Add a Scandinavian look to your Christmas tree this year with these DIY wood bead ornaments. They are an inexpensive and fun way to add some charm to your tree.
It’s that time of year… Christmas is here! Yay!! I can’t wait to share all my Christmas crafts and decorations with you. I will be starting with some homemade ornaments. These DIY wood bead ornaments are simple to make and they won’t cost you an arm and a leg like specialty ornaments in the stores! Sounds like a win-win situation to me! 🙂
How to make DIY wood bead ornaments
It’s your lucky day because I will be showing how to make not one but two wood bead Christmas ornaments! Soon you will know how to easily make these wood bead star and snowflake ornaments. These DIY ornaments are similar to the wooden bead Christmas tree ornaments I made several years ago so check that tutorial out as well for some more inspiration!
These ornaments are perfect for a rustic Christmas tree and for the minimalist Scandinavian tree style that is so popular right now.
If you are not partial to the wood color, you could also paint the wood beads to match your Christmas decor like I did with my Christmas tree ornaments.
Supplies for a wooden bead star Christmas ornament
*There are links to products in this post that I use or are similar to products I use. If you buy something from one of these links, I may make a small commission (with no additional cost to you) from the purchase. I will not recommend anything that I would not buy myself.
- Wood Beads (16mm) or size of your choice – mine are from a wood bead garland I bought at Walmart. I just cut part of the garland off. 🙂
- Embroidery Thread of matching color to your beads
- Embroidery Needle
- Hemp Cord
- Scissors
How to make a wood bead star ornament
Don’t want to read all the instructions? I have included a video below, showing you how to bead a star ornament. If you can’t see the video, turn off your ad blocker. If you want more detailed instructions, continue reading.
Cut the embroidery thread to a length of 40 inches.
String 10 beads onto the embroidery floss. Move them all the way to the end leaving a tail of about 4 inches.
Keeping the thread tight, tie the beads into a circle using a square knot. Trim off the excess end of the embroidery thread.
Beading the second row of the star ornament
String two beads on the embroidery thread. Skip over one bead from the starting point and run the thread through the next bead. Pull the thread all the way through until the beads fit tightly against the first row.
Continue with this same pattern until you have five groups of two beads in the second row. However on the last bead group, run the thread through two beads instead of one. These two beads consist of the last of the first row and the first bead of the first group of two in the second row.
You will be left with the first and second rows completed like this picture below.
Making the points of the star
To make each point of the star, string on one wood bead and run the embroidery thread back down through the first two beads. Then run the embroidery thread up the adjacent bead to get back out to the top to form the next point.
Continue on with this pattern until all the points are completed.
To speed things up, you can go through all three beads at once.
Once you have all the points completed, tie off the embroidery thread. Bring your needle under the star and back through the loop that is created. Pull tight to secure the knot. Repeat this step 3 times.
Add hemp cord for hanging
Cut a 6-7 inch length of hemp cord to use to hang the ornament from. String the cord through one of the point beads and knot it.
Supplies for a wooden bead snowflake Christmas ornament
*There are links to products in this post that I use or are similar to products I use. If you buy something from one of these links, I may make a small commission (with no additional cost to you) from the purchase. I will not recommend anything that I would not buy myself.
How to make a wood bead snowflake ornament
Don’t want to read all the instructions? I have included a video below, showing you how to bead a snowflake ornament. If you can’t see the video, turn off your ad blocker. If you want more detailed instructions, continue reading.
Cut the wire to a length of 48 inches. Pull out 6 beads and string them on the wire.
Move the beads all the way to the end of the wire leaving a 4 inch tail. Bring the tail back up through the first bead and pull tight to form a circle.
Making the first arm of the snowflake
For the whole snowflake, your working end will be the long end of the wire. However, every once in a while it is good to pull tight on the short end to secure the whole snowflake. Using the long end of wire, string on 5 wood beads. Bring the end of the wire back down through the second bead and pull it until it is tight. One tip when working with the wire is to try not to let it kink. You can achieve this by keeping your fingers in the loop until it is tight against the bead. Also make sure the wire does not get twisted.
Next, string on two beads and run the wire through the 5th bead on the “arm”. Essentially you will skip two beads and go through the next one. Pull the wire tight and run the wire through the next wood bead on the circle to make the next snowflake arm.
You will repeat the process above until you have six arms. Here is the snowflake with three arms.
One way to speed up the process is after you run the wire through the first bead and pull tight, you can do the next two steps before pulling the wire tight. String on the two beads and run the wire through 5th bead and the next bead of the circle at the same time. Now pull everything tight. This saves you a step and thus saves some time. 🙂
Finishing the DIY wood bead ornament
After you finish all six arms, you will be left with two pieces of wire sticking out at the starting point.
Twist these two wires together tightly and cut with a pair of wire cutters. Using the wire cutters (or your fingernail), tuck the small twisted tail up into an adjacent wood bead.
Add hemp cord for hanging
Cut a 6-7 inch length of hemp cord to use to hang the ornament from. String the cord through one of the end beads on an arm of the snowflake. You may need to turn a bead sideways in order to do this. Knot the hemp cord and your snowflake ornament is ready for hanging!
Lots of ways to use your DIY wood bead ornaments
All that is left is to hang your wooden bead ornaments on the tree. Alternatively you could use them in lots of other ways, such as gift toppers, place settings in a tablescape, adorning a garland or wreath, or even just hanging on the wall.
I had so much fun making these ornaments that I did not stop there. 🙂 I will be back soon to share more DIY ornaments. Chat soon!
Hello! I am so glad you came to visit my site today. I hope you can take something from here to inspire you or just make you smile.
THANK you so much for written instructions with photos!!! I like a video but easier for me to see it step by step. Thanks !!!!!!
You are welcome Barbara! I am so glad it is helpful! 🙂
I would like to know what the width of the wooden star is?
Hello! I don’t have them handy at the moment to measure, but I am guessing they are about 3 inches in width. Hope this helps!
Could you possibly go any faster on the video! 🙁
Hi Lori! LOL! I know it is fast but if you ever want to slow down the video, just click on the three dots in the lower right hand corner of the video and you can change the playback speed. Hope this helps!
Can you use embroidery floss on the snowflakes, or does it need the wire to keep its shape? Just prepping for an ornament making party, and want to know if I can simplify…
Hi Laurel! The wire definitely helps to keep the shape of the snowflakes. I am sure you could do it with embroidery floss but they would be much more floppy. 🙂 Have fun at your party, sounds like a blast!