Let's make New Year’s decorations by hand! A collection of ideas you can create with everyday materials.
As the New Year approaches, are you thinking about brightening up your space with handmade New Year’s decorations? Store-bought pieces are lovely, but decorations you craft yourself carry a special warmth and sense of attachment.
In this article, we’ll share easy, DIY New Year’s decoration ideas you can try using familiar materials.
From yarn and felt to origami paper, you can create a wide variety of projects with items that are easy to find.
Try making them with your children, or finish them with your own favorite designs for decorations full of originality.
How about preparing for the New Year with heartfelt, handmade items?
Let's make New Year decorations by hand! A collection of ideas using familiar materials (1–10)
New Year’s garland made of felt
Brighten up your room! Let’s make and display a colorful, cute garland! It’s an idea that even handmade beginners can try with ease.
You’ll need thread, felt, thick paper, adhesive fabric, craft glue, scissors, and a hot glue gun.
Felt doesn’t fray when cut, so it’s one of the easiest materials to handle in crafting.
Adding a three-dimensional look will boost the impact and make it the star of your room—no doubt about it! Give it a try!
roly-poly daruma
Fun for the whole family! Try making New Year’s decorations with paper clay.
You’ll need paper clay, marbles, empty capsules, paints, brushes, and so on.
It’s fun to shape the paper clay to match the zodiac animal, but the painting stage will really let personalities shine, too.
By putting a marble inside a capsule, you’ll create an adorable daruma that moves unpredictably—kids are sure to love it! Try varying the sizes for adults and children, and enjoy decorating as you create.
New Year’s decoration in a cotton-ball style
A fluffy, cute idea that also looks great in winter interiors—perfect for the New Year.
Inflate a balloon to create the shape, then wrap yarn around it to form a cotton-ball-like sphere.
Gently brush a mixture of glue and water over the entire surface, sprinkle on glitter for extra sparkle, and let it dry.
Once dry, snip the balloon and remove it from inside to reveal a light, translucent ball ornament.
By changing the yarn color or the type of glitter, you can create pieces with different moods.
Hang them in the entryway or living room as New Year’s decorations to further elevate the festive atmosphere.
Mochibana made from clay
Recommended for those who want to create eye-catching decorations with simple steps! Here’s an idea for making mochi-flowers that the whole family can do together.
You’ll need clay, branches, lacquer spray, glue, and so on.
Since there is a custom of displaying mochi-flowers during the Little New Year, it could also be a chance to learn about Japanese culture.
It’s best to proceed with care for safety when coloring the clay and spraying color onto the branches.
Displaying them in a ceramic vase will really set the mood.
The steps are simple, so be sure to try it with your children.
Hagoita made with origami and materials from 100-yen shops
The hagoita is a motif that strongly evokes the New Year.
While it looks simple as a toy, as a decoration it’s often adorned with lavish embellishments that spill beyond the edges of the paddle.
This piece is about using the shape of the hagoita as a base and freely expressing a New Year’s feel with various decorations, including origami.
The classic approach centers on a fan, then adds elements like mizuhiki cords and flowers; aim for a unified color scheme and a sense of dimensionality as you create.
Above all, it’s important to consider balance—how you layer and arrange each decorative element and where you place them.
Ema made with origami
Ema plaques, on which you write your wishes and hang them up, are indispensable for the New Year.
Their festive decorations heighten the excitement for the coming year.
This craft creates an ema that captures the New Year spirit using origami, aiming for both brightness and a three-dimensional feel.
First, cut patterned origami paper into the shape of an ema.
On the back, layer a sheet of construction paper slightly larger than the ema, and on the front, paste a piece of paper in the center where you’ll write your wish.
Finally, add the string piece and decorations to complete the whole piece.
Layering the various parts brings out depth and festivity.
If you choose origami and embellishments with a traditional Japanese feel, the luxurious atmosphere of the ema will really stand out—highly recommended.
Pom-pom Kagami Mochi
This is a cute kagami mochi mascot with a soft look, made by stacking pom-poms.
If you use a fluffy-ball kit, the pom-poms are easy to make, so focus on shaping the size and form neatly.
Gently press the white “mochi” pom-pom into an oval, and keep the orange part as a sphere, stacking and gluing them together.
Finish by attaching a red-and-white cord and a mandarin leaf.
To help it stand upright, it’s also recommended to glue a circle-cut piece of felt to the bottom.
Tissue paper floral shimenawa wreath
A shimenawa wreath that makes the most of the tissue paper’s soft look and feel, giving a sense of splendor and warmth.
Because thinness is a key feature of tissue paper, layer and glue several sheets together for the rope, then roll them around a core such as a piece of tissue to form a cord.
Prepare two of these rolled cords, twist each one, and braid them together to create the shimenawa base.
After that, decorate it with motifs like flowers and fans.
The wide range of possible arrangements—such as the color of the base rope and the balance of the decorations—is another highlight.
origami kagami mochi
This is an origami kagami mochi that’s perfect for New Year’s decorations! Large kagami mochi can take up space, but with origami you can easily display it in a small area.
Fold white origami paper into a square to create a guide, then cut and make several pieces.
Glue the parts together and open them up to form the three-dimensional mochi.
Next, make different sizes, and create both the mochi and the mikan (orange) in the same way.
You can display them as they are, or place a red sheet on a stand and add sakaki leaves made from green paper.
The way of decorating varies by region, so feel free to arrange it to your liking and have fun with it.
Crocheted shimenawa decoration
Charmed by its cute look! Here’s a crochet shimenawa decoration idea.
In this project, you twist yarn to form the shimenawa rope, crochet decorative flowers and leaves, and attach them.
Since it’s made of yarn, the finished decoration has a warm, cozy feel.
It’s also great that you can get all the materials at a 100-yen shop.
By the way, making an amigurumi to display as a set is also recommended.
Just imagine creating a shimenawa featuring your favorite character or animal—it’s exciting, isn’t it?
