DIY Christmas Window Decor

Welcome to my Holiday DIY series! These projects are designed with gifting and Christmas in mind! In my opinion there's nothing more special and thoughtful than a handcrafted present, OR handmade holiday decor. This year I’m all about the handmade gifts and decorating my entire house with handmade decorations.

This has got to be the easiest and most colourful Christmas window decor idea ever! At the time of writing this I’ve just put up my Christmas tree. I decided to do it early - it’s still November - but I figured, after the year we’ve had in 2021 we need all the festive cheer we can get and I just couldn’t wait! I wanted to go a bit futher with my holiday decor this year and felt like my back windows that look out into my courtyard needed a bit of festive cheer too.

Here’s what I had to work with! A big window with sliding door.

Years ago I came across a photo in a vintage craft magazine from the 50s which showed some Christmas window decor made from masking tape. When I was trying to brainstorm how to make my windows look a bit more festive the image popped into my mind and inspired this easy DIY idea!

I’m a very “more is more” kind of person when it comes to holiday decor, and I prefer super colourful over traditional for my Christmas decorating themes. I loved the idea of something that references minimal Mid Century design (as an ode to the original 50s mag inspo) while also being very maximal (is that a word?!) at the same time. Because my back courtyard is already so busy, as is the inside of my house, I wanted my window decor to be relatively simplistic (well, simplistic for me at least!).

I found a bunch of colourful washi tape at Kmart.

Because my back windows get full blazing sun in Summer, I didn’t want to use a tape that would melt and make the glass all sticky, so I opted for washi tape - which comes in way more fun colours than masking tape anyway. I found mine at Kmart but you can literally get it anywhere these days. I sketched out a basic design for each window pane (I always joke that my sketches look like a child’s stick figure drawings lol) and then got to work taping up the designs. If you want to be super precise with your lines and layout you could always rule up some guidelines with a wax pencil, but as I am an impatient creative, I just got stuck straight into the taping.

The result? A fun and colourful layered washi tape window installation that references Mid-Century motifs and creates a festive outlook into my backyard. Super simple, and really impactful. Plus, it’s really easy to remove and wipe clean when you’re done. I totally love it! If you have kids, this is a really fun project to do with them - everyone can create their own window design and choose their own colours.