23 Christmas painting ideas to get you feeling festive
Bring joy into your life with our easy Christmas painting ideas! We’ve got everything from festive wreaths to snowflake painting projects
The best part of Christmas has to be the anticipation: we love planning our presents, decorating our homes and making some festive art and craft projects.
The colder weather gives us the perfect excuse to cosy up inside with a creative activity (and a festive movie, of course!). Painting is a relaxing way to get into the holiday spirit, whether you’re by yourself or with friends and family.
It can also be a simple and affordable activity to entertain children in the run-up to Christmas or over the school holidays.
Whether you’re looking for a simple seasonal painting project for beginners or a more advanced tutorial, we’ve found lots of easy Christmas painting ideas for you to try.There’s everything from snowflakes and Christmas tree decorations to explore!
For kids, we’ve got Christmas tree plant pots, festive painted rocks, window painting ideas and much more.
There are lots of brilliant ideas for adults to enjoy too, including watercolour wreaths, winter scenes and even a cheerful little robin!
Read on to check out our suggested painting projects for kids or scroll down to discover our easy Christmas painting ideas for adults.
Easy Christmas painting ideas for kids
1. Fill your windows with festive art
Children and adults will both enjoy creating their own festive art using window paint markers. Cover your windows with snowflakes, gingerbread houses and other seasonal designs.
2. Upcycle old plant pots
Don’t throw your old plant pots away! You can give them a new lease of life with these DIY clay pot Christmas tree ornaments from Projects With Kids.
Kids will love adding their own colourful baubles and even very young children will be able to give this a go with a little help from a grown-up.
3. Make a painted penguin pal
Rock painting is an activity that can be enjoyed all year round, but we couldn’t resist this adorable penguin rock painting project!
You could use rocks of different sizes to make your own penguin colony. If your kids enjoy painting their own penguin pal then make sure you also check out our easy rock painting ideas.
4. Get messy with glue art
This snowman glue resist painting is bound to make a sticky mess, so protect your surfaces before you begin.
Get your kids to paint a glue snowman and add beads to create silly facial features! Then paint over the top with watercolour paints to reveal your magical design.
5. Paint your own Christmas tree cards
Instead of buying cards this year, encourage your children to paint watercolour Christmas cards for all their friends.
6. Create a delicious gingerbread house
This gingerbread house painting tutorial is perfect for older kids to attempt. They can copy the artist’s gingerbread house or add their choice of tasty decorations. For the real thing, head over to our round-up of the best gingerbread house kits.
7. Puff up your painting
Make three-dimensional paintings with this fun technique! Microwave puffy paint can be made using basic ingredients that you’re likely to have at home.
Enjoy making your own festive pictures such as snowflakes and stars.
8. Make wooden Christmas tree ornaments
These rustic decorations will look brilliant on your tree! Find out how to make wood slice Christmas tree ornaments.
Easy Christmas painting ideas for adults
9. Paint stylish baubles for your tree
Get your brushes out for a festive painting session and make your own DIY Christmas tree baubles with talented artist Shayda Campbell.
10. Brush up your skills with watercolour poinsettias
This beautiful seasonal poinsettia painting project is the perfect way to practice your watercolour painting skills!
It’s an easy Christmas painting project for beginners to try this winter.
11. Paint a snowy scene
Painting snow can be challenging, but the end result is well worth it! In this tutorial by Will Kemp, you’ll learn how to paint a magical snowy scene using acrylic paint.
12. Let it snow!
Nothing says Christmas like a classic snowflake painting! In this beginner-friendly art tutorial by Jennifer Rizzo, you’ll learn how to paint this iconic Christmas motif.
Use it to decorate your windows, Christmas baubles or paint it onto plain wrapping paper.
If you love snowflakes, check out our snowflake drawing tutorial too.
Looking for easy drawing ideas?
We all have those days when we struggle to decide what to draw! Find your next project with our easy drawing ideas.
13. How to paint a Christmas wreath
This beautiful Christmas wreath painting tutorial by De Winton Paper Co is simply stunning. In this video lesson, you’ll be guided through the whole painting process from start to finish.
