I’m excited to be participating with 30 other bloggers to bring you 30 Days of Homemade Kid Christmas Ornaments. During the month of November, a new ornament tutorial will be shared each day by one of the 30 bloggers that are kid and family friendly.

Homemade Kid Ornaments

Rustic Tree Popsicle Stick Ornament Tutorial

My kids are in their teens, so my ornament craft is geared for kids that are a little older. But don’t let that stop you from creating this Rustic Tree Popsicle Stick Ornament with the younger crowd. Just make sure there is an adult present to help with the harder portions of the tutorial.Rustic tree popsicle stick ornament tutorial

It’s so hard to find crafts that are geared towards the tween/teen crowd and I was so excited that my girls wanted to help create these ornaments. We had so much fun that we created three different Rustic Popsicle Stick Tree Ornaments and plan on making more! Two were made with large popsicle sticks and one with regular popsicle sticks. Although, for the sake of this tutorial I will focus on creating the base of the tree using large popsicle sticks. I’ll let you decide on how to decorate your popsicle stick tree, but give suggestions at the bottom of the post for decorations.

Rustic tree popsicle stick ornament supplies

Supplies:

  • 6 – Large popsicle sticks
  • 1 – Wooden Star – 1 1/4″
  • Hot glue gun/glue sticks
  • Exacto knife or mini saw
  • Ruler
  • White glitter
  • Ribbon or string
  • Paint – green, brown, yellow or red
  • Paint brushes
  • Mod Podge
  • Pencil
  • Sandpaper – fine grit
  • Various decorations to decorate the tree (optional as you can use paint to decorate the tree)

Instructions: 

Cut popsicle stick

Cut popsicle sticks (an adult should do this portion):

For the stem – cut the tip off the stick so that it measures approximately 5 5/16″.

For the base – cut one stick into a 2″ length and 3″ length

For the branches – you will need to cut four sticks. Each stick will be cut into a different length of 2 1/2″, 3 1/2″, 4 1/2″, and 5 1/4″.

To cut the sticks, I used an Exacto knife and ruler to score the sticks several times. I then pressed on the score lines to break the sticks on the lines. Use a pencil to label the sticks so you know where it goes. Cut all the sticks before moving on to the next step.Paint popsicle sticksHere is where my girls jumped. They painted all the pieces for the ornament – green for the branches, brown for the stem and base, and yellow for the star. Paint the front and back of each piece and let it dry.

Distress-popsicle-sticks

Distress the popsicles with a fine grit sandpaper to remove some of the paint.

Glue trunk to the base

Glue the base pieces together. Use a large glob of glue to attach the trunk to the base. Hold the trunk onto the base until the glue is able to hold the trunk in place. 

Assemble rustic tree popsicle stick ornament

Glue the ornament loop on and place the star on top. We were so excited to finish these oraments that we forgot to put the loop on…don’t forget to add the loop BEFORE you glue the star on! Next glue down all of the branches. Let dry.Glitter snow

Paint Mod Podge around the base of the trunk and star. Sprinkle white glitter glue onto the Mod Podge. Shake off the excess. You can leave the ornament as-is or decorate with your chosen decorations.

Rustic Tree Popsicle Stick Tutorial

Decorate the Rusitc Tree Popsicle Stick Ornament (Optional):

If making this with younger kids, substitute hot glue with regular craft glue.

Suggestions for tree decorations:

  • self adhesive cork
  • paper punch
  • embroidery floss
  • mini pom poms
  • mini buttons
  • stickers
  • paint
  • sequins
  • paper
  • tissue
  • glitter

Rustic tree popsicle stick decorated

To decorate this tree, my girls used a strand of embroidery floss and glued it in a zig-zag pattern onto the front of the tree. Next, they used a paper punch on a self-adhesive roll of cork and pressed it onto the tree. Super simple!

Rustic tree popsicle stick buttons

We needed a tree with snow and used white paint on the tops of each branch. Let the paint dry. Add Mod Podge over the white paint and sprinkle glitter onto it. Shake off excess and let dry. Glue mini buttons onto the branches.

Mini tree

This tree was made with regular sized popsicle sticks. A Happy Holidays sticker was used to decorate the tree.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! How would you decorate your Rustic Tree Popsicle Stick Ornament?


 

Visit the 2015 Ornament Exchange for even more ornament tutorials and crafts. Over 80+ bloggers have joined together to exchange ornaments and share their tutorials and ornament shopping trips.

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34 Comments

  1. Oh I love this! After reading all these ornament exchange ideas I’m a bit fearful to get anywhere near the craft store; my cart is going to be overflowing! Pinned.

  2. I love this. We definitely be making some for our tree this year!
    Congratulations, you are being featured in this week’s
    Mini Round Up!
    Have an awesome day!
    Joanita

  3. Erlene, these are so adorable! What a fun family craft this would be. Appreciate you linking up your project with us at Snickerdoodle Sunday! Have a great week. Pinning 🙂

  4. Hi, Erlene ~ These ornaments are so cute! And I could see my kids making them (they’re teenagers). :0) I love the gold garland on the middle one and the snow at the bottom of the trunks. Such lovely details!

  5. I love handmade things but I am not very good at them. I really like how nicely you laid this out. I actually think I could do this! This would make great gifts for the families of my kids’ friends.
    🙂
    Traci

  6. Oh, I love it! I just love rustic ornaments and I do want to make some of these for my tree. It’s the prettiest ornament I’ve ever seen made from popsicle sticks! Wow!

  7. This is so cute! I’d make enough branches to write all the names of my grandchildren on them. I think I actually do have some popsicle sticks in my stash too! So many good DIY ornament ideas right now!