Making your own ornaments is a fun craft to do during the holidays and adds such a personal touch to your Christmas tree. These wood slice Christmas ornaments that I made using a wood-burning tool were so easy and the perfect addition to my “Woodland Rustic” tree.
Subscribe by entering your email HERE. That way you won’t miss any new DIY, craft, and recipe posts from The House on Silverado. 🏠
How to Make Wood Slice Christmas Ornaments with a Wood Burning Tool
1. Find or buy some wood slices
Wood slices, big and small, are quite popular right now, so you can find them in craft stores and even on Amazon. Or, you can just go outside and find a branch that is roughly the diameter that you want to use. Find a branch that is dead, because you want it to be dried out already. Plus, I don’t endorse mutilating a tree for the sake of this project. 🤣
I had these little wood slices left over from my wedding, where we used them for place cardholders. We literally chopped these branches off a tree in our backyard that didn’t make it through the winter. My husband did the slicing for me. ❤️

When you make your own wood slices, they will be more rustic, and because they will be hand-cut, and possibly from different branches, they will not be uniform in size.
That’s okay! In fact, I prefer it that way. It adds to the charm and handcrafted appeal.
Some of the slices may have knot holes or lumps in the bark. All of that is just extra character.
Our wood slices had these slots on one side from where the place card was inserted. No big deal, I just used the other side for burning my pattern.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog.
Where to buy ready-made wood slices:
If you need to press the easy button and don’t want to go looking for a branch or have to get out the power tools to cut it, just buy some wood slices.
Because wood slice crafts are popular right now, you can find them at any craft store, or even online.
A quick Amazon search produced some good options:


2. Make sure your wood slices have holes for the string
If you buy the ready-made wood slices, another bonus is that they may already have holes in them for hanging. The ones I linked above not only have pre-drilled holes, they also come with the twine included.
If you’re making your own, like I did, just use a power drill to make a hole near the top of each circle.
Then choose the type of string you want to use. You can go rustic, like twine, or fancy with some glittery ribbons. Even yarn will work. Choose what you like! I used this vintage-looking red-striped twine:

3. You will need a wood-burning tool
I purchased this specifically for this project, and I’m so glad I did. Since I wasn’t sure if I’d use it for anything other than this project, I didn’t want to invest a lot of money in it. When I saw this one for less than $12, I figured even if it was a dud, it wasn’t a big waste of money, so I gave it shot. As it turned out, it worked great, and I’m excited to find some other crafts to use it on now!

4. Decide on what picture or pattern to create
As a beginner, you’re probably not going to be able to create super detailed images with the wood-burning tool, so start out basic.
The first one I created was this snowflake, because it only required straight lines, making it easier to burn.

First, I very lightly sketched an outline of the image I wanted on the wood circle. I just freehanded it after looking up pictures on my computer for ideas. I stuck with very simple designs.

My wood-burning tool came with three different tips, so I just experimented with all three, because they definitely give different looks.
One thing I learned is that you have to go slow, and really hold the pen to the wood for a little bit.
In fact, you can play around with getting darker and lighter tone variations based on how long you hold the pen to the wood and allow it to burn.




I absolutely love having these on my tree. They are one-of-a-kind creations that you can’t buy in any store.
And even more, they were the perfect way to prevent those place card holders from our wedding from being packed away in a box somewhere and instead, allow us to enjoy them year after year. ❤️
I can’t wait to find more uses for my inexpensive wood-burning tool. If you have some ideas, I’d love to hear them!
Wishing you the joy of the season,

If you’re looking for another fun and easy Christmas ornament project, check out some more of my Christmas DIY projects and crafts:






PS. I’d be so grateful if you’d follow me on social media and subscribe via email so you won’t miss a post.
Facebook —– Instagram —– Pinterest
This post contains affiliate links.
Additional Resources:
I recently purchased these number and letter stamps for more crafting with my wood-burning tool! They’re so much fun. You can see how I used them HERE.


Super cute! Did you treat or apply anything on your wood slices after you finished burning them?
Hi Savannah,
No, I didn’t do anything to the wood except make sure it was from a dead branch that was dried out. Hope you give it a try. 🙂
just love these so much – have the larger size wood slices and would love to see what you would do with them!
Super cute! I would love to see different ideas using the wood slices. Love the homey feel they give I love these
Beautiful ornaments. Wood burning has always fascinated me I will have to try it. We will feature your post in the next Blogger’s Pit Stop. Well done.
Kathleen
Thank you so much Kathleen! I’m thrilled to be featured!
This is such a great Christmas ornament Niky. We are so happy to be featuring you at Charming Home and Gardens this week.
Thank you so much Kim! I adore your blog, and always get such great inspiration from the Charming Home and Gardens party. I’m thrilled to be featured there!
This is such a great idea. Look for your feature on Wednesday’s Charming Homes & Garden.
I’m so excited, Rachel! I love your party and am thrilled to be featured!
Your ornaments are truly one of a kind! I got a wood burning tool a few years ago and I had grand ideas about all the things I was going to make and all I made were some personalized wooden spoons. I found it pretty hard to use. Maybe I’ll have to pick it up again! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm. xo Kathleen
I love these rustic decorations! They will be featured in this week’s Creative Compulsions.
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
Thanks so much, Michelle! Your parties always have so many great contributions, so I’m honored to be featured!
I think my boys would love making homemade wood burned wooden slices. I will have to add this to my list of Christmas projects to do with the kiddos.
Thanks for sharing with us on our Embracing Home and Family link-up party!
-Cherelle
These are really fantastic! I love the tree design! Thanks for linking up with #XmasLinky
I made wooden snowflakes last year and they turned out lovely.
I love crafting with natural elements. So glad yours turned out well. 🙂
I’m going to share this with my granddaughter. She would love these!
I have everything to make these: hubby bought me the burning tool last year and wood rounds too!
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
Mireille, I’d love to see your version if you make them! 💜
These are so cute and festive! Brilliant little gifts too.
Those turned out great!
Thanks,Joanne. They were fun to make!