You’ll be amazed how professional your finished artwork looks! If you’re looking for more festive wreaths to draw and paint, head over to our free ink drawing for beginners guide.
14. Design your own Christmas tree baubles
If you only have time for a short painting session, this Christmas tree baubles painting tutorial is just what you need!
It’s really easy to follow and you’ll be able to paint your own festive baubles in minutes.
15. Send love with easy watercolour Christmas cards
These hand-painted card designs by Shayda Campbell fill us with joy! We can’t wait to have a go at this easy watercolour Christmas card project at home.
The steps are very simple and there’s a fantastic video tutorial as well.
16. Grow a forest of Christmas trees
This Christmas tree forest painting workshop by Elle Byers is a fun project for anyone who is new to acrylic painting. The style of this painting is loose and messy, so you don’t need to worry too much about accuracy.
This is also a good picture to paint if you want to try using a canvas for the first time. Painting on a canvas will give your seasonal art a beautiful textured finish.
17. Try painting easy poinsettias using acrylics
You’ve had a go at painting watercolour poinsettias, now paint a second version using acrylics.
In this poinsettia painting lesson by Pamela Groppe, you’ll learn how to build the structure of the flower, how to paint the petals and how to create layers of colour.
18. Chill out with a wintry scene
If you’d prefer to paint a landscape that’s seasonal without being too festive, you’ll love this amazing winter sunset painting guide from Painters Online.
We’re obsessed with the dream-like colour palette that has been used to produce this enchanting winter scene.
19. Deck the halls
Holly has been used to decorate our festive homes for centuries and it wouldn’t be Christmas without it! Follow Anna Mason’s simple video class to create your own glossy holly leaves and berries. You’ll be surprised how realistic they look.
20. Bring joy with a seasonal wreath
We can’t get enough watercolour wreaths in our lives. This elegant wreath project by Emma Jane Lefebvre has a really fresh, modern look.
Personalise it by using your own choice of colours and don’t be afraid to experiment. You can even buy glittering metallic watercolour paints which would be ideal for a project like this one.
21. Simple Christmas tree cards
Christmas cards don’t need to be complicated or time-consuming to make. These easy watercolour Christmas card designs can be done in a matter of minutes. The tutorial includes some great colour mixing tips too.
If you don’t want to make cards, use this painting exercise to fill up a sheet of paper with your own unique Christmas patterns.
22. Create a Christmas still life
Still life compositions are a great way to hone your painting technique and practice getting everything in proportion.
Have a go at creating your own cosy Christmas still life painting with this lovely tutorial by Milly England.
23. Make a merry robin painting
This little robin painting by Diane Antone is very simple in style and would be a good project for someone new to watercolour painting to try.
As a bonus, Diane has included a video tutorial and a sketch of the robin’s outline which can be downloaded for a voluntary fee.
Cosy up with one of our easy Christmas painting ideas
When the days are getting colder, we love to snuggle down with a festive painting project! It’s a calm way to spend an afternoon or evening as Christmas approaches.
Christmas painting can be a solitary activity or a fun pastime to share with friends and family.
Why not involve the children too? Painting is a cheap hobby to do with kids and they’ll love creating their own festive artwork!
Christmas paintings can be used to create decorations or even your own handmade cards. Whatever you decide to do with your finished artwork, you’re guaranteed to have fun making it.
Decorate cards with your own Christmas tree drawing
If you’re looking for even more festive art projects, you’ll love this how to draw a Christmas tree tutorial by Charlotte Kinson.
You’ll learn how to create your own retro Christmas tree drawing, complete with baubles and tinsel!
Authors
Sarah Orme is a UK-based linocut printmaker, digital editor, feature writer and award-winning podcaster. She's been editing the sewing and art sections of Gathered.how – and before that our sister website calmmoment.com – for over 3 years. She’s the host of Gathered’s We’ve Made It podcast and A Calmer Life podcast. She’s a keen crafter and artist and loves creating DIY tutorials for Gathered. Sarah has previously written features for The Guardian, In The Moment Magazine, Project Calm Magazine, countryfile.com, radiotimes.com and yourhomestyle.uk. She enjoys designing her own unique lino prints and dreams of opening her own online shop. She shares her work @sarahormeprints
