Popular 2025 Diy Christmas Decor Crafts That DON’T WORK
UPDATED JUNE 28, 2025 These diy Christmas decor crafts maybe popular and trending for kids and adults to make and sell but they’re a complete disaster. Some are messy, some fall apart, some need tweaking, and some are downright unsanitary. In this post, we’re dishing the glittery beans on the holiday crafts that might look magical online, but fall apart in real life. Learn what went wrong and get better, easier alternatives that actually work. Save yourself the time and stress this holiday season by avoiding these Christmas decor crafts that we’ve tested so you don’t have to.
Be sure to check back as we will be adding more Christmas crafts throughout the season!
1. DIY BIG ORNAMENT CHRISTMAS WREATH
The super popular huge Dollar Store Pool Noodle DIY Christmas wreath (pictured above) is a disaster. Not only does it take over 200 ball ornaments to make, the weight of the ornaments is too heavy for the pool noodles to sustain. It’s also very difficult to store, and balls keep popping off. It’s best to skip this one unless you’re going to use a stronger base like pvc pipe and have a large garage or attic to store it.
2. SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS
Made of just salt, flour, and water, salt dough ornaments seem like the perfect easy fun and beautiful ornaments for kids and adults to make – until you make them! After hours of mixing cutting and baking you will be left with unfinished yellowish ornaments that develop moldy spots. Salt dough isn’t sealed, preserved, or fully waterproof leaving them prone to mold. If you’re using them to make those cute kids and baby fingerprint keepsake ornaments for Christmas you can forget it! Try one of the following instead!
BETTER MOLD-RESISTANT ALTERNATIVES:
Baking Soda + Cornstarch Dough
(Bright white, smoother finish, less prone to moisture retention)
Recipe:1 cup baking soda
½ cup cornstarch
¾ cup water
Air-Dry Clay
Lightweight, smooth, and doesn’t mold when painted/sealed
Polymer Clay (like Sculpey)
Oven-bake and super durable for ornaments
3. DIY HOT GLUE SNOWFLAKE WINDOW CLINGS
The hot glue snowflake window clings (pictured above) were a hot mess. We couldn’t get the glue to form a snowflake design and it ended up looking like just a blob on the window.
There is another method that requires you to hot glue the snowflakes on parchment paper first, but when we tried it, they stuck to the parchment paper. This Christmas decor craft can only be salvaged by using a glue gun with a low heat setting and spraying the parchment paper with the right amount of cooking spray!
4. CINNAMON STICK CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
They’re all over Pinterest—and yes, they look adorable in theory, But once you make them, the charm fades faster than the cinnamon scent. Most versions rely on hot glue to hold the “branches” in place, which often falls apart after a year (especially if stored in a warm attic or humid box). Plus, the scent that makes them magical only lasts a few days, and if they’re touched or bumped, the decorations easily pop off or shift.
BETTER ALTERNATIVE:
- If you love the minimal rustic look, tie ribbon or fabric scraps around a cinnamon stick or tree branch/twig instead then cut to your desired shape.
4. DIY WALL CHRISTMAS TREE IDEA
We were so excited to try this DIY Christmas Wall Tree that’s been trending all over social media but were soo disappointed. It took a lot longer to put up than anticipated and didn’t last long! The clear small command hooks won’t hold up the weight of the lights especially if your wall is lightly textured. We kept having to replace the hooks that would randomly pop off and re-string the lights to avoid the missing hooks (see in photo above). Our advice: use bigger command hooks that hold more weight than .2 or .5 pounds especially if you’re going to use garland on your wall tree too. You could also try making a half wall tree instead of a larger floor to ceiling one!
5. NATURAL DIY CHRISTMAS POTPOURRI
This super popular natural Christmas potpourri is suppose to fill your entire home with the scent of Christmas as it simmers on your stove top, but we could only smell it if we stuck our nose above the pot! Instead of coming for us in the comments, please tell us how you made this work because it’s been a waste every time we’ve tried it. WHAT TO MAKE INSTEAD: Make your own scented pinecones with cinnamon oil or just put your diffusers around the house!
6. PINECONE FIRESTARTERS
These wax coated pinecone fire starters seemed like the perfect addition to a Christmas gift basket until we made them. WHAT GOES WRONG: Messy to make, wax flakes off, doesn’t burn well, risky to burn indoors. WHAT TO DO INSTEAD: Use for decor only, or gift with a warning (as pictured above).
7. DIY TOILET PAPER ROLL CHRISTMAS ADVENT CALENDAR CRAFT
Whenever we see toilet paper roll Christmas crafts like the advent calendar above, we think of where those toilet paper rolls came from. Anybody who has lived through stomach bug season knows what we are talking about! It’s not the gift we want to get on any day of Christmas and that unwrapped gummy bear…CRINGE! If you insist on making a toilet paper roll craft this season atleast use wrapped candy only!
DIY WATER FILLED SNOWGLOBES
Think twice before making these diy glitter snow globes with kids! WHAT GOES WRONG: They leak, get moldy, the glitter clumps, and sometimes burst in storage. WHAT TO TRY INSTEAD: Create a dry mason jar snow globe with fake snow and bottlebrush trees. Zero risk, all of the charm!
DIY CINNAMON APPLESAUCE ORNAMENTS
WHAT GOES WRONG: Cracks easily, smell fades fast, gets sticky in humidity, and attract bugs! WHAT TO DO INSTEAD: Make baking soda/cornstarch ornaments with cinnamon essential oil for safer longer lasting oil instead!
PEPPERMINT CANDY CRAFTS
What Goes Wrong: Melts unevenly, crack when cooled, and sticky forever. What to Do Instead: Skip the oven and try marble-effect polymer clay ornaments for the same swirl look without the sugar mess.
We hope this list of the worst Christmas decor crafts NOT to try this year saves you time, money, and misery! Be sure to PIN this and keep checking back as we add more decor crafts through out the season and if there are any other crafts that were a disaster for you let us know in the comments so you can save others!
Merry Christmas!
LOVE,
