Vintage beaded Christmas ornaments can add old-fashioned Christmas decor charm plus a little glitz to your Christmas tree, and the beads come in a dizzying array of colors, styles, textures, shapes and sizes. You may already have some at home, and you can find them online and in holiday shops.
If you want to do something extraordinary, though, you can find beaded ornament patterns to follow for a fun DIY Christmas tree ornament project. These handcrafted ornaments are not that hard to make and can be a fun Christmas craft for you or your family and friends.
Video of the Day
Video of the Day
Beaded ornament patterns
If you search online, you'll find a long list of beaded ornament patterns to peruse, and some are surprisingly easy to make. One popular version is a beaded snowflake made with small white or silver beads or clear glass beads that look lovely when the light reflects on the ornament. Some of the other super-easy ones are a mini beaded Christmas wreath that you can hang from a ribbon hanger, a wire star ornament, and a wreath with a little dove "floating" in the middle.
Another popular vintage Christmas ornament design is the beaded net ornament, which is almost like a little beaded "jacket" that you slip over round ornaments. Other options feature the entire ornament wholly covered in rhinestones or beads, which is glam and beautiful. If you haven't made any of these, you can find vintage beaded ornament kits online. These will have all the supplies you need plus instructions to make them, including ways to make a range of similar ornaments, such as bell ornaments and glass Christmas ornaments. Look for kits that make more than one ornament if you plan to make them with someone else.
Tip
Decorate the ornaments in a variety of ways by adding a range of baubles or tassels or make a sequin beaded ornament.
The instructions for a vintage beaded ornament will vary depending on which ornament you choose to make, so it isn't possible to provide generic instructions for all such decorations. However, you generally will need white thread or clear fishing line, beads and a needle. You will string the beads onto the thread or fishing line in a specific order depending on the pattern you are following.
Vintage beaded Christmas ornament kits
Some retailers sell vintage ornament kits at various price points and skill levels. You can find a Christmas candy cane ornament kit that includes all the thread and needles you need, plus accessories. After you use all the supplies, you can keep the pattern and purchase more supplies.
Tip
Other places sell kits that include supplies and instructions for making the beaded ornaments. You can find kits that feature birthstone angels, beaded lanterns and beaded wreaths or wreath ornaments.
If you prefer to use a Christmas ornament pattern with your own beads, there are many vintage ones that you can use. You can follow some easy-to-understand tutorials online for sparkly beaded ornaments that include charts and diagrams in the instructions. All of these online patterns also include information about how many and what kinds of beads are needed. Make sure you have the pattern with you when ordering them.
Making beaded Christmas ornaments without a pattern
You can also search for free vintage beaded ornament instructions that do not use patterns. Video tutorials online can teach you how to make a beaded net ornament that is easy enough for beginners. You can also find some tutorials that show you how to create a beautiful beaded net made with Swarovski crystals.
If you prefer to use written instructions, you can find many books from various sellers that offer beginning guides to beaded ornaments. Books like this can be better for novices because they teach about beading basics in the early chapters.