40 DIY Christmas Decorations with Natural Materials
ByJane & Sonja
Decorating for Christmas doesn’t have to break the budget. Explore over 40 DIY natural Christmas decoratons using earth-friendly and/or upcycled materials.
Although it can be tempting to buy all the pretty, sparkling holiday decor in the stores these days, there’s also a great time to be frugal and forage nature! Here’s a great collection of over 40 DIY natural Christmas decorations you can make with easy-to-find materials.
From branches and wood slices, pine cones, stones, wool and more, looking to nature for craft supplies is a great alternative to buying plastic and other non-biodegradable materials. And even better, if you can forage the items yourself they’re the perfect budget-friendly way to decorate for the holidays!
DIY Natural Christmas Decorations
Beach Stones/Pebbles
From painting to gluing, stones and pebbles make perfect little canvases for natural Christmas crafting.
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Festive Christmas Painted Rocks
Rock painting continues to be a popular trend. It’s fun and relaxing to make little works of art on these tiny, natural canvases. Paint some adorable Christmas designs and use them all through your decorating. Or give them as gifts!
Made with rocks, twigs, pebbles, and moss, this nativity canvas is a great way to incorporate nature in a Christmas decoration that you can enjoy for years to come.
Put your cutting machine to work and make some beautiful glittering snowflake and monogrammed rock napkin weights. They’ll be the talk of the dinner table!
Yes, we are sort of driftwood hoarders. But with a little creativity, branches and twigs and driftwood can make wonderful natural Christmas decorations!
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Easy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments
We love to see our little driftwood reindeer ornaments on the tree. They also make great gift bag toppers! You can use twigs if you don’t have driftwood.
It feels like there are a million different ways to use wood and wood slices for Christmas decorations and ornaments. Here are some pretty ideas we found.
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Easy Rustic Christmas Tree
Make this DIY tree using wood shims and inexpensive dowels and basic craft supplies. Perfect for neutral Christmas decor.
DIY a rustic wood slice ornament in just a few minutes with only a few supplies! You’ll be surprised how quickly you can make these Christmas ornaments!
Before she purchases anything to decorate for a season or holiday, Julie looks to her yard. There are so many pretty seasonal finds in your own backyard, and that’s how she was able to create these Christmas centerpieces and decor for her kitchen.
We love to upcycle and repurpose fabric for Christmas decorations. If you stick with wool and organic cotton you’ll also feel good about using bio-degradable products.
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Easy Burlap Advent Calendar
This advent calendar was made with store bought pine and berries but would be even better used with natural pine from a tree. The burlap hangs from a small tree branch.
Cut up small fallen branches to make these cute Norwegian Gnomes for your Christmas mantles. The Gnomes can be made any size you want just depending on the size of the branch you use.
These adorable nativity ornaments are perfect for your Christmas tree. Or surprise your little ones with a new character each day in their advent calendar!
Pine cones are one of our favourite materials to craft with because of their beauty and availability (in our area of the world). Before you craft with them though, make sure to clean them appropriately!
When weekly fresh flower bouquets aren't an option, these pretty pine cone roses are a great budget-friendly alternative. Step-by-step tutorial for these pinecone flowers is included!
Go for a modern take on Christmas crafting with pine cones with this colorful painted pinecone forest we created for our friend Lydia at LydiOutLoud.com .
Use small pinecones and plaster of Paris to make some cute Christmas Pine cone tree tiles for your mantle. You can even paint the pine cones beforehand to create a more festive effect.
Printables are a simple and inexpensive way to decorate for the season. The internet is filled with all sorts of designs (just search “free Christmas printable” on Pinterest) which you can display. Our Love, Peace, Joy design is perfect for the holidays.
These decorative hazelnut orbs remind us of our childhoods where Christmas was a time to shell to delicious nuts. We use these orbs in decorating year-round.
How beautiful is this garland with dried oranges and lemons? It would make a bright and cheerful touch for any holiday decor and look beautiful well past the season.
Jane & Sonja are the sisters, moms and lifelong craft addicts behind Sustain My Craft Habit. They hope to delight and inspire their readers through simple tutorials featuring family-friendly crafts, DIY projects and upcycling ideas.
I always love adding nature to my decor. You ladies have gathered quite a collection of fun ideas here.