The Best DIY Coastal Christmas Decorations to make Right Now

“Seas and Greetings” friends! Decorating is something we have always loved to do, but decorating for Christmas is the very best! Cranking up the Christmas music and getting out all of the decor brings nostalgic feelings of past Christmases, as we dream of the new memories we’ll create each year.

You know me and my love for all things coastal! I couldn’t bare the thought of taking it down during Christmas.

So, I teamed up with my mom to create several DIY coastal Christmas decorations to add throughout my home. She had to reign me in a little bit, but we had a lot of fun gathering different elements and creating these various coastal Christmas decorations.

We hope you’ll be inspired to create unique coastal elements for your own home.

And if you’re looking for a more traditional Christmas decor then you need to check out this DIY Christmas decor using toilet paper rolls!

You’re not going to believe the transformation!

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Adding a Christmas Touch to Existing Coastal Decor

During the Christmas season we love to incorporate fresh evergreens throughout our homes. Fresh greenery can add up if you purchasing it, so if you have access to evergreen trees in your own yard, take a minute to go clip some boughs. 

In fact, clipping Juniper sprigs from my Grandpa’s trees is something I look forward to each winter season. Not only is the Juniper soft, no prickly needles like a pine, but it also has a beautiful blue berry. It creates a calming look that I love.

To create this centerpiece, we started out with a large wooden bowl. Next, we added three candlesticks of varying heights followed by the fresh Juniper clippings. Lastly, we finished it off by placing in a few large seashells. 

(If you’re not into a coastal look, this can still be a beautiful arrangement in your home. Simply omit the seashells and add a few shimmery ornaments instead.)

Also, scattered around the greenery I’ve also included macrame globes that I found at Pier 1. 

The tipped bucket of seashells is a part of our decor year round. Clearly adding more of this fresh Juniper clippings to existing decor items is a really quick and easy way to help the decor feel cohesive. 

(If you don’t have a lot of Christmas decor, adding fresh greenery to your year round decor, no matter what your style, is a great way to add a bit of Christmas cheer to your home.)

For example here you can see the only piece of Christmas decor is the painting of Santa. Simply adding the greenery, ties everything together and adds that Christmasy feeling.

Looking for more ideas, click here for my modern coastal Christmas home tour.

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DIY Coastal Christmas Decorations

Clearly the Christmas tree is where I was able to have a bit more fun with the coastal theme. My Mom and I made most of the coastal themed ornaments a few years ago.  

DIY Life Preserver Ornament

With out a doubt, the ornaments were pretty simple to make.

The life preserver ornaments were made from small picture frame ornaments at Hobby Lobby (see image below.)

First, the middle insert was removed, then spray painted the frames white.

Once dry, we took some white cord and secured it to the outside of the frame with red electrical tape.

Easy peasy life preserver ornaments!

Hobby Lobby is always marking different items down each week. Keep your eye on their ads to know when to go grab your supplies!

I usually take advantage of their coupons too. Every little bit saved really adds up! 

(You can even use their coupons online! Gotta love that!)

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Let us introduce ourselves, we’re Michelle and Steph, a mom and daughter team who love to DIY and decorate our homes.

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DIY Monkey Fist Knot Ornament

Have you ever made a monkey fist knot before? We thought it would be darling to add a few of these around the tree. Little did we know how hard these are to make! 

We watched a few tutorials and struggled to make each one. 😂  I think they turned out ok, but if I were to do this decor again, I might just try to find some to buy!

Modified Starfish Ornament

The sparkly starfish are from World Market and I snatched up all they had! A couple of them were orange, but a quick coat of  glittery blue spray paint transformed them to match.

(They aren’t available at World Market anymore, but these are very similar.)

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Adding Seashells

Real seashells are transformed into ornaments by drilling a small hole at the top of each shell and then add a wire.

DIY Buoy Garland

Clearly, the tree wouldn’t be complete without a buoy garland. In fact, the buoys were pretty simple to make using varying sizes of styrofoam balls. 

