Prepare to deck the halls and trim those trees, with these simple, but effective branch Christmas decorations.

This fun and simple Yuletide project is a fantastic way to get the children involved in woodworking around the festive season. Using simple hand tools and some basic skills, this project idea is perfect for children of all ages under adult supervision.

They will make a great addition to your own Christmas tree, or they can be made and given as gifts. Or holding a school Christmas Fair? Then why not raise some extra funds by making and selling these during in the run up to Christmas.


Part 1 - Cutting

Hold your branch material in vice and using a saw, cut into slices roughly 10mm thick. Try using a Japanese pull saw for a cleaner cut and save time sanding.

Part 2 - Sand the edges

Using a piece of abrasive flat on the table or bench, sand both faces of your decoration to remove the worst of the saw marks and to leave a smooth surface to decorate.

Part 3 - Draw your Christmas designs

Draw your festive designs onto each piece using a pencil.

Part 4 - Burn your pictures

Burn in your designs with a pyrography tool, this will help to stop the coloured dye from bleeding across the surface keeping your picture crisp.

Part 5 - Add colour

Colour in your designs using the amazing range Chroma Craft Wood Dye Pens.

Step 6 - Drill holes

Drill the holes for the ribbon or string on which your decorations will hang.

Tidy up the drill holes using a countersink bit.

Part 7 - Add finish (optional)

You can finish your decorations with finishing oil. Allow 24 hours for the coloured dyes to dry before adding the oil. 


Part 8 - Add ribbon

Tie with string or a Christmas ribbon and they are ready to hang on the tree.

Why not try different ideas?

You could also use some offcuts and scrap wood to create these small hanging presents, decorated in the same way.

Start by cutting pieces of scrap wood to random sizes with a small hand saw, ideally in a pale timber, which will allow the true colour of the dye pens to come through.

Sand each block on all sides to a good finish, this can be done with a powered sanding machine or by hand on a bench with paper abrasive.

So the pens don't bleed into each other you will need to divide your colour block up into sections with a pyrography pen, take your time and create any pattern you wish, we've gone for the classic Christmas gift box.

Get creative and add some colour and finish by screwing in a brass hoop and add some festive ribbon.

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Snap It

Take a photo of your project.

Tag It

Use the #BeatTheBoredom hashtag and upload it to one of the following;
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- Community Forum under the Beat The Boredom post

Discover more…

If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, keep an eye out for our next woodworking project for kids as part of our online Beat The Boredom series. Watch this space for more details! Furthermore, why not take a look at all of our previous projects below?

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