DIY Christmas Balls with Macrame Cord

DIY Christmas Decoration Cheap and Gorgeous

These DIY Christmas balls with macrame cord include my three favorite criteria; beautiful, inexpensive and easy to make. With a $5.00 investment and a couple of easy hours crafting I was able to make these six DIY Christmas balls using dollar tree supplies and garage sale Christmas balls.

Six diy Christmas balls in soft neutral creams siting in a white dough bowl. The se cheap diy Christmas balls look trendy with thin chocolate brown ribbon tied to the top. They are quaint, timeless and beautiful covered with crocheted macrame cord thats been wrapped around each bowl. The Christmas ball ornaments are sitting on a vintage hoosier cabinet with a similar neutral colour palette for Christmas.

Originally these DIY Christmas ball ornaments were meant for our Christmas tree, but after seeing all the Christmas tree ornaments I had on the tree, I changed my mind. Instead I added them to a dough bowl and placed them on our neutral coloured hoosier cabinet, and I love them. They look so beautiful as bowl filler with those pretty long satin ribbons. Long thin satin ribbon is trendy this year, this was my chance to pop some of that ribbon into a simple bowl filler arrangement.

Now that I gave them their much deserved adoring introduction here is how easy these Christmas ball ornaments are to make.

How to Make DIY Christmas Balls using Macrame Cord

Dollar Tree Christmas Ornament Supplies

Dollar tree or garage sale 2 inch Christmas balls
Soft cream or linen coloured paint (dollar tree is fine)
1 ball of dollar tree macrame cord for each 2 bulbs

Large 10 size crochet hookHot glue and glue gun
Finger protectors (dollar tree)
Thin satin ribbon, florist wire.

The DIY Christmas Balls Before

Last summer I found these two boxes of Christmas balls for just $2. Someone must have created a fun grinch themed Christmas tree. For me they are a great starting point to create assorted DIY Christmas ball crafts in neutral colours for this years Christmas decor.

Two large containers of grinch green Christmas balls, they are the before image of a DIY Christmas ball update craft for Christmas decorating.

Step 1 – Save the Ornament Tops

Remove the tops and set aside. The tops come off with a simple tug. Set them aside in a safe place to reattach at the end.

Step 2 – Paint the Christmas Ball Ornaments

Begin by painting the Christmas ornament in a soft cream or linen colour using the least inexpensive paint you can find. The paint will prevent any bits of the original Christma ball colour to peak through the macrame cord. But the macrame cord will be covering the majority of the paint so use an inexpensive paint, dollar tree is fine. I had some leftovers for free so I used it.

Painting a DIY Christmas ball with soft cream coloured paint before finishing it with macrame and crocheted cording.

Step – 3 Crochet the Macrame Cord

If you haven’t crocheted before give this a try. Its so easy to do for several reasons, its only uses a chain stitch, and macrame cord is even easier to work with than large wool. Its so easy you could do it with your finger but its much faster using a crochet hook. If you have never crocheted before you can do this, I promise. In the video I do a very thorough job of showing the easiest of all crochet stitches.

Begin by crocheting a long chain using chain stitch for the entire the entire length of the dollar tree bundle of macrame cord. End with a knot.

An illustrative image showing how to crochet a chain stitch using macrame cord and a large crochet hook. The macrame cord is a soft off white colour, and there is an arrow showing the direction of the crocheting stitch.

Step 4 – Attaching the Macrame Cord to the Christmas Ball

Start at the top of the Christmas bal. Using hot glue, add bits of glue to the diy Christmas ball craft while you wrap the crocheted macrame cord around the ball. Make sure that the cord doesn’t twist and you can see the open side the stitches. Wrap and glue, repeatedly. It only take a couple of minutes to cover each Christmas ball. When you get to the end, cut the cord an inch longer than you need. Pull on cord thats still connected and it will form a knot.

Wrapping a crocheted string of macrame cord around a DIY Christmas ball ornament. The Christmas ball has been painted cream, the macrame cord is a soft cream and there is a blue blue gun in the background.

Finish the ball by gluing the second end to the last portion of the ball. If you need more information I have included it in the video tutorial.

Repeat for all the other Christmas ball ornaments your going to do.

Step 5 – Replace the Ornament Ball Top and Add Ribbon

The tops of the original ornaments had a small opening on the hanger. In order to string the gorgeous satin ribbon through them, I cut a piece of ribbon a foot long. Then folded a piece of florist wire around the ribbon twisting it tight before feeding it through the hole in the ornament top. Voila easy peasy.

Two Christmas ball ornaments covered in crochet. The first one has a ribbon bow on top and the second one is having the ribbon placed on using wire .

As I said my first idea was to add these Christmas balls to the tree using a satin ribbon. The best part of teh sati ribbon is it give syou complete control on eacly where the ball hangs. you can adjust the heigh so easily, unlike the tyical metal hangers. I decided against it but here is a picture of the Christmas ball hanging on the Christmas tree. I really love the texture of them, and of course the soft cream colour. It snuggles into the tree so nice and cozy looking.

A beautiful neutral DIY Christmas ball hanging on a Christmas tree. The ball has loads of warm texture from macrame cord crochet covering and smooth satin ribbon hangers. They match the neutral Christmas tree they are hanging on that has the same soft colours with greens, creams, whites and shiny brown.

Here are the Christmas balls being used as bowl filled on my antique Hoosier cabinet. I think they add a gorgeous neutral touch to my pride and joy cabinet.

A farmhouse bowl filled with DIY Christmas balls. The balls are cream and covered with macrame cord and tied with long thin chocolate ribbon.

How to Make DIY Christmas Balls with Macrame Cord Video

If you haven’t crocheted anything before check out the video. Its easy and I show exactly how easy it is to crochet the chains you need for the Christmas balls.

A large cream coloured Christmas Ornament DIY craft made using an old Christmas ball, brown satin ribbon and dollar tree macrame cord. The Christmas ball is hanging on a Christmas tree with a neutral coloured ornaments in browns white creams and green.

Other Neutral Dollar Tree Ornament Ideas

Two giant Christmas ornaments in chocolate brown paint and glitter with twine bows. The two brown Christmas ornaments are sitting in a basket with two soft green painted DIY Christmas ornaments that have been distressed for a soft cottage or farmhouse look.

Dollar Store Christmas Ornaments with Paint

These large Christmas ornaments started at the dollar store in bright colours. They were given a soft muted paint colour that allowed their texture to shine through. They are surprisingly beautiful on our Christmas tree. This is my second yard of having them and they are perfect. They pair perfectly with the macrame ones from today’s post.

Two candy cane Christmas decorations in neutral coloured twine and lace. The Christmas tree ornaments are rustic but still pretty hanging on a tree with lights.

Rustic Candy Cane Dollar Tree Ornaments

These rustic candy cane dollar tree ornaments are so simple to make and if you don’t have the ribbon, rip some fabric for a shabby rustic feel. You even get to munch candy while you make them.

Transform old Christmas balls into these neutral macrame ornaments using affordable supplies from Dollar Tree. An easy and inexpensive Christmas craft for the holidays.