How to Make Himmeli Ornaments for Your DIY Christmas Decor

Learn how to make himmeli ornaments for your Christmas decor. These handmade Finnish-inspired Christmas tree ornaments are so easy and cheap to make, plus the geometric look adds a modern edge to your tree.

As I was planning out what I wanted to do with our Christmas decor this year, I became obsessed with the Finnish straw Christmas ornaments, himmeli. Have you seen them? These delicate geometric Christmas ornaments are just my style and I knew I had to make some for our Christmas tree this year.

After some research, I realized the small brass straws have to be ordered internationally and, seeing as I’m super impatient, I decided I could DIY them cheaper and quicker than waiting for the brass straws to arrive.

I’m so glad I did! Let me show you how to make himmeli ornaments. They are seriously so relaxing and fun to make!

They take a bit of time, but once you get the hang of it, it’s so fun to sit and string them and come up with new unique designs. No two ornaments are alike…or at least mine aren’t.

How to Make Himmeli Ornaments

Plus, these ornaments are cheap to make! Like SUPER cheap! I made about 40 for just the $2 box of straws and everything else I already had. Here’s how to make your own.

Himmeli Supplies

These coffee stirrer straws
Fishline
Scissors
Spray paint (optional)

Himmeli Instructions

This project is much easier to show you how to do then tell you, so watch this quick video so I can show you exactly how to make them yourself.

Here’s the basic steps, but definitely go back and watch the video a few times if you need to and just remember it shouldn’t be difficult. All fishline needs to go through straws and all attached.

1. Cut Straws

For the traditional himmeli ornament, you’ll need 3 sets of 4 straws of one length each.

This ornament, for example, I used two sets of the same size for an equal top and bottom height.

2. Make Base Shape

First, make a basic triangle stringing two straws on of one length and adding one of a shorter length.

3. String

Tie a knot to hold your base triangle tight together and then you can continue to string on straws to build up your ornament.

The great thing about using fishline instead of a thread fiber is that it’s easier to adjust and pull tight as needed to get all the joints aligned correctly. Be sure to not pull too tight or you risk bending your straws.

Continue adding a short straw and long straw until you have your pyramid shape.

4. Knot

Once your first pyramid is complete, tie another double knot to hold that shape, then you can keep stringing on the straws to finish up the top of the pyramid.

Remember, watch the video above for all the details.

The key to these ornaments is lacing the fishline through the straws so that every straw is attached to every other straw at the point.

Once you get the basic ideas, the shapes you can make are endless. I ended up making some double layer Himmeli, some with hexagons and random shaped ones, and all different sizes. I love how they turned out and I may have gone a little overboard that I had enough to hang above our brand new fireplace.