Need some easy ornament crafts to entertain your kids? These 7 DIY popsicle stick ornaments are the perfect holiday craft.
I love making Christmas ornaments, and this year was no different. I wanted a quick win, one that was so easy, kids could do it too!
I came up with these seven popsicle stick ornaments! The best part: If you’re doing them in a group, everyone can pick their favorite ornament, and still have something unique!
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Materials
- Popsicle Sticks – Popsicle sticks come in three sizes, mini, normal and jumbo. I grabbed these normal sized ones from Amazon. When I wanted smaller pieces, I just cut the sticks with wire cutters, but you could also purchase some mini-sized sticks if you want to avoid that.
- Acrylic Paint
- Wood Glue – Elmer’s glue works too!
- Twine – For hanging
- (Optional) Wire Cutters – For trimming the popsicle sticks. Alternatively, you could purchase some mini-sized sticks so you don’t have to deal with this part.
- (Optional) Staple Gun – For attaching the twine to the ornament. Hot glue works too!
- (Optional) Googly Eyes – I had some googly eyes around, so I used them, but you could also paint the eyes onto your ornaments.
- (Optional) Paint Pens – Normal paint and a steady hand works too!
Ornament 1: A Simple Snowman
Step 1: Paint Popsicle Sticks
Start by painting four popsicle sticks white and three popsicle sticks black.
Step 2: Glue Popsicle Sticks
Once the paint is dry, arrange the four white sticks side by side.
Then cut the black sticks to size, and glue them to the top of the snowman in the shape of a hat.
Step 3: Draw Face
Once the glue has dried, draw a face onto the snowman using paint, paint pens, or googly eyes.
Ornament 2: Simple Snowflake
Step 1: Paint Popsicle Sticks
Paint four popsicle sticks white
Step 2: Glue popsicle sticks
Glue the popsicle sticks in an alternating pattern.
Ornament 3: Christmas Tree
Step 1: Paint Popsicle Sticks
Paint four popsicle sticks green and two popsicle sticks either black or brown. I painted mine black, but I actually think it would’ve looked better if I’d done brown.
Step 2: Cut Green Sticks
From the four green sticks, cut five pieces that get progressively smaller. Distribute them evenly along the two black/brown pieces.
Step 3: Glue
Glue the green pieces onto the black/brown base with wood glue.
Ornament 4: Penguin
Step 1: Prep Popsicle Sticks
Paint five popsicle sticks black, then trim them to make a rectangular shape.
Step 2: Glue
Glue two small/trimmed popsicle sticks to the back of the five black sticks in order to attach the black sticks together.
Step 3: Paint Face
Paint a white half-oval on the front of the penguin. I drew an outline in pencil first to make sure it looked right.
Once the white oval is dry, paint two orange feet and an orange beak. Once again, I sketched this in pencil first.
Finally, add googly eyes, or paint eyes onto the penguin.
Ornament 5: Rudolph the Reindeer
Step 1: Paint Popsicle Sticks
Paint nine popsicle sticks brown, and one popsicle stick red.
Step 2: Cut Sticks to Size
Once the paint is dry, line seven of the brown sticks up next to each other. Then draw a triangle on the sticks in pencil. I used two popsicle sticks to make this shape.
Grab the wire cutters, and cut each stick at an angle, at the pencil mark.
Once the brown pieces are cut, arrange the triangle shape and add the other brown sticks on either side as a frame.
Estimate the length the nose pieces should be, and cut the two nose pieces from the red popsicle stick.
Step 3: Glue
Glue the two full sized brown sticks onto the triangle sticks. Then glue the two red nose pieces at the bottom of the triangle.
Step 4: Add Eyes
I used googly eyes for Rudolph’s face, but paint works too!
Ornament 6: Candy Cane
Step 1: Prep Sticks
Paint one popsicle stick red and three popsicle sticks whites. Cut the red stick and one of the white sticks into one-inch pieces.
Step 2: Glue Popsicle Sticks
You know the traditional method to make a “house” with popsicle sticks, by alternating the sticks to build the walls?
That’s the method you’ll use here. Place a small red piece between the two normal-sized white popsicle sticks. Continue this strategy to make a candy cane shape.
Optional Step 3: Finishing Touches
I didn’t do this, but if you wanted your candy cane to be a bit more traditional, you could paint some red strips onto the long white strips!
Ornament 7: Sled
Step 1: Prep Popsicle Sticks
Paint four popsicle sticks red, and three popsicle sticks black.
Cut one of the black popsicle sticks into two smaller pieces that are slightly longer than the the width of four sticks together.
Step 2: Glue Sticks
Glue the short black pieces to the back of the four red pieces.
Once that glue has dried, glue the remaining two black popsicle sticks to the short black pieces on the back.
Tips and Tricks
Cutting the popsicle sticks
I used wire cutters to cut the popsicle sticks by clamping the stick in the wire cutters, then bending the stick with my hand. It tended to snap right where I’d clamped it.
Hanging the Ornaments
I used a staple gun, but this requires two layers of popsicle sticks so that my staple didn’t poke through the front. Plus, the force of the staple often would break some of my not-totally-dry glue joints.
Instead, I recommend attaching the twine with a hot glue gun.
Still Confused? Check out the video!
There’s a video of me making all seven of the ornaments over on Youtube. Go check it out!
Final Thoughts
These were easy to make, and are perfect when you’re looking for a craft for a group!
I love how they turned out, and the homey touch they add to the tree!
If you like them too, be sure to save this post to Pinterest so you can find it again later! And if you’re still looking for DIY ornaments, check out these super cute DIY Snowman Ornaments!
