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Christmas decorations

22 DIY Christmas Decorations with Skates and Sleds

From paper skate ornaments to vintage skate swags and decorated sleds, these Christmas projects offer ideas for trees, doors, rooms, and porches.

By ThatPainter Team 6 min read
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Make skate- and sled-themed Christmas décor at the scale that suits your space: paper, felt, or wood skate ornaments for the tree; vintage skates dressed with greenery for a door or display; and decorated sleds for a porch or entryway. The ideas below combine documented project methods with clearly labeled variations you can adapt with paint, ribbon, greenery, and other seasonal accents.

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How to choose a skate or sled project

Start with the object and the display space. A paper or felt skate is a small, low-tool ornament; a wooden skate requires cutting and drilling tools; existing skates and sleds make larger seasonal displays. These projects have not been compared in controlled tests, so there is no established universal easiest or least expensive option.

  • For a tree: choose paper, felt, or a small wooden skate ornament.
  • For a door or room: decorate vintage skates or make larger wooden skate décor.
  • For a porch or entryway: use an old sled as the display base if you have one.
  • For an upcycling project: turn small shoes into decorative skates, or repurpose skates you already own.

Make skate ornaments for the tree

1. Paper skate pair

The Carroll County Farm Museum’s printable activity uses a skate template. Print it on cardstock, or regular paper if that is what you have; cut out the shoe and blade; color or paint the shoe; punch holes for yarn or ribbon laces; color the blade gray or silver, or add glitter with glue; then glue the parts together. Print a second template to make a pair. See the museum’s printable instructions.

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2. No-sew felt spats-style skates

Fleece Fun offers a spats-style felt skate pattern. Its particular method lists five colors of wool-blend felt, heat-transfer vinyl, a cutting machine, a glue gun, and glue sticks; ribbon and an EasyPress Mini with mat are optional. Follow the tutorial’s machine and heat-transfer steps if using that embellishment, rather than treating those tools as necessary for every felt ornament. View the pattern and tutorial.

3. No-sew snowflake felt skates

The same Fleece Fun tutorial also offers a snowflake design. Use that pattern for a second look, or vary the felt colors and ribbon while keeping to the construction method described there. Get the snowflake pattern.

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4. Thin-wood skate ornaments

Saws on Skates makes small skate shapes from thin plywood, lauan, paneling, or similar sheet material. The tutorial uses a printed template, scroll saw, drill for the lace and hanger holes, paint, and twine. Scrap thin plywood or another suitable thin material can work, so a new sheet of a particular plywood product is not a requirement. Follow the woodworking tutorial.

5. Painted wooden skate ornaments

Use the wooden skate shape as a canvas: paint the shoe in a holiday color and finish the blade in a contrasting gray or silver. This is an editorial finish suggestion for the cut-wood ornament method, not a separate source-documented pattern; follow the template, cutting, and drilling guidance in the woodworking tutorial. See the template-based project.

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6. Twine-laced wooden skates

For a rustic finish, lace the drilled shoe holes with twine and use twine for the hanging loop, as in the Saws on Skates project. Paint or leave the wood natural to suit the rest of your tree. See the twine and hole details.

Make larger skate decorations

7. Large wooden skate with snowflake detail

The Inspired Workshop documents a larger skate cut with a scroll saw, finished with stain or paint, drilled lace holes, and painted snowflake detail. Its measurements and construction sequence belong to that specific project; the author notes that drilling before painting would have been preferable in retrospect. See the full-size décor tutorial.

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8. Stained wooden skate accent

For a warmer wood look, use the stain finish shown as an option in The Inspired Workshop’s larger skate décor project. Treat the shape and dimensions as project-specific rather than universal. View the wooden skate project.

9. Painted wooden skate accent

Paint is the other finish option documented in the larger skate tutorial. A painted surface can also provide a background for its snowflake detail; keep any color choice personal to your display. See the paint and snowflake approach.

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Decorate vintage skates

10. Greenery-and-ribbon skate swag

Garden Therapy dresses a pair of skates with greenery, ribbon, pinecones, and ornaments, then hangs the swag on a front door or potting shed. An over-the-door wreath hanger is suggested as a way to hang it without adding a screw or nail. Existing skates, including a pair still used occasionally, can be repurposed for this décor. See the vintage skate swag method.

