Category Archives: Holiday Crafts

Make Christmas Napkin Rings With These Free Crochet Patterns

If there’s ever a time that you want to set a pretty table, it’s Christmas dinner. The table sets the mood for the entire meal; you want it to look amazing for your loved ones, not to mention for the family photos (especially if you’ll be posting them online.)

There are many possible ways to pretty up your table, and many different elements that could enhance you table settings and make them spectacular.


A Christmas Place Setting That Includes a Beaded Crochet Napkin Ring, Plus Crocheted Table Linens

A Christmas Place Setting That Includes a Beaded Crochet Napkin Ring, Plus Crocheted Table Linens


Of course, if you have a set of fine china or holiday dishes, it’s the ideal time to get them out and put them to use. Christmas is also the ideal occasion for using a pretty tablecloth or table runner. If you own a beautiful vase, it would be lovely to fill it with flowers and create a unique centerpiece.

And once you’ve done all that, you’d feel pretty silly putting paper towels on the table to use as napkins, wouldn’t you? Of course you would.

This realization could lead you down a whole new rabbit hole: How do you fold the napkins and keep them in place?

The answer, of course, is that you’ll want to use napkin rings to do that.

For you DIY types who like to make creative pretties to dress up your home decor, I invite you to consider the following free patterns for crafting your own napkin rings:


If you like the idea of making napkin rings, but the ones pictured above aren’t quite what you have in mind for your table, you’re invited to check out this list of 7 ways to make napkin rings. The list includes bunches more ideas, some of which involve craft techniques other than knitting or crocheting.

More Ideas for Christmas Table Settings

I wish you a joyous holiday season this year, filled with peace, love, light, creativity and blessings.

Christmas Crochet Potholder With Candy Cane Stripes

Crochet Potholder With Candy  Cane Stripes: Free Crochet Pattern

Christmas Crochet Potholder With Candy Cane Stripes: Free Crochet Pattern


Ready to get your Christmas baking and Christmas crafting on? You have plenty of time to crochet some Christmas-y potholders! They make excellent gifts, but they’re also nice to keep on hand — especially if you do a lot of baking during the holiday season.

These fun potholders are decorated with eye-catching red and white stripes, which remind me of a candy cane. If you change the colors, the design becomes suitable for year-around use.


You can get the freepotholder pattern here, and you can also check out a couple of additional colorways including a blue and green variegated colorway and a red, white and blue design. The red white and blue version has additional surface crocheted details; surface crochet slip stitch is a technique you can use for easily adding a third color to the design without having to completely redesign the crochet color chart.

No matter which version of the potholders you decide to try, you’ll need to have an understanding of the single crochet stitch, plus the tapestry crochet technique to do the color changes. People generally think of tapestry crochet as being an intermediate, or maybe even advanced level technique; I personally don’t think it’s that difficult. It does require a bit of patience to master, but once you’ve practiced a bit it’s a piece o’ cake.

Please note: if this is your first experience with tapestry crochet, I do recommend picking an easier pattern than this one to start with. For example, try this checkerboard chart, which is a better starter pattern with this technique. There’s also a Christmas version of the checkerboard, which you could use for making a Christmas blanket or Christmas pillow if you like.


See Also:

Crocheting Easy Snowflake Designs

Easy Crochet Snowflake: Free Pattern

Easy Crochet Snowflake: Free Pattern


You can use this easy crochet snowflake design to dress up your winter craft projects. Attach it to anything that could use a touch of “pretty.” The free crochet pattern is available right here on our website.

Gift-Worthy DIY Christmas Bracelet Patterns

Christmas is fast approaching. The holiday season is a fantastic time for going out to holiday parties, dressing up in our most festive clothes and accessorizing to look our best; it’s also a wonderful time for making the loveliest gifts we can manage and presenting them to our loved ones. In either case, you might enjoy making yourself or your loved ones some new Christmas-friendly bracelets or other jewelry. In this post, I’ll be sharing gift-worthy DIY Christmas bracelet patterns; but if that isn’t what you’re interested in working on right now, please check out our main directory of craft project ideas to find a wide variety of other projects you might enjoy.

Southwestern Turquoise and Red Coral Chip Bead Bracelet: Free Pattern

Southwestern Turquoise and Red Coral Chip Bead Bracelet: Free Crochet Pattern

Southwestern Turquoise and Red Coral Chip Bead Bracelet: Free Crochet Pattern


Do you like making Christmas projects that only get used once a year? Some people love doing that, while other people find it hard to want to invest the time it takes to make projects that aren’t useful all year around. I designed this bracelet in hopes that this style would be wearable for the holiday season, but that it would also look lovely for everyday wear as well. To make it work, I used traditional Christmas colors of red and green, plus I also added touches of turquoise as well.

Of course, if you make a bracelet like this one for yourself or a friend, you can use whichever bead colors you find most appealing.

