It’s time to bring Christmas into your home! This Christmas birds DIY is a fun and simple holiday project. You can easily make these ornaments yourself, out of wrapping paper and ribbon.
A traditional, green tree decorated with lights, garlands and baubles is a must-have for me, but I also like a simple tree branch with a few ornaments. I love nature-inspired Christmas decorations. Wintry branches are beautiful on their own and easy to arrange in a tall, glass vase. They are even more festive when you decorate them. These Christmas birds are easy to make, a fun holiday project you can do with, or without, your kids.
I like birds, and because branches and birds go together like bread and butter, I made some simple, paper birds. You can easily make them yourself, out of paper and ribbon. I used wrapping paper, but you can
Christmas birds DIY nececities
For these Christmas birds you will need:
- Bird template
- Wrapping paper
- Ribbon of your choice
I used old-fashioned, brown wrapping paper with a glitter star design. I really like the contrast of the plain kraft paper and the silver stars. Christmas ribbon is available in traditional colours, red, green, gold and silver. I chose the silver ribbon but you could go with any colour you desire.
Instructions
- Start by cutting out the bird template.
- Trace around it on the wrong side of the wrapping paper and cut out as many birds as you need.
- Flip the template over and trace the reverse side to create the other side of the birds. Make sure you have the same number of each side.
- Put the wrong sides of the bird together. Cut off a piece of ribbon, fold it in half and place it in between the two birds.
- Glue the two sides together with the ribbon glued in between and that’s it.
Find some nice, sturdy branches. We have many magnolia trees in our neighbourhood, some very old and impressive. I was lucky enough to pass by one of these magnolias as they were pruning the tree. I took home some branches, with flower buds already formed, hoping to force them into flowering. The soft, grey buds go well with the silver ribbon and glitter stars. Place the branches in a simple vase or a few glass bottles. Decorate the branches with the birds, small feathers or pinecones.
I too love using the beauty of nature. The tree and decorations look fabulous.
Thank you, Elisha! I am very inspired by nature and always looking for nice tree branches to bring into the house. How are you getting on with your Christmas decorating?
Beautiful idea, Pauline. And those branches are so lovely. Will they flower do you think? They look so pretty just as they are x
You never know if they will flower. A few years back we bought some magnolia branches for our church, not one of them bloomed. We ended up making paper flowers to attach to the branches. And asking our money back from the florist, of course.
Pretty birds Pauline! I really should give this a try as I have many kraft scrapbook product birds that would serve perfectly for the template. I haven’t even started my Christmas decorating yet – I like to wait until school is out, which will be this Friday.
Thanks, June, let me know if you get around to making them, I’d love to see the result. Have fun decorating!
How lucky you ran into those magnolia branches, they cost a fortune in the flower shop. Those cute bird decorations make them even prettier!
Thank you, Anna! And to think the branches would otherwise just have been removed.