25 DIY Rustic Christmas Ornaments That You’ll Adore
Updated on November 25, 2021
Christmas is at our doorsteps, which means that it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll be decorating the house this year, and if you really want to have a Christmas atmosphere that will take you back, we suggest that this year you try out some rustic Christmas ornaments.
In today’s article, we will be showcasing 25 different rustic Christmas ornaments that you can decorate your house with, and that will really give the Christmas atmosphere that we all love.
Rustic vs. Vintage vs. Modern Decorations
Each person has their own unique way of decorating their house and Christmas tree, but we all fall under three main categories when it comes to style:
- Modern decoration
- Vintage decoration
- Rustic decoration
As far as rustic decorations are concerned, they are the true classic decorations, and they also happen to be really popular in today’s interior design. The idea behind rustic decorations is to make you feel like you’re in a cabin.
When it comes to modern decorations, they are all about bringing out elements that are trending, yet still being simple when it comes to style. As long as the element that you choose is currently trending, then it counts as modern decoration.
Finally, vintage decorating is all about using traditional ornaments for Christmas, but adding a twist of trends here and there so that your house will have an elegant touch. If compared with rustic decorating, vintage will always have its own twist on everything since it doesn’t necessarily want the room looking rustic.
Now, when it comes to rustic Christmas ornaments, we all know that they’re really easy to find in stores and use in our houses, but if you’re looking for something a bit different than what everyone else is using then you should definitely check out the list below.
Best Rustic Christmas Ornaments to Decorate Your House With
When creating this list of 25 different rustic Christmas ornament ideas, we chose not to go for anything too complicated, and we also chose to keep this list very light in terms of colors so that you can easily add it to your Christmas tree.
With all of the different ornaments below, your house will definitely have a nice rustic feel when it comes to decoration.
1. Rustic Christmas Ornaments – Silver Branch Wreath
The first entry on our list is something that looks very rustic no matter how you try designing it: a Christmas wreath, but given today’s focus on the “rustic” part, we went ahead and looked for the simplest wreath you could possibly make.
That being said, we would like to present to you the silver branch wreath, one of the simplest rustic Christmas ornaments that you can find.
To make this wreath, you’ll only need a handful of supplies, including a handful of twigs, a can of metallic spray paint in the color of your choice, 3 Christmas globes, 2 feet of thin chain, 4 feet of suede cord, a hot glue gun with extra glue, some pliers, and some pruning shears.
As you can see, after we’ve put together all of the necessary ingredients we’ve obtained a Christmas wreath that’s unconventional due to its square shape, but also looks extremely good thanks to its simplistic design.
Besides, the fact that the wreath itself has so much exposed wood makes it look even more rustic, and if you really want to enhance the feel you can go ahead and replace the Christmas globes with some old bells that you may have hanging around.
Tip: If you like to match the colors, we recommend that you spray paint the wreath in the colors of your front door’s knob or handle, so it will all look like it’s part of a bigger ensemble.
2. Rustic Christmas Tree Decorations – Decoration With Dried Oranges
For many of us, the smell of cinnamon, mulled wine or oranges is an instant trigger that sends us way back to the days when we were little and spent our magical Christmas years with our friends and family.
If you want to emulate that feeling in a way that’s also very creative, and also gives you the perfect opportunity to decorate your tree in a very eco-friendly way, then we recommend that you try out these decorations made out of dried oranges.
The best part is that they’re incredibly easy to make since you’ll only need a sack of oranges, a sharp knife, a baking sheet, string, a yarn needle, and a preheated oven.
Once you’ve made cuts into the orange peel and baked them, just use the needle and string to hang them by the tree to make it look and smell amazing!
Keep in mind that this is one of those Christmas decorations where you need to accept that not all things are perfect since there’s no way to control how the dried oranges will end up looking.
On the other hand, you could look in the oven from time to time to make sure that they don’t dry up too much, just enough for them to maintain their round shape.
3. Rustic Christmas – Wine Cork Christmas Tree
The winter holidays are a time when a lot of wine is consumed, which means that there will be a lot of bottle corks left behind, but instead of throwing them away, you could try turning them into something creative, like a wine cork Christmas tree.
To make this cork decoration you’ll need wine corks, some Christmas patterned papers, a wooden star, a length of silk ribbon, a pair of scissors, a glue gun, some artificial berries or marbles, a pencil, some gold acrylic paint, and a paintbrush.
All you have to do is cut the corks into pieces of about an inch, paint the star in gold acrylic paint for a bit of color contrast, and then affix your new ornaments with glue.
Of course, you don’t have to follow the design illustrate above, and you’re free to give the tree whatever shape you want.
For example, instead of a simple triangle, you can arrange the corks in the form of several trapezoids stacked on top of each other, with a small triangle just at the top.
Depending on how big your cork tree is, you can use it as a small Christmas tree decoration and hang it by a branch, or you can place it on a table or over the fireplace if it’s bigger.
4. Rustic Ornaments – Pinecone Christmas Tree
If you’d like to try some rustic ornaments that are small, simple, and cute, just take a look at these mini pinecone Christmas trees, since they’re so adorable you might just want to make several and gift them to everyone you know.
