DIY Beaded Christmas Ornaments
These beaded Christmas ornaments are such a classic Christmas craft and they’re SO EASY to make! All you need are pipe cleaners and a variety of beads. We used mostly tri-beads, but most coloured beads will work.
Follow our step by step tutorial below to make a wreath, a candy cane, and a snowflake! These kid-friendly beaded ornaments are great for home or school and they look great hanging on the Christmas tree!
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DIY Beaded Christmas Ornaments
Materials:
- Pipe cleaners(green and white)
- Faceted beads(8mm; red and clear)
- Tri-beads(green, red, white, and blue)
- Red bow
- Twine
- Bicone beads(6mm; clear)
- Sunburst beads(18mm; clear)
Equipment:
- Wire cutters(or scissors)
Instructions:
Find what you need:
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Make a beaded wreath ornament:
- Add a faceted red bead to a 12 inch green pipe cleaner. Leave 1 inch of space at the end.
- Add a green tri-bead next to the red bead.
- Add 7 more green tri-beads to the pipe cleaner, for a total of 8.Nestle these beads together, so that one of the “arms” goes into the empty space of the previous bead. They should almost snap together.
- Repeat the pattern, adding another red faceted bead, followed by 8 green tri-beads.
- Repeat this pattern 4 more times, or until the beaded part is approximately 8 to 9 inches long.
- Bend the pipe cleaner into a circle and fold the pipe cleaner ends down over each other.
- Twist the pipe cleaners until the circle is secure. Then cut off any extra pipe cleaner.
- Add a dot of hot glue to where the pipe cleaners are connected.
- Attach a ribbon bow into the glue.
- Tie an 8 inch piece of twine around the ornament and then tuck it behind the bow.
- Your wreath Christmas ornament is complete!
Make a tri-bead candy cane ornament:
- Start by bending about 1/4 inch of the end of a 12 inch white pipe cleaner. Twist this end into a bit of a “knot” so that the beads can’t pop off the end of the pipe cleaner. You can use needle nose pliers to make this easier.
- Add 2 red tri-beads to the pipe cleaner, pushing them to the twisted bottom of the pipe cleaner. Follow this with 5 white tri-beads.Repeat this pattern 5 more times, and then finish with another 2 red beads.
- Gently bend the pipe cleaner into a candy cane shape with a hook. (Or an upside down “J” shape).
- Leave about 1/2 inch of pipe cleaner past the beads and cut off the rest.
- Twist the pipe cleaner and push it down, creating the same “knot” as you did at the beginning of the candy cane.
- Cut an 8 inch piece of twine and add an ornament hanger to the candy cane.To fully secure the hanger you may want to tie the center of the twine around the top of the candy cane, and then tie the ends into a knot.Your candy cane beaded Christmas ornament is complete!
Make a beaded snowflake ornament:
- Cut a 12 inch white pipe cleaner into 3 equal parts (4 inches each).
- Line up the pipe cleaners and twist the middle of them together until they’re connected.
- Spread out the ends of the pipe cleaner so there’s an even amount of space between them, creating a star shape.
- Add beads to one of the pipe cleaners in the following order: 1 clear faceted bead, 3 blue tri-beads, 1 clear bicone bead, 3 blue tri-beads, and 1 clear sunburst bead. (Links to these beads can be found in the supplies list above).
- Twist the end of the pipe cleaner over to keep the beads in place.
- Repeat, filling the rest of the pipe cleaners with the bead pattern.
- Cut a 6 inch piece of twine and tie it into an ornament hanger. Add it onto the back of the ornament with hot glue.
- Your snowflake beaded ornament is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Try to use at least 2 different types or colours of beads on each ornament to give your ornament texture and/or colour.
- The bigger the beads you use, the more difficult it will be to create small or detailed shapes.
What type of beads are used for these beaded Christmas ornaments?
We mostly used tri-beads in fun Christmas colours for our ornaments. These beads have 3 “arms” that interlock when the beads are placed together.
One of the other bead types we used on our wreath and snowflake ornaments is round faceted beads. Facets are the many flat areas on the bead, which helps them catch the light.
We also used small bicone beads on the snowflake, which look like two cones connected at the base. These beads are also faceted. Finally, we used sunburst beads on the ends of the snowflake, which are beads shaped like a sun or star, with 6 flat edges.
How many beads do I need for bead Christmas ornaments?
The amount and type of beads needed for each ornament varies. You don’t have to follow our exact patterns, but if you do, here’s the precise number of beads you’ll need per ornament:
- Wreath: 6 red faceted beads and 48 green tri-beads
- Candy Cane: 14 red tri-beads and 30 white tri-beads
- Snowflake: 6 clear faceted beads, 36 light blue tri-beads, 6 bicone beads, and 6 sunburst beads
Do I have to use pipe cleaners to make these beaded Christmas ornaments?
Pipe cleaners make these beaded Christmas ornaments a really kid friendly craft, but you can also use jewelry wire.
If you’re going to use wire, we recommend using a 20 gauge wire to make these DIY ornaments. This wire should be strong enough to keep the ornament’s shape, while being thin enough that the beads will fit on it.
What other beaded ornament shapes can I make?
We love the classic Christmas shapes that we made for this tutorial, but there are a ton of others that you can make!
Icicle ornaments are really easy to make. You can use clear and blue beads, or you can even make multi-colored icicles. Leave the pipe cleaner straight and allow different sizes and shapes of beads to give the icicle dimension, or create a spiral with the beaded pipe cleaner.
You can also make a star, gingerbread man, angel, or Christmas tree. Or bend several pieces of pipe cleaner into a 3D ball ornament shape.
For some of the more detailed ornaments you may want to use wire instead of pipe cleaner, since it will hold its shape better.
It’s so much fun to make these beaded Christmas ornaments! Use your favourite type of beads in your favourite colours to create these super pretty and easy holiday ornaments.
Here’s even more fun Christmas craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
