O Little Town of Bethlehem DIY Christmas Ornament
This beautiful DIY Christmas ornament is easy to make with a few simple supplies and the free O Little Town of Bethlehem printable.
I’m just a little bit in love with today’s DIY Christmas ornament.
O Little Town of Bethlehem has always been one of my favorite Christmas carols; there is something about the simplicity and the meaning that I just really love. I think this ornament captures the feeling of the song beautifully.
I’m sharing the easy step-by-step tutorial for making this ornament along with a free printable copy of O Little Town of Bethlehem you can use to make your own.
Free O Little Town of Bethlehem Printable
Clearly, to make this awesome little DIY Christmas ornament, you need a copy of the song O Little Town of Bethlehem.
Mine is from an old hymnal. (Did you realize hymnals have all the classic Christmas carols included? So awesome for Christmas crafting!)
I tend to find hymnals by the dozens at estate sales, yard sales, and thrift stores. But I realize not everyone realized they needed to be on the lookout for an old hymnal.
Plus, I’m sure there are places where scoring an old hymnal isn’t quite so easy as it is here in the South.
So I’m going to help you guys out. I’ve got three of my favorite Christmas carols all ready for you to download and print for all your Christmas crafting needs.
Click here to download O Little Town of Bethlehem, Joy to the World, and Silent Night.
And if you are looking for more great Christmas carol printables, I have nine more right here.
Now that you have your very own copy of O Little Town of Bethlehem, on to the ornament making!
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DIY O Little Town of Bethlehem Ornament
Supplies
- Wood slice – you can cut a slice of a branch from your yard or take the easy route and just buy some like I did
- Copy of O Little Town of Bethlehem – free download here
- Matte Mod Podge and paint brush – for attaching the printable song to the tree slice. You can use a different finish if you prefer, but I think matte looks best for anything vintage inspired
- pencil
- Sharpie
- eye hook and string – for the ornament hanger, baker’s twine is my favorite for hanging ornaments
How to Make the Ornament
Actually making the ornament is pretty simple.
Trace your tree slice onto your copy of the song.
Cut the traced shape out, cutting it slightly smaller than the lines you drew so that a slight border of wood shows once it is attached.
Use Mod Podge to attach the song to the wood. Brush a think layer of Mod Podge onto the wood and smooth the music onto it.
Once it has dried, brush a layer of Mod Podge on top of the song as well to seal it.
Once the Mod Podge has completely dried, draw your Bethlehem skyline onto the song with a pencil.
There isn’t really one right way to do this, just draw an outline of buildings of varying heights with windows.
Fill in the skyline using a black sharpie.
Screw an eye hook into the top of your ornament and hang with a string from your gorgeous Christmas tree!
Ready to see some more amazing Christmas ornaments? You can see all of my handmade Christmas ornaments here. And you can find more creative handmade ornaments from some of my favorite bloggers at the links below:
- Gold Leaf Polka Dot Ornament | The Happier Homemaker
- Polymer Clay Snowflake Ornament | Remodelando la Casa
- Clothes Pin Snowman Ornament | Serendipity Refined
- 3D Deer Head Ornament | Cherished Bliss
- Glitter Monogram Ornament | It All Started With Paint
- Simple Canvas Tree Ornament | Bigger Than The Three of Us
- Cupcake Sprinkles Ornament | All Things G&D
- Frosted Hot Glue Snowflake | Thrifty and Chic
- Globe Ornament | Whats Ur Home Story
- Felt Flower Ornament | May Richer Fuller Be
And if you love Christmas music, I have a whole collection of DIY Christmas music decor along with more printable Christmas music.
What a great ornament! I’m hoping to find time to give it a try, so thanks VERY much for sharing the music.
Thanks Judi! I hope you find time – it really doesn’t take that much!
If you don’t mind my asking, what Christmas song book did this page come from? I had a Christmas piano book from the 70’s. It was my favorite song book. It has been “borrowed” for life. I lost the front cover many, many years ago so I don’t remember the title except it was red. I played those songs for over almost 40 years so I would know the book when I see it. I would greatly appreciate any help. thanks.
Cynthia, These are actually from an old hymnal. Your Christmas song book sounds wonderful and full of good memories – I wonder if you could find a similar one on ebay or etsy?
Regarding the hymns- those two and more can be found in this say arrangement in many hymnals; I have several going back 50+ years that I still play from and copy for crafting…
As for the red music book, try the John Thompson Teaching Little Fingers to Play series. (I think that’s the name; I had a red songbook for piano lessons also 50+ years ago and I think the second book in the series may have been blue; I think there were other colors as the student progressed.) I remember the red songbook because I still have it in the piano bench… I think these books are still around today.
Good luck!
Great tips – I hope that helps her find the book she was looking for!
OOPS:
Make that “this same arrangement…”
About what size is your tree slice?
Julie, the tree slice I used was 3-4 inches in diameter.
Thank you for providing the hymnal pages for download! I’m going to use it with my Sunday School kids to make musical angels this Advent.
What a great project! enjoy!
So beautiful! I’m going to make this for an upcoming Jesse Ornament exchange. Thanks for the ideas!
Glad it helped! This is one of my favorite ornaments!
What size eye hook did you use?
Hi Andrea, I am not sure of the exact size but it was pretty small, probably about 1/4 inch.
Musical ornaments are my favorite.
I love them too! I think sheet music is simply beautiful!