To make the mini tree, you’ll need a pinecone, a sheet of white felt, some white paint, a paintbrush, a wooden disc, some hot glue, and a black marker.
All you have to do is glue the base of the cone to the wooden disc, paint the cone with paint to make it looks like it snowed all over it, and then cut out a star-shaped piece of felt and glue it to the top of the mini-tree.
Sure enough, you can also forget about the wooden disc and use some string to turn this pinecone miniature into a Christmas tree decoration that you can hang from the branches.
Another neat thing you could do is glue some colored marbles or beads between the petals of the cone so they look like mini-Christmas globes, or you can cover them with sparkling dust so that they twinkle against the Christmas tree lights.
5. Country Christmas Decorations – Pinecone Gnome
If you love the idea of making Christmas decorations using pinecones, but the previous entry wasn’t exactly something that you liked all that much, another thing you could try is making a pinecone gnome just like the one illustrated above.
What makes this decor idea particularly fun is that the gnome looks like a plushy toy that you can actually play with, since the arms are pretty flexible, making it an ideal decoration that you can make together with your kids.
Not only that, but you can make several of them and gift them to your own children, which is an excellent opportunity to show them that you can have loads of funs with toys that you can make yourself, and not just the ones from the stores.
All in all, it’s a wonderful idea to try out, and the visible pinecone that makes up the bulk of the gnome’s body will definitely make it look like one of those toys your grandfather used to make using nothing but what he could scrape from around the house.
To find out what materials you need and how you can put them together to create this fun toy/decoration, go ahead and check out this step-by-step tutorial on how to create a pinecone gnome!
6. Christmas Decorations – Concrete Outdoor Christmas Tree
Coniferous trees are called “evergreens” by default, but if that’s not enough for you and you want to make your very own Christmas tree that will truly last forever, you can go ahead and decorate your garden or porch with some mini concrete Christmas trees.
This particular decoration doesn’t need any real explanations, since making concrete or a cement mixture is incredibly easy (there are plenty of recipes on the Internet as well), and once you have the mixture, just pour it inside a mold and let it dry until solid.
Once you have your concrete Christmas tree, you can use some paint to give it a dash of colors, since the plain grey color of concrete isn’t too appealing (although keep in mind that next year you might have to paint them again).
Obviously, you don’t have to limit yourself to making just concrete Christmas trees.
For example, you can make other Christmas decorations out of this extremely versatile material, such as snowmen, reindeer, or mini Santa Claus statues, and you can then place them around your yard like Christmas-themed garden gnomes.
7. Christmas Decoration Ideas – Twig Christmas Tree
If you’re looking for the ultimate rustic Christmas decoration ideas, then your best bet is to head over to one of those Scandinavian furniture and home decoration stores, since they are the epitome of what it means to be “rustic”.
Of course, since we’re focusing on DIY ornaments, you can just look at their catalog and get inspired by their design, like something similar to this twig Christmas tree.
It’s small, it looks great, and since the only visible thing in it is wood, it’s definitely a Christmas decoration that you could describe as “rustic”.
Besides, the materials needed to make it are things that you most likely already have lying around your house, and if not, you’re bound to find them while taking a walk through the woods.
You’ll need a wooden disc, a handful of twigs, a snowflake-shaped sequin, some hot glue, paint (preferably white or silver), a paintbrush, and a pair of sharp secateurs
As for how this mini-Christmas tree is made, you can check out the full step-by-step tutorial here (it also includes a video tutorial).
8. Xmas Decorations – Paperback Christmas Trees
For many people, the idea of “rustic” is pretty much identical to “vintage” or “old”, so if you want to make a Christmas decoration that encompasses them all, you should try out this paperback Christmas tree.
To make these trees, you’ll need a paperback book, an Exacto knife, dry adhesive, glitter, and glue, and a lot of patience and creativity.
In short, you’ll be using pages from the book to create the Christmas tree by folding them into triangles and then arranging them until they create a 3D cone.
The decorations look fun, rustic, and they’re also easy to store because you can fold them up like a fan and place them somewhere safe until you’ll need them again next year.
Not only does it look amazing, but it’s your chance to give yet an extra use for those old books that you were thinking of throwing away, making it an ideal decor idea for anyone that hates throwing things away, especially books.
9. Rustic Christmas Decorations – Table Decoration
One very iconic Christmas moment is the Christmas dinner when everyone is sitting around the table feeling grateful for all that has happened over the past year and enjoying tons of goodies.
However, a table just doesn’t seem as festive without some decorations, and if you like to try some rustic Christmas decorations this year, you could try making your very own DIY Christmas tree table decoration.
As you can see in the picture illustrated above, the table decoration encompasses all of the classic Christmas tropes, like pine branches, pinecones, the color silver, ribbons like the ones you see on presents, and more.
To make a table decoration like the one above, you’ll need a pinecone and a pine branch, some white paint and a paintbrush, a folding utility knife, a length of ribbon, some hot glue, a pair of secateurs, a length of wire, some dry oasis foam or planters foam, a tin can, and some malleable gardening wire.
Simply follow this step-by-step tutorial to find out exactly how you can turn the above-mentioned house items into an amazing-looking rustic Christmas decoration!