11. Skate swag with a pinecone accent

Use the pinecones included in Garden Therapy’s embellishment mix as a natural-texture accent among the greenery and ribbon. This is a variation on that documented swag, not a separate construction pattern. View the swag tutorial.

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12. Ornament-accented skate swag

Add ornaments to the greenery-and-ribbon arrangement, following the mix in Garden Therapy’s skate swag. Choose accents that coordinate with the door or potting shed where the pair will hang. See the decorated skate pair.

13. Vintage skates on a wood base

South House Designs displays vintage skates on wood bases with seasonal greenery and accents. The examples include red or white painted boots, decorative painting, lace details, and greenery placed in or around the boot. See the skate-and-base arrangements.

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14. Red-boot skate display

Use red-painted boots as the focal point of a wood-base arrangement, as shown among South House Designs’ examples. Pair the display with seasonal greenery or accents to suit your room. View the vintage skate display ideas.

15. White-boot skate display

A white-painted boot gives the same wood-base display a lighter look; South House Designs includes white as well as red painted examples. The paint treatment is an option shown in that project, not a required finish. See the painted skate examples.

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16. Lace-detail skate display

Let the laces remain a visible detail in a vintage skate arrangement, or emphasize them as part of a decorative painted boot. South House Designs shows lace details among its examples. See the lace and greenery treatments.

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Turn a sled into Christmas décor

17. Classic greenery-and-bow sled

Maria Makes lists an old wooden sled, wired ribbon or a premade bow, artificial greens or a wreath, berries, jingle bells, ice skates or other decorations, and twine or floral wire for a simple vintage holiday sled display. The author’s list gives materials rather than one fixed arrangement, so arrange them to fit the sled. See the material list.

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18. Sled with a wreath and bow

Use a wreath as the greenery element and wired ribbon or a premade bow for a clear focal point, both among the materials Maria Makes lists. Secure decorations with twine or floral wire as appropriate to your arrangement. View the vintage sled project.

19. Berry-and-bell sled accent

Add berries and jingle bells to the old-sled display, drawing on the material list in Maria Makes. These are accents for a decorative sled, not required components of every arrangement. See the listed sled embellishments.

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20. Sled decorated with skates

Maria Makes includes ice skates among the possible decorations for an old wooden sled. Use a pair you already have as part of the display, or choose other decorations from the same materials list. See the sled materials and options.

21. Sled with baby-shoe skates

Sadie Seasongoods turns vintage baby shoes into decorative skates by making and painting blade shapes, then attaching them to the soles with hot glue reinforced by super glue. For the sled display, a small wreath hangs from a cup hook, the shoes attach by their laces, and a ribbon bow finishes the arrangement. These shoes are decorative upcycled pieces, not functional skates. Follow the baby-shoe skate project.

22. Sled with an interchangeable seasonal accent

Keep the sled as the display base and change the arrangement of greenery, wreath, bow, berries, bells, or skates as your available materials change. Those elements appear in Maria Makes’ list; the interchangeable arrangement is an editorial suggestion rather than a separately documented project. See the listed decoration options.

Choose the right method for your tools

Project type Materials and tools Best fit
Paper skate Printed template, paper or cardstock, coloring or paint, hole punch, yarn or ribbon, glue; museum instructions Small ornament with basic cutting and gluing
Felt skate Wool-blend felt, glue gun and sticks; the Fleece Fun method also lists heat-transfer vinyl and a cutting machine, with ribbon and EasyPress Mini and mat optional Soft ornament with optional machine-applied detail
Thin-wood ornament Suitable thin sheet material, template, scroll saw, drill, paint, twine; Saws on Skates Small wood ornament for someone equipped to cut and drill
Larger wood décor Wood, scroll saw, drill, stain or paint; The Inspired Workshop’s project Larger room or seasonal display
Existing skate or sled display Reclaimed skates or sled, greenery, ribbon, wreath, ornaments, or other listed accents depending on the project Door, porch, or entryway arrangement

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