn project is as simple and classy as the pine cones. Just ads some holiday string and glitter and you’ve got nature made Christmas ornaments, for free!

http://www.handmadecharlotte.com/holiday-decorating-with-kids/

These homemade Christmas ornaments from nature melds acorns and pine cones for a new look. Of course, there is also glitter. They probably sell ornaments likes these in stores, but why buy? They’re super easy to make your own and much more fun.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/112129942/acorn-ornaments-silver-and-gold-metallic?ref=related-1

This project for DIY Christmas ornaments from nature uses just twigs, seed pods, and paint to make a nice dragonfly ornament. Using the same ingredients, there are multiple animals and insects to be created from sticks and helicopter pods.

http://www.filthwizardry.com/2012/10/autumn-woodland-treasure-sculpture.html?m=1

If your backyard is closer to a beach than a forest, check out these homemade nature Christmas ornaments.

I’ve always wondered what else collected shells could be used for. Here are two ideas that turn out pretty neat. Again, the creative powers of glitter and paint!

http://www.shelterness.com/12-cool-natural-diy-christmas-ornaments/pictures/14791/

https://www.etsy.com/listing/164303689/santa-seashell-christmas-ornament-beach?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

What are your favorite ingredients from nature to craft with? Do you have any favorite DIY ornaments from nature that you made growing up?

Let us know what you and your kids think of these DIY ornaments from nature!

Related Posts:

How To Make Pine Cone Christmas Trees

Natural Table Centerpiece Ideas

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