A Very Felt Christmas

Christmas is really the time when felt fabric gets to shine. It's cozy, crafty and affordable and can be transformed in so many festive ways! Want to add some retro flair to your holiday this year? Buy a pink or silver tree and set it up with a '50s-inspired DIY felt tree skirt, or create felt Christmas ornaments that will become family keepsakes for years to come despite costing you practically nothing to make them.

From garlands to Advent calendars to hair accessories, handmade Christmas crafts made from felt are all over social media. (We'd say felt is having a moment, but let's be honest—this trusty fabric is always on-trend at the holidays.) Read on for a roundup of 10 ways to use felt to bring your coziest holiday vision to life this year!

You would expect someone with the TikTok handle @emmiesfeltstand to know how to make a ton of cute felt Christmas tree ornaments, and you would be right! Actually, her adorable felt wreaths ‌can‌ be used as tree decorations, but you could also hang your handcrafted wreaths from doorknobs, use them as holiday wall decor or stick them on wrapped Christmas gifts. (You're also going to want to watch Emmie's tutorial for the pine cones included in the wreath. It turns out that even pine cones are cute when they're made of felt.)

Why pay for a pricey store-bought garland when you can whip up a handmade felt holly garland in no time? TikToker @resacurbocreative's tutorial demonstrates a practically fool-proof method for creating your own festive winter garland. If you can cut holly leaves out of felt, you can handle this project. Maybe get ambitious and add some red felt berries?

If you can happily spend hours watching videos of people making miniatures, you're going to love this mini Christmas scene from @toymakingmagic's Instagram. Some things are just delightful when they're tiny! Making a miniature Christmas scene could be the perfect project if you have felt scraps left over from other craft projects, and it's a great way to decorate small spaces.

Having a cute tree skirt is very important. What would be the point of carefully wrapping all your presents just to set them up on a boring canvas? Dress up your tree with a vintage-inspired felt tree skirt like the one TikToker @capital.keepsakes made or personalize your tree skirt with felt cutouts of snowflakes and other Christmasy shapes. You could even use embroidery or cutout felt letters to spell out a holiday message or your family's last name. (Wouldn't a personalized, handmade tree skirt make a great Christmas gift for a newly married couple?)

Making your own felt mushroom ornaments could be pretty fun-gi this holiday season. (Sorry, we had to!) TikToker @hotpinkpineapples uses foam craft balls cut in half for the mushroom caps and packing peanuts for the stems with a layer of fuzzy felt covering everything. Use any colors you'd like for the mushroom caps, accented with spots cut out of white felt.

Feeling aspirational about your skills as a DIY crafter? You could try to figure out how fiber artist and Instagrammer @the.turquoise.leaf made this gorgeous felt poinsettia wreath and create your own version, or you could head straight to TheTurquoiseLeaf Etsy shop and buy some of her handmade felt holiday decor, like a gingerbread man, pompoms and peppermint garland.

You might see these minimalist miniature DIY felt trees described as Scandinavian-inspired on TikTok, and you can see why. There are no lights or glitter or decorations involved in the creation of these trees; they're made from just felt and hot glue with a dowel for a trunk. Using a thin wood slice as a base gives each tree a rustic touch!

Even if you don't want to add more candy canes to your holiday tree, check out @annelourayne's TikTok tutorial for felt candy cane ornaments stuffed with cotton. You can apply the same technique to make different shapes of holiday ornaments. A stuffed Santa, snowman, gingerbread house or heart ornament should be pretty simple to create from scratch.

Tuck a glam felt poinsettia clip in your hair and you're instantly holiday-party ready! This style, shared on Instagram by artisan @lunasgardenblooms, is equally appropriate for kids and grown-ups who are still kids at heart. Try making your own version or visit Luna's Garden Blooms to buy similar holiday headwear.

Finding a little treat in your Advent calendar makes every December day a little extra special. Keep that joy front and center by hanging a DIY felt Advent calendar as wall decor during the Christmas holiday season. The calendar @createdbykristakirky shared on TikTok is made with miniature felt Christmas stockings, but you could also make felt mittens or a variety of holiday shapes. As long as they have openings large enough for some good chocolate or other little treasures, any festive shape should work!