Felt Christmas Decorations: Ideas for Every Room, From the Front Door to the Table

Most felt Christmas decorations are made from the same 9 × 12 in (23 × 30 cm) sheet, and the useful question is not what to make but where it will go. A wreath on the front door takes wind and damp. A tree skirt has to come off a 72 in bolt. A napkin ring gets handled at every meal. Each place sets the size, the felt and the amount of work, so this page is organized by room.

Tree ornaments have their own page, felted Christmas ornaments. This page is the rest of the house.

What can you make with felt for Christmas?

The whole range, with the time for one piece or one set, and where the full method is.

Decoration	Where	Time	Skill	Felt needed	Full method
Wreath	Front door, wall	An afternoon	Beginner	Sheets for leaves or roses, or 115+ felt balls	Felted wreath
Door hanger	Door, cabinet knob	1–2 hours	Beginner	2 sheets of stiff felt	Below
Garland	Mantel, stairs, window	2–4 hours for 6 ft	Beginner	2–3 sheets, or 60–80 balls	Felt garland
Stockings	Mantel	3–4 hours each	Beginner–intermediate	2–3 sheets or ½ yd	Felt Christmas stocking
Wall tree	Playroom wall	A day plus ornaments	Beginner	1 yd of 36 in felt	Felt Christmas tree
Advent calendar	Wall, door	A weekend	Intermediate	Panel from yardage, 4 sheets for pockets	Felt advent calendar
Tree skirt	Under the tree	An afternoon	Beginner	1½ yd of 72 in felt	Below
Coasters	Table, side tables	1 hour for 6	Beginner	1–2 sheets of 3–5 mm felt	Felt coasters
Napkin rings	Table	An evening for 8	Beginner	1 sheet, plus scraps for trims	Below
Place cards	Table	15 minutes each	Beginner	Scraps	Below
Gift tags and toppers	Under the tree	10–20 minutes each	Beginner	Scraps	Below
Nativity or figures	Mantel, shelf	Several evenings	Intermediate	Wool roving or sheets	Felt nativity

Sheet felt, needle felting or wet felting for decorations?

Three different crafts all end up called felt decorations, and each suits a different job.

• Sheet felt, cut and sewn. The workhorse. Flat and lightly stuffed shapes, letters, pockets, anything big. It batches well, and needs only scissors, a needle and floss. Felt applique covers the edge stitches.
• Needle felting. Loose wool stabbed into solid, three-dimensional shapes with a barbed needle. It is the right choice for small figures that stand on a shelf or sit on a table: a needle felted snowman, a felted gnome, a row of acorns. It is slow, about an hour or two per small figure, and the needles are sharp; read is needle felting dangerous before working with children nearby.
• Wet felting. Wool, soap and hot water rubbed into a sheet or a hollow shape. It makes seamless pieces such as balls, cones, a one-piece stocking or your own thick felt for coasters. Expect merino to shrink by roughly 35–45 percent, so start bigger than you need. How to make felt balls is the easiest place to start.

For a first Christmas of felt decorations, start with sheet felt.

Wool felt or acrylic felt?

The cheapest craft felt is acrylic. It cuts cleanly and comes in every color, but it pills where hands touch it, flattens and loses its body in storage, and melts if you press it with a hot iron. For anything that should come out of the box looking new in ten years, use 100 percent wool or a wool blend with at least 20 percent wool, and 35 percent or more if you can find it. Wool felt fabric explains the grades and thicknesses.

Thickness matters as much as fiber. Use 1 mm felt for appliqué, letters and small stuffed shapes, 2–3 mm for single-layer pieces that must hang flat, and 3–5 mm for coasters or anything that stands up on its own.

What felt decorations go on the front door?

A wreath, or a door hanger if the door is narrow or the porch is exposed.

A felt wreath is built on a base, usually a 12–14 in (30–35 cm) straw or foam ring, covered with felt balls, rolled roses, leaves or fringe. Felted wreath has all five methods and the felt count for each. Hang it on an inside door or a covered porch; rain soaks wool and dyes in red felt can run onto a painted door.

A door hanger is a quicker alternative: one shape about 8–10 in (20–25 cm) tall, such as a star, a stocking, a tree or a word. Cut it double from stiff felt, or back ordinary felt with heavyweight iron-on interfacing so it does not curl, and add a 10 in (25 cm) ribbon loop between the layers. Blanket stitch the edge with two strands of floss. A name or "Welcome" in cut letters makes it personal; felt letter ornaments has the letter sizes and fonts that cut well.

How do you decorate a mantel or window with felt?

The mantel carries the most felt in most houses: a garland along the front edge, stockings below and a few figures on top.

• Garland. A mantel 5 ft (1.5 m) wide wants a garland about 7–8 ft (2.1–2.4 m) long so it can drape in two shallow swags. A felt ball garland takes roughly ten 1 in (2.5 cm) balls per foot; a cut-shape garland of 3 in stars spaced 2 in apart takes about two and a half stars per foot, or fifteen stars for 6 ft, which is two sheets. Felt garland covers threading, spacing and hanging.
• Stockings. A wool felt stocking 16–18 in (40–45 cm) long is the classic. Felt Christmas stocking has the pattern, the loop that holds weight, and the names.
• Figures. Two or three standing pieces at different heights look better than a row of equals. A needle felted Santa, a felt polar bear or a felt reindeer all work and a felt nativity can take the whole mantel. A felt dog ornament of the family pet usually ends up there too.
• Windows. Single-layer felt snowflakes cut from white 2 mm felt hang well in a window on clear thread, at staggered heights. Bright reds fade on a sunny sill.

