How to Make Red, Black & White Minimalist Ornaments

Modern Minimalist ornaments are everywhere and look fantastic at Christmas. Here’s how you can DIY this look in a way that’s also perfect for gifting!

This Christmas, I’m working on incorporating some modern minimalist ornaments into my Christmas decorating. I love classic Christmas colors, but I also LOVE black and white. This project pulls together both in a way that is perfect for dabbling in some minimalist influences.

Not so into the whole “cold” minimalist look? No worries, you can use different colors and get a whole new look in whatever vibe you’re feeling this Christmas.

Not reading this at Christmas? No problem there either! This project is absolutely adaptable to any time of the year. Just change out your colors and BOOM, you’re right in tune with the month at hand. (Yeah, you can thank me in the comments lol.)

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Don’t forget, this is a blog hop. That means that in addition to checking out this post, at the bottom you’ll see all the other DIY Ornaments posted by the other bloggers who are also responding to the prompt. You’ll love what they came up with so make sure you check each and everyone out!

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Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

what you need for this minimalist ornament

This is a minimalist project, obviously, so you might have everything on hand that you need. If not, look at my recommendations. I’m really happy with the brands I purchased. Let’s take a look at all of it:

• Wooden Beads
• Paint (Black and White)
• Paint Pens
• Plaid Ribbon
• Black Brush Fringe Trim
• Paint Brushes
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
• Floral Wire (optional)

minimalist ORnaments your way

I’m all about black and white decorating. I do LOVE my red accents though, especially at Christmas. Wasn’t I jumping over the moon when I was wandering through Michael’s and I found the prettiest black, white, and red plaid ribbon?

Not deterred by the fact that I didn’t have a specific project in mind, I bought a couple of rolls. A gal can never have too much ribbon, after all.

Then I remembered a wooden bead garland at my daughter Sophie’s apartment. This got me thinking. Next thing you know, I’ve ordered wood beads, paint, and the rest – as described below – is history!

Base paint each bead

The first step is to paint a base coat. A quick note, the paint I’m using was selected because it’s a glossy finish. Unfortunately, it’s not acrylic so a paint thinner is needed for cleaning up. You can select a water-based craft paint instead if that’s a deal-breaker. Or, be like me and since the paintbrushes are really cheap, just throw them away when you’re done.

I pulled out a hanger to use as a rack for painting the beads yet realized I didn’t need it. The multi-pack of craft paintbrushes that Stella, my youngest, gave me last year (random gift, I know yet it’s so handy to have) was perfect. As I used one brush, there were a lot of others for me to use to hold the wooden beads.

Just pop a bead on the paint brush and there’s an instant handle. Voila!

Let the paint dry before moving on to the next step.

Add some details

You can just leave the beads as they are painted and it will look great. I’m going ahead and adding details because I’ve had so much fun painting in two other recent projects, How to Use Scandinavian Decor as Holiday Table Inspiration and How to Use a Recipe for Salt Dough at Christmas. I’m a bit obsessed right now.

The Artistro white paint pens worked really well for the raised tray I made (see it again in How to Make a Simple Christmas Table Set) so I ordered a multi-color set for this project.

Using the paintbrush handle trick again to hold the wooden beads, I’m adding what I think of as minimalist ornament details. I did do a bit of online research to get ideas. In the end, I made a series of lines, hearts, and a few letters in a variety of patterns.

To personalize this ornament, you can add names to the beads. I wrote out “Stella” on one bead. Then, on another ornament, I added a single letter to each of the three beads to spell out “Dan”. Good thing his name is 3 letters!

The paint pens don’t take long to dry, which is a huge plus. You can go on to the next step and by the time you’re done, you’ll be ready to handle your beads.

Make your tassels

Take out your glue gun, glue sticks, and brush fringe. Cut off 3″ of fringe for the tassel.

When cutting a fringe, it’s important to tape the raw end on your stash as it will fray a lot. You don’t have to do this on the piece you’re working with as the hot glue will fuse the ends.

Lay the brush fringe on a work surface, squeeze out a bead of hot glue along the top, and roll into a tassel.

Add the ribbon

Choose the ribbon that makes your heart sing, as I did, but I suggest making it at least 1″ thick so it will hold the beads in place.

Cut a 12″ length of ribbon, hot glue the ends onto the tassel top.

With ribbon from the roll, tie a bow around the top of the tassel and the ribbon loop. Trim the ends to match. If you need help with your bow tying skills, check out 2 Ways to Tie a Bow with Ribbon Perfectly!

Squeeze the ribbon loop through the wood beads. To make this easier, loop a little bit of floral wire around the loop of the ribbon, slide the beads down the wire, and onto the ribbon.

That’s it! It’s ready for your tree …

OR, like me, you are using this for gift toppers. Remember, the challenge of the blog hop? To make a DIY ornament that’s perfect for gifting! Not much more perfect than topping a gift!

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We do love our options, don’t we?!

If you like this idea but aren’t into the whole paint and assemble thing, here are some options for you to just buy and give (you can claim them as your own, I won’t tell!).

blog hop links

You love projects as much a me!

I hope you enjoy this project. If so, here’s a PIN all ready for Pinterest. Go ahead and pin it to one of your boards!

If you enjoyed this project, take a look at some others that are striking well with our community:

• How to Use a Recipe for Salt Dough at Christmas
• How to Make a Simple Christmas Table Set
• How to Finger Knit a Chunky Bolster Pillow
• How to Start a Cricut Maker Obsession
• How to Use Scandinavian Decor as Holiday Table Inspiration