7 Handmade Yo-Yo Ornaments with Merry Little Christmas

Hi! I’m Casey Chatham from Sew Worthy Mama. I create quilt patterns designed with motherhood in mind. From playful projects that invite the kids to join in or cozy quilts to snuggle up with, my goal is to help moms find joy and creativity in sewing while bringing beauty to their homes and creating new memories and family traditions. (Note: This post contains a few affiliate links. Through these links, I earn a commission from sales at no additional cost to you.)

I have really been loving quilted yo-yo projects this year! They’re portable, versatile, and just vintage enough to add a little sweetness to anything you make. (Read my previous post about making my vintage yo-yo flower garland!)

So when I got a chance to decorate an entire tree with handmade ornaments using the Merry Little Christmas collection, I knew I had to make them with yo-yos!

I came up with 5 ornament designs to fill my tree, plus 2 more super-simple and super-quick makes to whip up when you’re short on time. A total of 7 types of ornaments, all made with yo-yos, are filling my tree with a nice variety of yo-yo candies, lollipops, wreaths, trees, candy canes, and more!

Whether you’re decorating your own tree, topping gifts, making teacher presents, or participating in an ornament exchange, I’m sharing my designs with you! I promise you’ll have unique ornaments for any use or recipient.

Making the Yo-Yos

Before you make an ornament, you’ll need to make yo-yos. If you’re not yet familiar with how to make basic yo-yos, I have 3 ways for you to learn:

1. Download my FREE yo-yo supply list and quick reference guide. It comes with step-by-step photo instructions.
2. Check out my previous post about making my vintage yo-yo flower garland. It has complete step-by-step photo instructions on making yo-yos.
3. Sign up for Quilt ‘n Learn where I’m teaching a yo-yo workshop in January. It’s free to sign up, and there’s a VIP option if you’d like instant access and over 30 VIP bonuses! (My 2 VIP bonuses are yo-yo projects, too: A yo-yo checkerboard pattern and a guide to making modern yo-yos.)
4. Or…try all of these!

Once you’re up on making yo-yos, you’ll probably get addicted like me! They’re so fun and easy. Beyond ornaments, I make them into bracelets, hair accessories, sweatshirt appliqués, home decor, and more.

Creating a Cohesive Collection of Ornaments

Using a fat quarter bundle to make a collection of ornaments makes it easy to create a coordinated stylish tree! I highly recommend using a fat quarter bundle of a single collection such as Merry Little Christmas. Check out lots of other Riley Blake Christmas fabric collections for more styles or color palettes to suit you.

It was really fun to choose various combinations of fabrics from the bundle and just cut a little here and a little there as I needed it!

Since yo-yos don’t require much fabric, you don’t need to make much of a plan. You can just dive in and improvise a bit.

The one exception is my Stacked Christmas Tree ornament. It requires 9 yo-yos in 5 sizes from one fat quarter. Since you do need most of a fat quarter for it, if you don’t plan for it, it can be tough to get the sizes cut that you need. But, there will be enough left for a few other yo-yos for a wrapped candy ornament! Otherwise, the other ornament styles require fewer or smaller yo-yos that don’t need much forethought.

7 Yo-Yo Ornament Styles

The possibilities with yo-yos are just endless, but I wanted to create a set of ornaments with a vintage feel that would be quick to create because I knew I’d need quite a few to decorate an entire tree! So I created 7 different yo-yo ornament styles including 2 that are incredibly fast to whip up in case of last-minute decorating or gifting (which, I mean, happens to us all, right?). The designs include:

• Wreath
• Wrapped Candies
• Lollipop
• Candy Cane
• Stacked Christmas Tree
• Plus 2 Super-Quick Basic Yo-Yo Ornaments.

As I developed each ornament, I did some trouble shooting. Trust me, the tutorial will save you several headaches! Don’t be disappointed by droopy oval wreaths or stacked Christmas trees that fall apart when your 2 year old gets hold of it (definitely speaking from experience!). I already went through all of those issues and more and created solutions to save you the troubles.

My Favorites and the Quickest Makes

I think the lollipops and the wrapped candies are my favorites. Since they only take 2 yo-yos, they’re fast to make. Something about vintage style candy just really brings up warm Christmas feelings for me, so I think that’s why these are my favorite! I definitely made the most of these two styles for my tree.

With the wreath ornament, I realized that while green seems the most natural color to use, it can be hard to see it on the tree, so I ended up hanging my first wreath on a cabinet knob instead where it’s much more visible. Then I made my second wreath in a holly print with a white background. It pops on the tree!

The candy canes and the stacked Christmas tree take the most yo-yos, so they also take the most time, but they are so lovely! These two have been my kids’ favorites. Especially with the jingle bell on the stacked Christmas tree ornament.

And of course, the 2 basic yo-yo ornaments are good for last minute needs, but they could also be great as gift toppers or other decoration.

Fussy Cuts

My favorite thing about the Merry Little Christmas collection are the ample fussy-cutting opportunities! I love to use the back side of a yo-yo as much as the front gathered side when it makes sense. “Treats Cream” and “Treats Green” as well as the 3 “Santa Heads” prints (Green, Pine, and Red) are perfect for fussy-cut yo-yos!

Don’t worry, I go over how to get the perfect fussy cut in my tutorial!

Using the “wrong side” of the yo-yo is especially cute on the wrapped candies because it gives them just a little puff as if there really is a little candy inside!

The Ornaments Tutorial

My 21-page tutorial provides instructions to make sure your ornaments last and ensure they hold their intended shapes year after year. And as I mentioned, I’ve already worked out the kinks to make it easy peasy for you!

Use the code RILEY at check out for 10% off all PDF patterns and tutorials!

Make 1 or 100! If you’re anything like me, you won’t be able to stop! Merry Making!

For more patterns designed with motherhood in mind, visit Sew Worthy Mama or follow me on Instagram. Find more yo-yo resources and tutorials HERE.