24 Oct Rustic Ribbon Tree Ornaments

You’ll be dreaming of a winter wonderland with this week’s project! We’re transforming simple wood ornaments into charming little holiday scenes…complete with snowy details, 3-D ribbon trees, and a cozy handmade touch that feels straight out of a Christmas fairy tale. Each one feels rustic and warm, like something you’d find at a holiday market.

This simple DIY is quick, creative, and the perfect way to add a personal touch to your Christmas décor (especially with that cute paw-print bow on top!).

You’ll need…

• 3.5 inch unfinished wood ornaments
• Brown or blue acrylic paint and brush
• White chalk paint and brush
• ⅜ inch green buffalo check ribbon in shades of moss, emerald, or Christmas green
• ¼ inch satin dog ribbon
• Fabric glue or hot glue gun and sticks
• Small wood branch
• Fabric glue or hot glue gun and sticks
• Scissors

1. Paint the front side of your ornament in a thin layer of either brown or blue. Rub off any excess paint so the wood grain shows through.
2. Dip the bottom end of a paintbrush into white paint and use this to make white dots all over the surface of your ornament. This should look like snowfall, so the dots shouldn’t be evenly spaced out or uniform in size. The more you vary them up, the more natural your scene will look.
3. Using the brush end of your paintbrush, paint the bottom ¼ of the ornament in white to look like a simply snowy landscape. Let everything dry.
4. Time to make the tree! Cut 21 strips of ribbon that are about 3 inches long. You’ll be starting at the base of the tree (about a ½ inch from the bottom of the ornament) and work your way up in layers of six ribbons, then five, then four, then three, two, and one.
5. Fold your first ribbon in half to make a pointy loop, and glue the loop down along the base of your tree. Fold your second ribbon, making a pointy loop, and glue it next to the first one. Each time making sure the ends of the ribbon point toward the top and center of the ornament.
6. Continue folding and gluing down pointy loops until you have six ribbons in a row. Create the next row by folding and gluing 5 loops above the bottom row.
7. Fold and glue a row of 4 loops, a row of 3 loops, then 2 loops. As you work your way up the tree, you may need to trim the ends of the ribbon to help make your triangular tree shape.  Then top off your rustic holiday pine with a single loop.
8. Break off a small twig that’s about an inch long and glue it under the bottom of your tree to make a trunk.
9. Adhere a cute tiny bow to the top of your tree.
10. Use a piece of twine to make a hanger on the top and enjoy!

There’s something so special about crafting ornaments by hand and these DIY rustic ribbon trees capture that cozy, heartfelt holiday feeling perfectly. Make one for yourself and a few more for gifting. They’re too cute to keep all to yourself!

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