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125 days until Christmas 2026
Crafts & DIY

Christmas Crafts & DIY

Ornaments, wreaths, cards and gift wrap you can actually finish — every project lists what you need, how long it takes, and how hard it really is.

Projects
19
Categories
8
Beginner-friendly
14

What's the easiest Christmas craft to make?

The easiest Christmas crafts to make at home are salt dough ornaments, paper plate snowmen and popsicle stick reindeer — each takes under an hour and uses materials most households already have. For something with no craft supplies at all, printable gift tags and colouring pages need only paper and a printer. All 19 projects on this page list their materials, difficulty and real build time before you start.

Projects
19
Beginner-friendly
14 of 19
Fastest project
10 minutes
Cost
Most under £10 in materials

Browse by type

If you only have an afternoon

The six quickest projects on the site, shortest first. Every one is finished in a single sitting.

  1. 1 Furoshiki Fabric Gift Wrapping Learn the Japanese art of furoshiki to wrap gifts beautifully in reusable fabric. This eco-friendly technique eliminates paper waste and turns the wrapping itself into part of the gift. 10 minutes easy
  2. 2 Free Printable Christmas Bucket List (24 Things to Do) A free one-page Christmas bucket list with 24 things to do before Christmas morning, plus blank lines for your own. Print it, stick it on the fridge, and check them off as a family. 10 minutes easy
  3. 3 Stamped Kraft Paper Christmas Cards Combine the rustic charm of kraft paper with hand-stamped designs for cards that look like they came from a boutique stationery shop. Simple stamping techniques create impressive results even for complete beginners. 10 minutes per card easy
  4. 4 Free Printable Christmas Gift Tags Download and print eight classic Christmas gift tags on one sheet — tree, holly, star, and snowflake designs with To and From lines. Free, no signup, print at home on cardstock. 15 minutes easy
  5. 5 Washi Tape Christmas Cards Create stunning geometric Christmas trees, wrapped presents, and festive borders using colorful washi tape. No drawing skills required — just tear, stick, and layer for professional-looking results in minutes. 15 minutes per card easy
  6. 6 Paper Plate Snowman Build an adorable snowman from paper plates with this quick and easy craft that is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. No snow required for this cheerful winter friend. 20 minutes easy

How to choose a project

The honest constraint on Christmas crafting is rarely skill — it's drying time. A salt dough ornament takes fifteen minutes to make and then eight hours to dry before it can be painted. A wreath is the opposite: two hours of fiddly work, then it goes straight on the door. Read the time on a project as two separate numbers, hands-on and waiting, and plan around the second one.

Difficulty here means what tools a project needs, not how good it looks. Easy means scissors and glue. Medium usually means a needle, floral wire or a craft knife — nothing you can't learn in one go, but something that wants an adult's hands. Hard means the result depends on technique you'll get better at with practice: watercolour washes, wood burning, neat stitching.

What to make first

If you're crafting with children, start in the kids section and pick by the age range rather than the difficulty. If you're making gifts, start with ornaments — they're small, they post well, and a handmade ornament is the rare homemade gift nobody feels obliged to display all year. If you're decorating your own house, start with a wreath and a garland, because they do the most visible work for the least effort.

And if you want the whole family occupied on a wet afternoon with no trip to a craft shop, go to the printables — paper, printer, and colouring pencils, nothing else.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the easiest Christmas crafts to make?
Salt dough ornaments, paper plate snowmen and popsicle stick reindeer are the three easiest projects here — each needs under an hour, costs a few pounds in materials, and forgives mistakes. All three work with children as young as three if an adult handles the oven or the hot glue. If you want something with no craft supplies at all, the printables section gives you gift tags and colouring pages that only need paper and a printer.
What supplies should I keep on hand for Christmas crafts?
Six things cover most projects on this site: white PVA glue, a hot glue gun, scissors, card stock, acrylic paint, and floral wire. Add baker's twine and a roll of kraft paper and you can also wrap everything you make. Buy the glue gun rather than borrowing one — it is the single item that turns a two-hour project into a twenty-minute one, and a basic model costs less than a box of shop-bought ornaments.
How far in advance should I start Christmas crafts?
Start ornaments and advent calendars in early November. Salt dough needs 2-3 hours in a low oven plus overnight drying before painting, and an advent calendar has to be finished and filled by 30 November to be any use. Cards want three weeks if you are posting internationally. Wreaths are the exception — make those in the first week of December, because fresh evergreen drops its needles after about four weeks indoors.
Are these crafts suitable for children?
The kids section is written for children specifically, with age ranges on each project. Elsewhere, look at the difficulty label: every "easy" project can be done by a child with an adult doing any cutting, baking or hot-gluing. Projects marked medium or hard involve wire, needles or craft knives and are better as adult projects that children help decorate.