Wire Crochet Lace Cuff Bracelet: Free Pattern

Gift-Worthy DIY Christmas Bracelet Pattern: A Red and Green Wire Crochet Lace Cuff Bracelet -- Free Instructions

Gift-Worthy DIY Christmas Bracelet Patterns: A Red and Green Wire Crochet Lace Cuff Bracelet


This cuff-style bracelet is crocheted in two colors of wire, and it’s accented with contrasting yet coordinating beads. I crocheted my sample bracelet in Christmas colors — red and green wire, with bronze-colored seed bead accents. As is, it’s a great look for those of you who would like to get a jump start on your Christmas crocheting. But, if you’re not feeling Christmas-y right now, all it would take is a color change to make the bracelet in more of an everyday look. I can see making it in silver, gold and bronze, or in other hues of colored wire.


Grab This Free Crochet Bracelet Pattern:


Holiday Sparkle Bracelet

Holiday Sparkle Bracelet -- A Free Christmas Crochet Pattern

Holiday Sparkle Bracelet — A Free Christmas Crochet Pattern


You can crochet this glittery bracelet using metallic embroidery floss and faceted beads; if you use supplies similar to these, you’ll end up with a festive bracelet design that’s perfect for the holiday season but also wearable all year around.


Want to make one of these bracelets for yourself or a friend? Grab the free crochet bracelet pattern HERE.

The bracelets pictured above are all designs that I specifically intended to be Christmas friendly. I’ve shared free crochet patterns for bunches of bracelet styles other than these; most are made in everyday colors, but a color change is all it would take to make the others suitable for Christmas, too. So if you like the idea of making a Christmas bracelet, but you aren’t in love with any of the bracelet styles shown above, you are invited to check out the rest of the list of crochet bracelet patterns HERE.


If bracelets aren’t your thing, you could try our list of DIY jewelry making ideas HERE, our accessory patterns HERE, our Christmas craft ideas HERE, our Christmas crochet and knitting patterns HERE, or our holiday craft ideas HERE.


See Also: Best Christmas Craft Books for the 2023 Holiday Season

Thanks so much for dropping by the blog today! I really appreciate your interest.


Posted By: Amy Solovay

Holiday Craft Pattern Books You Need to Know About for Christmas 2023

The Holiday Season Is Upon Us! Are You Ready to Get Busy Making Holiday Crafts?

Happy November, everyone! Today is November 1, 2023. Halloween is now over and done with, and that means your local retailers are probably putting up their Christmas displays and getting ready for the holiday rush of shoppers.

For those of us planning to make our own Christmas gifts and Christmas decorations, the pressure is on to get it all finished before December 25 rolls around. On the one hand, there’s plenty of time. On the other hand, there’s never enough time — so there’s no time like the present to get moving on your 2023 holiday crafting.

If you need a little inspiration for what to make for the 2023 holiday season, we invite you to check out our list of the best Christmas craft books. These books all have fantastic Christmas project ideas, plus the patterns you can use for making each project.

I’ll highlight a few of my favorites from the list here in this blog post — but I hope you’ll check out the entire list to find some amazing Christmas knitting books, Christmas crochet books, and other assorted Christmas craft books.

My New Favorite Christmas Crochet Book for 2023: Classic Christmas Crochet

Classic Christmas Crochet Pattern Book: Traditional Danish Holiday Decorations and Gifts, by Heidi B Johannesen and Pia HH Johannesen, Published by Trafalgar Square Books

Classic Christmas Crochet Pattern Book: Traditional Danish Holiday Decorations and Gifts, by Heidi B Johannesen and Pia HH Johannesen, Published by Trafalgar Square Books


If I had to choose just one Christmas pattern book to work from, it would be a tough choice — but I think this is the one I’d go for.

Why?

A couple of reasons: First of all, because I think this book is the prettiest of all my current choices. The Christmas ornaments and projects featured are lovely and useful ones; and, second, because these projects all work well for either gift-giving or keeping.

Annie’s Christmas Special 2020: Includes Patterns for Crochet, Sewing and Quilting Techniques

Annie's Christmas Special Edition 2020: 65+ Christmas Patterns for Crochet, Quilting and Sewing

Annie’s Christmas Special Edition 2020: 65+ Christmas Patterns for Crochet, Quilting and Sewing

This book is another top favorite that I highly recommend. It has a high number of usable patterns. It also has a fantastic variety of different techniques to try, which could help to keep you from getting bored out of your mind halfway through your gift-making sessions.

Beyond that, the patterns are mostly appealing ones, and there are bunches of easy, beginner-friendly projects included in the book. So far I’ve made one project from this book, and I’m hoping to make a bunch more before Christmas this year.

Learn More About Annie’s Christmas Special Edition 2020: (yes, this the special edition from a few years ago, but don’t worry, none of the projects are out of date; they’re all still totally current for Christmas 2023.).

A Merry Crochet Christmas

A Merry Crochet Christmas Pattern Book, Published by Annie's Crochet

A Merry Crochet Christmas, Published by Annie’s Crochet

If you’re hoping to find a whole bunch of appealing Christmas crochet patterns, this is a book you’ll definitely want to take a look at. It includes some seriously fun patterns you can use for making your own Christmas decorations plus crocheting gifts for your inner circle. You’ll find patterns for crocheting afghans, Christmas ornaments, an adorable scarf, and many other wonderful holiday-themed items.

Learn More:

Be sure to check out our complete list of the best Christmas craft books HERE!