Primitive Christmas Ornaments: Why Don’t You Make Your Own This Year?

Photo of author
Written By Michael

I love gardening, building, making and fixing things. 

 

 

 

 

In this article, you’ll learn how to make your own primitive Christmas ornaments. Here we’ll give you a few ideas on how to do it.

Introduction

primitive Christmas ornaments
primitive Christmas ornaments

Christmas is a time of joy and celebration. It’s also the season for giving, so we want to share with you some ideas on how to make primitive Christmas ornaments that are perfect gifts! We have included instructions for making three different types: pine cones, acorns, and holly berries. All these projects can be made using simple materials like wire, beads, feathers, yarn, etc., but they will look very special when finished. You may use them as decorations in your home during this holiday season, or give them away as presents. They would make great additions to any collection of handmade items.

Being from Pennsylvania, the history there is old and very full, and I loved learning about it. When I moved to Nebraska, one of the things that fascinated me there as well was the rich history that was part of the area by way of the pioneers. The history of this area is not as rich as that of other places but its full and interesting.

Part of that history was learning about the pioneer Christmas, and the way it was celebrated. In pioneer homes the families cut their trees fresh, and a times it was a real trip to find one, particularly on the prairies.

Christmas trees were decorated with traditional Christmas decorations. Christmas trees were in fact decorated with ornaments as primitive as their lifestyles. Things such as scraps of cloth, empty thread spools, stray buttons and small sewn stockings, gave them very simple, primitive but still charming accents. Some of them, were created by little children, using stitches that were slow and deliberate, and showed the childish crafting of the children of the time.

A Christmas tree in pioneer times was a luxury, and gifts beneath it, were even more of a luxury, sometimes nothing more than a stick of candy or a penny to buy some at the next town.

You definitely want your Christmas dinner to look as good as your primitive Christmas ornaments. You definitely want your Christmas dinner to look as good as your primitive Christmas ornaments. To decorate the trees, popcorn, being relatively inexpensive, or grown, was strung for garland, while cranberries, fairly rare and expensive, were not used for decorations, but rather to eat with the Christmas dinner

Small stockings such as these shown below were made of remnants of fabric, and backed by a bit of wool from an old coat or rug.

Round penny like fabric pieces were added and blanket stitched around, with a button or two added.
I found these primitive Christmas ornaments about ten years ago in a cross stitch book and have saved the patterns since, because they were great ideas for some primitive Christmas ornaments for your country or primitive decorating theme

These are easy and super fast to stitch and with a bit of imagination you can adapt them to make exactly the primitive christmas ornaments that you’d like to have.

Pine Cone Christmas Ornament Instructions Materials Needed:

Wire, Pine Cones, Beads, Yarn, Feathers, Glue, Acrylic Paint, Pencil, Scissors

1) Cut two pieces of wire about 1/2 inch longer than desired length of ornament. Use pliers to bend one end into an “L” shape. This will help keep it from slipping off the cone once attached.

2) Wrap the wires around the base of the cone until all four sides are covered. The ends should overlap slightly at each side. If necessary, trim excess wire.

3) Using scissors, cut small slits along both edges of the top of the cone. These will allow air circulation inside the cone.

4) Attach bead, feather, or other embellishment by wrapping the item over the open area where the wire meets the cone.

5) Once complete, paint the entire piece if desired. Let dry completely before adding glue.

6) When ready to attach the ornament to a tree branch, wrap the bottom edge of the ornament with string. Tie knots every few inches to secure the ornament securely.

7) Repeat steps 2-6 for remaining pine cones.

Acorn Christmas Ornament Instructions

Materials Needed: Wire, Acorn, Beads, String, Glue, Acryclic Paint, Pencil,Scissors

1) Bend wire into an “S” shape. Trim excess wire.

2) Place wire through center hole of acorn. Twist wire tightly around acorn several times. Continue twisting until all 4 sides of acorn are wrapped.

3) Remove wire from acorn. Add bead, feather, or another decoration by wrapping it over the opening created by removing the wire.

4) Securely tie knot at the backside of the acorn.

Holly Berry Christmas Ornament Instructions

Materials needed: Wire, Holly Berries, Beads, Thread, Glue, Acetate Spray, Pencil, Scissors, Acrylic Paint

1) Fold wire in half. Insert folded portion of wire into center of berry. Twist wire tightly around berry several times. Continue twisting wire until all 4 sides of berry are wrapped.

2) Remove wire from berry. Add bead, feather or other decoration by wrapping it over opening created by removal of wire.

3) Securely tie knot behind berry.

In summary, there are many ways to create beautiful primitive ornaments. Try out new techniques and experiment with various materials. Have fun creating unique designs and enjoy sharing them with family and friends. Happy crafting!

Here’s a link to another method