Felt decorations for walls and doors inside

A children's wall tree. About 3 ft (90 cm) tall, cut from one yard of 36 in felt, with ornaments that stick on with hook-and-loop dots and come off again. Felt Christmas tree has the size, the stepped outline and the ornament count. For the top of a real tree, a stuffed star or angel and the sleeve that holds it upright are on felt tree toppers.

An advent calendar. Twenty-four numbered pockets on a felt panel, a wall tree with an ornament added each day, or twenty-four little stockings on a string. Felt advent calendar works through all three with a cutting plan.

A hoop picture. A circle of felt stretched in a 10 in wooden embroidery hoop, with a simple appliqué scene of a tree, a house or a single felt poinsettia, takes an evening and hangs from the hoop screw.

How do you make a felt tree skirt?

Cut a circle 48 in (122 cm) across for an average 6–7 ft tree, with a 4 in (10 cm) hole in the middle for the trunk and one straight slit from the edge to the hole so it can go on around the stand. A 48 in circle will not come out of 36 in felt, so buy 72 in wide felt; 1½ yd (1.4 m) gives a square big enough. A 36 in bolt limits you to a 34–35 in skirt, which suits a tabletop or small tree.

1. Mark the circle with a string and pencil from the center: tie the string 24 in (61 cm) from the pencil, pin the free end at the center of the felt and draw around.
2. Mark the hole the same way with the string at 2 in (5 cm).
3. Cut the slit along one straight line from the edge to the hole.
4. Decorate the border before anything else: a ring of appliquéd stars, holly leaves or scallops in a second color about 2 in in from the edge.
5. Add ties at the slit, two pairs of 10 in ribbon stitched on each side, to close it around the stand.

Use 2–3 mm felt. Anything thinner rides up into folds as presents are slid over it. Felt does not fray, so the edge can stay raw.

What felt decorations can you make for the Christmas table?

Table pieces get handled, so make them from wool or wool-blend felt.

Napkin rings

Cut a strip 6 × 1½ in (15 × 4 cm) from 2–3 mm felt, overlap the ends by ½ in and stitch them, or sew on a snap so the ring opens flat for storage. Stitch a pair of holly leaves and three red felt-ball berries, a small star, or a guest's initial over the join. A 9 × 12 in sheet gives twelve strips, in six rows of two, so eight rings come from one sheet with scraps of a second color for the trims.

Place cards

Cut a small stiff felt shape, a tree about 3 in (7.5 cm) tall, a mitten or a star, and stitch a name on it in backstitch, or cut a ½ in slit in the top to hold a paper card. To make it stand, glue it to a wine cork laid on its side. A felt mouse ornament holding a name tag doubles as a place card and a take-home gift.

Coasters and centerpiece

Thick wool felt coasters, 4 in (10 cm) across and 3–5 mm thick, take a hot mug without marking the table. Felt coasters covers cutting and felt ball coasters. For the center of the table, group a few needle felted pieces on a wooden board with greenery: felted acorns, a couple of mini trees and a felted Christmas ball or two. Keep felt away from candle flames; wool smolders rather than flaring, but it still scorches.

Felt gift tags and gift toppers

A felt tag can go on the tree after the present is opened. Cut a luggage-tag shape about 2 × 3½ in (5 × 9 cm) from 2–3 mm felt, punch or snip a hole near the top, and write the name in a fine fabric marker or backstitch it. A tree shape or a star with a twine loop works as a topper instead of a bow; tie it on with the ribbon. A small felt candy cane or a felt gingerbread man threaded on the ribbon gives a child's present a decoration of its own, and a felt bookmark slipped under the ribbon of a wrapped book is a second, small gift.

How do you plan a set of felt Christmas decorations?

Choose a palette first and keep it to three or four colors: red, green and white with one accent, or a quieter white, gray and natural with red.

Then work backward from December. Big pieces, the tree skirt, wall tree and advent calendar, should be finished by the end of November, since they must be up on the first. Garlands and stockings come next. Table pieces and tags can be made the week before. If you are making a lot, cut everything first, using freezer paper templates ironed onto the felt so each shape is identical, then sew in batches. A felt cutting machine pays for itself only if you cut dozens of identical shapes.

Around small children, leave beads, sequins, buttons and felt balls off anything within reach, or stitch them down through all layers. Anything that fits through a toilet paper tube is a choking hazard for children under 3.

How do you store felt Christmas decorations?

Store them in a box, not a bag, with tissue between layers. Felt takes a permanent crease when it is squashed, so lay flat pieces flat and roll a tree skirt or wall tree around a cardboard tube rather than folding it. Keep the box cool and dry; a hot attic fades colors and softens glue.

Wool is food for clothes moths. Seal the box and add a cedar block, then check the pieces when they come out each year. If you find small holes or webbing, see protecting wool from moths before putting anything back. Brush off fluff with a soft clothes brush and steam out creases with the iron held just above the felt.