Besides the day itself, my favourite part of Christmas is the crafting. Every year I love to make some new upcycled Christmas ornaments for the tree.
There are no fancy colour schemes of matching baubles on my tree. Instead, it is a mismatch of quirky upcycled ornaments, many of which have a story to tell.
This makes it an interesting tree to look at. And often sparks conversation as people ask me about particular ornaments.
I’ve even personalized some of them too. By decoupaging them with maps of favourite places. Or by using personal objects such as loved ones old eyeglasses.
There is no need to visit the craft shop and buy a load of expensive materials to craft with. It’s amazing what you can make with the stuff you already have.
There is something very satisfying about upcycling and making your Christmas decorations for free. Not only does it save you money, but you can feel a bit smug about being more environmentally conscious and not wasting resources.
I’m a huge fan of upcycling and repurposing crafts and I’m always on the lookout for new ideas.
Some of the upcycled materials used to make the Christmas ornaments are obvious ones to repurpose. Such as wine corks and tin cans. Others, however, really think outside the box. Who’d of thought you could make an upcycled Christmas ornament out of a switch plate or eyeglasses?

It’s not just Christmas ornaments that can be made from repurposed materials, many of the cool adult Christmas crafts in this list are also made from them. You might want to check out this fabulous collection of Christmas crafts made using old jeans.
For Christmas crafts that use materials from the natural world, check out these Christmas nature crafts.
If you have made any upcycled Christmas ornaments I’d love to hear about them in the comments. The more unusual material repurposed into a Christmas ornament more I’d love to hear about it.
The Upcycled Christmas Ornament Ideas
Repurposed Eyeglasses Ornaments For Christmas
Broken eyeglasses can be turned into a special upcycled keepsake Christmas ornament. They would also make a lovely handmade gift.
Repurposed Tin Can Ornament For Christmas
These repurposed tin can ornaments are actually two upcycles. As well as upcycling sardine cans, the images are from repurposed old Christmas cards.
How To Make A Cotton Reel Map Christmas Ornament
So many upcycles in one gorgeous Christmas ornament, road maps, cotton thread reels, buttons and paper beads.
Scrap Fabric Twine Recycled Christmas Ornaments
Use your fabric remnants to make these colourful upcycled Christmas baubles.
Wonderful DIY Wooden Ornaments From Repurposed Curtain Fixings
Even old curtain fixing can be upcycled into colourful wooden Christmas ornaments.
Wine Cork Sled Ornament
Make a cute sparkly sleigh for your tree with your old wine corks.
How To Make A Beautiful Angel Wings Christmas Ornament
Old doilies were repurposed to make this unique handmade Christmas ornament.
Vintage DIY Christmas Butterfly Ornament
Another upcycled tin can Christmas ornaments. This time using tuna cans and dictionary paper to make cute butterfly ornaments.
Jar Lid Vintage Christmas Ornaments
These vintage ornaments are made with repurposed jar lids. You could also use wrapping paper scraps for the backgrounds.
How to upcycle a tshirt into a DIY Christmas ornament
It's hard to believe this upcycled Christmas ornament started life out as a t-shirt.
How To Make Snowflakes out of Toilet Paper Rolls
These snowflakes not only look great but cost nothing to make as all you need is some old cardboard tubing. You can even make up your own snowflake pattern.
DIY Cardboard Christmas Decorations with Old Postage Stamps
Repurpose your old Amazon cardboard packaging and stamps to make colourful 3D Christmas ornaments.
DIY Mason Jar Lid Christmas Ornaments
Mason Jar lids and other jar lids can be transformed with a few embellishments to make cute ornaments for the tree.
Upcycle | Vintage Door Plates into Christmas Ornaments
That is not one I thought of before, but what a great idea upcycling old door plates into ornaments.
Easy Cookie Cutter Sweater Upcycled Christmas Ornaments
Use Christmas cookie cutter shapes to make super cute Christmas ornaments from your old upcycled sweaters.
How To Make Recycled Christmas Decorations With Denim Scraps
Even the seams from an old pair of jeans can be upcycled into a Christmas ornament.
DIY Wine Cork Snowflake Christmas Ornament
Another upcycled wine cork Christmas ornament, this time making a snowflake.
Quick Tutorial To Make A Glamorous Oyster Shell Ornament
A pretty ornament can be made by simply upcycling an old oyster shell.
Rustic Twig Christmas Tree Ornaments
All you need is some scrap cardboard and twigs to make these cute Christmas ornaments.
Upcycled Shuttlecock Angel Wings Ornament
Old badminton shuttlecocks can be upcycled into a real feathered angel wings Christmas ornament.
Christmas Ornament Crafting with Switchplate Covers
I would never have thought of using switchplates to make Christmas ornaments with, this is such a creative idea.
How To Make Repurposed Map Decorations
Even out of date road maps can be upcycled into paper Christmas ornaments.
DIY Teacup Christmas Ornaments With Video Tutorial
These upcycled teacup Christmas ornaments look really fun to make.
How To Make A Christmas Pudding Wood Slice Ornament
Wood slices are great fun to upcycle into Christmas ornaments. This one is made to look like a Christmas pudding.
DIY Star Ornaments Made From Washers
These metal stars are made out of repurposed washers.
How To Make A fun Dictionary Christmas Decoupage Baubles
Use an old dictionary to make some fun baubles. Match the words on the dictionary pages to the vintage images. Not only do these ornaments look great,but they are educational too.
Homemade Christmas decorations: Pom Pom Pine Cones
Update some pine cones add colour with pom pom decorations.
How To Make DIY Fabric Mushrooms - Free Pattern
These cute mushroom ornaments are made from upcycled fabric swatches and an old tea towel.
If you are looking for an alternative upcycled Christmas tree to hang these upcycled ornaments then check out these cool ideas. Also, there are many cardboard Christmas craft ideas here.

Michelle Leslie
Sunday 29th of August 2021
Those repurposed curtain fixings of yours are still one of my all-time favorite ornament upcycles. I would keep them up the whole year
Claire Armstrong
Sunday 29th of August 2021
Thank you, they were fun to make and would probably look OK all year round and not just for Christmas.