(The width of rope for the garland is the same used for the monkey fist knots.) 

First, we drilled a hole a little larger than the diameter of the rope in the center of each styrofoam ball.

After determining our color scheme we then painted all of the styrofoam balls. 

In order to speed up the process, we stuck one ball at a time on the top of a wide straw. This allowed us to paint around the entire ball at once. 

After each ball had been painted, we placed the ball on the straw into a large drinking glass. This held the buoys up while they dried. 

Another tip to speed up the process is to use a hairdryer to accelerate the drying time. Once all the buoys had been painted and were completely dry, we used electrical tape to add varying widths of stripes around the them. 

Electrical tape is super easy to use. It comes in lots of colors and it gives nice crisp lines.

Once all of the buoys were finished, we strung them onto the rope.

Each buoy is spaced about 5″ apart with a knot at each end of the buoy to hold it in place. 

This part took a while to finish. In retrospect, it would have been easier to make several shorter garland lengths, than one super long garland.

In the end, the buoy garland turned out to be the perfect touch to the tree! It wasn’t hard to make at all, just a little time consuming. 

Sailboats

In addition we added three sailboats from a local craft store to the tree. Each sailboat is about 10″ tall.  In order to turn them into ornaments, we simply added a small loop of jute to the top of each sail mast.

Driftwood Star Tree Topper & Anchors

The wooden anchors were purchased at Walmart. Originally, they were brown, but with a quick coat of red spray paint they were transformed.

I searched and searched for a tree topper. In particular, I wanted something that looked like driftwood. I can’t even remember where I finally found this one, but it is perfect! 

Although it’s not meant to be a tree topper, it works great!

Nativity Vignette

The area above the piano has been dedicated to the nativity scene. A small collage of artwork hangs above the piano with the nativity and other small pieces of art.

A large Willow Tree nativity set takes center stage on top of the piano.

Along with more fresh greenery which grounds this vignette.

Clearly, nativity sets can be expensive, however adding pieces each year after year spread out the cost of our Willow Tree Nativity Set.

Sand-dollar & Starfish Stockings

Of course, we had to add coastal Christmas decorations to the stockings. 

Currently we don’t have a fireplace or mantle to hang the stockings on, therefore I like to display them on our railing. Swaging a couple of pine garland strands across the railing, then securing it in a few of spots with removable 3M hooks. 

As a result when the Christmas decor comes down, the 3M hooks are easily removed from the railing without leaving any residue or  marks! Gotta love that!

The burlap stockings are from Hobby Lobby purchased a couple of years ago. Overall, I kept them simple and neutral to maintain the calm, relaxing theme.

A striped ribbon was added to each stockings and secured with hot glue.

Then, I made an ornament to hang from the ribbon. They’re pretty fragile since they are made from real sand-dollars and starfish. 

(Probably not the best idea since we have a house full of kids, but it’s so pretty. I couldn’t resist!)

The starfish are attached to the sand-dollar with hot glue, then it’s secured to the ribbon with jute. Not only are these easy to make, but it didn’t take much time at all.

Adding Coastal Embellishments to Garland

Adding coastal elements to the garland was also quite easy. Leftover sand-dollars and starfish are scattered throughout. 

 Adding a  bit of wire to the sand-dollars creates a hook, then I twisted it around the garland to hold into place.

Next, the starfish were carefully placed near the sand dollar to add that final coastal touch.  

Finally large burlap bows drape the newel posts to soften the edges of the railing.

Even if you’re not into coastal Christmas decorations, hopefully you’re still able to get a few decor ideas you can incorporate into your own home this Christmas Season! 

Aside from the coastal themed ornaments and stockings, much of the decor in this space is our year round decor. The whole look is pulled together by bringing in the fresh greenery.

Not only does this adds so much to the space, but it also  really helps bring the whole theme together. In particular the fresh greenery adds so much to the look and feel of the room, not to mention that scent is fabulous too!

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