10 Paper Christmas Decorations To DIY This Festive Season
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Cut and fold your way to a sustainable Christmas with these 10 eco-friendly paper decorations that you can make for your home.
If you’re looking for an eco-friendly way to decorate your home this Christmas, why not try making some beautiful decorations made from paper?
As well as being a cosy way to spend a winter’s evening, it’s a fun way to get your home ready for the festive season without having to buy any plastic decorations. After all, at Christmas, we generate 30% more waste than at any other time of the year, so it’s great to reduce waste where we can.
If you’re not sure where to start, then I’ve gathered lots of easy and creative ideas for you to craft at home, using items you probably already have around your home.
The Paper Decorations To Make This Christmas
I’ve scoured the internet for some of the best sustainable Christmas decorations made from paper. I’ve found 10 great DIYs for you, that look easy to make. Just get rummaging through your paper and cardboard recycling bin, and let’s get started!
Paper Doily Snowflakes
The Woodlark blog has an incredibly easy guide on how to make these beautiful paper doily snowflakes. All you need are some paper doilies and some glue. And the best bit is that no cutting is required. There are just some basic folds that are laid out step-by-step, plus there’s a handy video in case you get stuck.
After Christmas, these can be stored flat for future use or composted if you use natural glue.
Upcycled Wallpaper Baubles
If you’ve got any wallpaper samples or leftover bits of wallpaper in your stash, then The Grit & Polish blog has a great festive idea to give them a new life. This paper bauble DIY uses those ends of wallpaper to make these beautiful Christmas tree decorations.
If you don’t have any wallpaper to hand, there’s no need to miss out. You could use heavy craft paper, wrapping paper, or magazine covers instead.
Concertina Star Decorations
Eva Nemeth has a beautiful guide to making these lovely concertina star decorations. You can use any type of paper, and all it takes is a little bit of folding and sticking to create these mini masterpieces. This is on my list of winter makes for this year, for sure!
Recycled Paper Snowflakes
These recycled paper snowflakes by Fall For DIY are a great way to reuse any packaging paper that comes your way. All it takes is a few concertina folds and a few snips to make the snowflake shapes, and you’ve got something stunning and zero-waste for your Christmas tree.
Paper Pinecone
Surprisingly, these paper pinecone Christmas decorations from Brukets Kreativa are made entirely from pages of an old book. It’s a great way of recycling an old book that’s falling apart, and they look so pretty grouped in clusters.
The tutorial is in Swedish, BUT Google Translate does a solid job of translating the text into English. There are also heaps of detailed photos showing you exactly what you need to do at each step of the construction process. I’m not very skilled at the art of origami, but Brukets Kreativa makes this look easy.
Paper Fan Decorations
These stunning paper fan decorations by Dossier are another fun make this Christmas. Make them using any scrap paper you have. The only extras you need are some wooden beads and string. The Dossier blog has the full DIY for you to follow to decorate your tree with the planet in mind.
Paper Baubles
If you’re aiming for a minimalist look this Christmas, try this paper bauble DIY from Nomita at Your DIY Family. Nomita has used printer paper to make these, but you could recycle any type of paper. There are full step-by-step instructions, or you can watch the video in case you get stuck.
Paper Star Garland
Michael at the blog Inspired Charm has an easy DIY to make this festive paper star garland. You can use pages from old books that are falling to bits, old sheet music, or pages from magazines or other paper in your recycling bin – basically anything you’ve got lying around.
The garland comes together really easily – making it perfect for crafting beginners or kids. Plus it looks great – whether you’re decorating your tree, your mantlepiece or adding an extra special touch to your gift wrapping.
Swedish Paper Stars
Gwen W. Steege, author of the book The Weaving Explorer has a fun DIY guide to making Swedish paper stars. You can use any type of paper – including newspaper, brown craft paper, old maps, sheet music, or pages from used books – for stunning effect.
All you need to do is cut your paper into strips, before following Gwen’s step-by-step instructions for weaving the paper. I especially love that even the loop for hanging it on your Christmas tree is made from paper!
Origami Paper Star Decoration
Finally, this five-pointed origami paper star decoration from It’s Always Autumn takes just minutes to make (once you’ve mastered the folds!). Plus it doesn’t require any glue, so is fully compostable when you’re done with it.
Hang them on your tree, make a pretty garland, or use them as gift tags. The choice is yours!
Other Eco-Friendly Things To Make This Christmas
Got the eco-crafting bug? Here are lots more other sustainable decorations to make this Christmas:
- Christmas decorations to make from cardboard
- The zero-waste decorations to make this festive season
- How to make homemade clay for decorations
- How to dry orange slices
- How to make a popcorn garland
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