10. Rustic Chrismas Tree – Rustic Table Centerpiece
If you liked our previous table centerpiece idea, but you want something that looks even more in touch with nature, then you should try this pinecone table centerpiece instead.
You’ll only need a large wooden disc, some pine branches, pinecones, and some glue.
All you have to do is arrange the branches and the pinecones in a circular shape and then glue them onto the wooden disc.
Sure enough, there are other supplies that you can use as well to enhance the overall Christmas feeling of the whole thing like some white felt or some white or silver spray paint or powder that you can use to give off a more “snowy” feel.
Once the arrangement is done, simply place a simple pine-scented candle in the middle of the wooden disk, and light it up, and your table centerpiece is pretty much done!
The photo above is a good example of how rustic Christmas decorations can use the most ordinary and inexpensive resources and turn them into something very interesting and unique.
More Fantastic Rustic Christmas Ornaments
The previous 10 entries were the most popular ones that we managed to gather when we did our research to create this list, but if none of them look too promising, check out these other 15 entries, since these were very popular last year, and the year before.
11. Rustic Christmas Ornaments – Twig Arrows
Check out these beauties atYellow Bliss Road. You’ll have a lot of fun personalizing each arrow and letting the kids have a go at it too. It’s a great, festive project where you get to use diverse materials.
12. Bar Jars – Rustic Christmas Decorations
The Girl Creative whipped up these beautiful ball jar ornaments. They glow with vintage, romantic charm and set the scene for a festive and old age spirited space. And they’re so easy to make!
13. Twig Star Rustic Christmas Tree Decorations
Over atYellow Bliss Road, you’ll find these fun twig stars! Make multiple to sprinkle throughout the entire tree. Or, make one that’s extra large, to go right on top!
14. Rustic Ornaments
If you visit VINTAGE ROMANCE STYLE, you’ll find a wonderful trio of ornaments to create! Each one can be personalized and will set the scene for a whimsical, rustic quality tree. Take the jump now and check out the tutorials.
15. Birch & Pine Cone Florals – Rustic Christmas Ornaments
We’re swooning for the innovation behind these pieces. They add a bout of femininity and artistry to the tree. Made with birch and pine cone, you’ll love this project fromAn Extraordinary Day.
16. Fabric Trees – Rustic Christmas Tree Decorations
Grab some fabric scraps and turn them into these ornaments! All you need to know is atAllDayChic. Finally, something that will put all those pieces you have in the craft room to good use!
17. Bird’s Nest Rustic Ornaments
We also love this charming bird’s nest fromDandelion Patina. You’ll want to grab the kiddos to help you with this one, they’ll want to add their two cents into its final design.
18. Marble Acorns – Cute Xmas Decorations
Here’s one of our more unique of rustic designs. Follow along with the instructions atRhythms of Play. See how you can take your old set of marbles and turn them into something exciting for the tree this year.
19. Wood-Burned Birch – Rustic Christmas Tree Decorations
We have a sneaking suspicion that you’ll have the most fun with this project. You get to burn some wood! Check out this birch ornament by visitingDans le Lakehouse.
20. No Place Like Home – Country Christmas Decorations
Using some reclaimed wood, The Birch Cottage created some welcomed and family-friendly ornaments. We love this on that says ‘No Place Like Home’ and also love how personalized you can get with this idea.
21. Photo Blocks – Rustic Christmas Tree Decorations
It Happens in a Blinkwill show you how to make some charming photo blocks. You can make one of these for every member of the family! How sweet these would be after your little ones are nice and grown?
22. Red Truck – Rustic Christmas Decorations
We’re betting that you’re going to quickly fall in love with this cute little truck. Whip one up yourself by following along with the details given at Live.Craft.Love.
23. Twine Balls – Rustic Ornaments
Check outLove Grows Wildfor all the know-how behind these classic twine balls. These are a must-have for any rustic or farmhouse-inspired Christmas decor. Snag the tutorial after the jump.
24. Twig Trees – Christmas Decoration Idea
Here’s another ornament you can whip up using some trees from the yard. Life as Mama will give you all the details but all you really need is a glue gun and a ribbon or button to finish it off!
25. Mason Jar Ornaments – Country Christmas Decorations
Simply Cianihas all the details behind these charming mason jar ornaments. Set the scene of the winter within one of the jars. We love the bottle brush tree additions.
Best Rustic Christmas Ornaments: Closing Thoughts
This concludes our extensive list of the 25 best rustic Christmas ornaments, that you can use to decorate your house in the next holiday season!
We hope that our article has served its purpose and has given you more than enough inspiration to get started on making your very own Christmas decor and don’t forget that a rustic look is one that’s always in fashion, and making your own decorations is an excellent way of saving some extra money.
For more amazing lists and guides like the one above, check out our other Christmas-themed articles, since we’ve covered pretty much everything, from dessert recipes to lists of gifts that you could gift to your teachers!
More so, you can be a part of the DIY community by leaving use some other rustic Christmas decoration ideas in the comments section below, and we’ll be sure to update this list accordingly!
Merry Christmas and have fun making your decorations!