Paper Christmas decorations are trending – and you can easily make them for free with these 3 hacks

Decorating your home for Christmas is one of the most fun parts of the run-up to the holidays. And the best part is that really no rules apply. Especially if you decide to get creative and make your own, putting your own personal stamp on your Christmas decor. But whether you want to save on materials or are in a pinch for time, these DIY paper Christmas decorations crafted from everyday kitchen items are both cute and easy to make.

DIY Christmas decor ideas are not only a great way to save money on your seasonal decorations, it’s also a great opportunity to immerse yourself in an artistic project and get the whole family involved for some quality time spent together. Not to mention the eco-friendly factor.

And this couldn’t be more true than when using something already hiding in your kitchen cupboard like cupcake cases or coffee filters. As that’s exactly what these decorating hacks are made with, mimicking one of the biggest Christmas tree trends of this year, which is paper decor.

3 easy DIY paper Christmas decorations

These clever hacks populating the likes of Instagram and TikTok might be some of the best budget Christmas decorating ideas we’ve come across this festive season. Because let’s face it, we’re now fully in it.

‘Christmas is the perfect time to get creative with your decor, and what better way to do so than try your hand at DIY? It’s such a great way to add meaning and a more personal touch to your decorations,’ says Rachel Miles, head of home and garden at eBay UK. ‘You can get the whole family involved and create memories to look back on.’

So let’s get our essentials ready and dive right in.

What you’ll need

• Glue like this one at Amazon
• Paper doilies like these ones from Amazon
• Cupcake cases like these ones from Amazon
• Coffee filters like these ones from Amazon

1. Paper doilies

Usually a buffet go-to, paper doilies are an inexpensive material to turn into snowflake or star-shaped Christmas decorations much like Bethany Joy of @realitydaydream has done, sharing a step-by-step guide in her Instagram reel.

‘I love doing holiday crafts with my kiddos, and it’s extra special when it’s cute enough to use as actual Christmas decor,’ she says.

And cute enough it sure is. Not to mention easy. Just fold your doilies, glue them together and fan them out. And voila!

2. Cupcake cases

As we go through these, you might start noticing a trend or a pattern of similar techniques and material being used for each one. But all of them have a slightly different look due to the variously shaped starting material. A paper doily snowflake, for example, will look quite different from a cupcake case bauble a la @jennas_living on Instagram. 

And yet, both use the same method of glueing each case in the middle before glueing them together and fanning them out again. Even though Jenna uses a glue gun in her reel, that is not necessarily needed and you can use the same paper glue as for the other hacks. These are also great to make some of the best Christmas garlands with.

3. Coffee filters

Making Christmas ornaments out of coffee filters again involves almost the same process as making them from cupcake cases. But we’re obsessed with the earthy brown colour that coffee filters usually come in, perfect for a Scandi Christmas look as shown by @letter.poetry on TikTok. However, if you’re not a fan of it, there’s always the option of painting them any colour you like. And that goes for the other two as well.

@letter.poetry

♬ Originalton - Jana❤️

So are these hacks genius or what?!