DIY Christmas Crafts Using Jenga Blocks
DIY Christmas Crafts using Jenga Blocks are super simple and fun to make. Use them to add holiday cheer to your home or give them away as gifts.
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DIY Christmas Crafts Using Jenga Blocks
Not too long ago, I made some jenga block crafts using supplies from the Dollar Tree. The Dollar Tree calendars had just come out and they were so cute! I used those to make magnets and Christmas ornaments.
That post has become pretty popular, so when I saw some Christmas tags at the Dollar Tree that were the perfect size top make more magnets and ornaments, I knew I had to make more. If you already read that post then this one will be a quick refresher of what to do.
Supplies Needed for Christmas Jenga Crafts
There are a handful of supplies you need to make this craft. You can make the magnets, the ornaments, or both. I’ll indicate which is needed for each craft.
- Mini jenga blocks (tumbling tower game) from the Dollar Tree
- Christmas gift tags from the Dollar Tree
- Craft knife to cut the edges of the tags away.
- Spray adhesive
- Magnets – for the magnet craft
- Ribbon or twine – for the ornament craft
- Hot glue – for both crafts
- Scissors – both crafts
The Dollar Tree does have spray adhesive but it sucks. You can get it to work but it’s a struggle and not worth it to me. You can give it try if you’re on a really tight budget though. Otherwise, I’d go with Elmer’s spray adhesive. Both the craft bond and the regular spray adhesive works.
Everything else can be picked up at the Dollar Tree. I got a craft knife there that works great and the magnets there are nice because they are pretty thin so they don’t make the magnet stick out too far. However, if you want your Christmas magnets to sit flush with the fridge then you can use magnet sheets.
As I said before in my other post, I like to keep the magnets businesses send in the mail and then reuse them for crafts. They work great for these DIY Christmas magnets but you’ll have to use the spray adhesive to stick them to the jenga blocks. Where as, if you buy the magnet sheets, they have a sticky backing.
How to Make Jenga Block Squares
Both jenga crafts are actually square so we need to glue 3 jenga blocks together. Each tumbling tower game comes with 36 blocks which means you can make 12 squares.
Step 1 – Glue three jenga blocks together using hot glue.
Grab a jenga block and run a strip of hot glue down the side and then quickly line another jenga block up with it and press together. Then, do the same thing with the third jenga block. Set that block aside and continue the process with the rest of the jenga pieces until you have 12 squares.
Make sure you squeeze the blocks together really tight to distribute the glue well. Otherwise, the pieces can have gaps between them which can make them sit weird. The glue can ooze out the sides so be careful not to burn yourself.
Step 2 – Adding the Christmas Tag
These particular Christmas tags open up like little cards. We only want the decorative part so cut the top part off along the line where the tag opens. You’ll be left with a square.
Use the spray adhesive to stick the tags onto your new jenga squares. Line things up to be as center as possible. This spray can be a bit messy so make sure to spray over something you don’t mind messing up like a cardboard box or an old towel.
Keep an eye on the tags that you’ve already glued down to make sure none of the corners pop up. If they do, then smooth them down and hold for a couple of seconds. I only had to do this to one. If you use enough adhesive then you shouldn’t have to worry about it.
You will probably have a bit of tag hanging over the edge of your square so use the craft knife to cut off any extra pieces. Lay the squares on a cutting mat, board, or more cardboard so you don’t cut into anything important.
Now, you’re ready to make magnets or ornaments! Things should be looking pretty adorable.
DIY Christmas Jenga Block Magnets
Now that your squares are made and looking cute, you just need to add the magnets to the back. Line the jenga squares up on the magnets and trace. Then cut them out just inside the line so that the magnet is slightly smaller than the square. Or just eye ball it and then cut.
If you bought magnet sheets with sticky backs then you simply peel the backing off and stick the adhesive side down onto the backs of your jenga squares. If you’re using the round magnets from the dollar store or mailer magnets then you’ll need to glue them onto the back. I like to use the spray adhesive.
Your magnets are all done. Stick them on your fridge, a magnet board, a metal desk. Where ever you desire.
Making an Ornament
Making a Christmas ornament out of jenga blocks can be super easy but you can do some extra steps to make things look even nicer. Since I already give you directions for adding ribbon to your jenga blocks in THIS POST, I’m going to show you another option here. This one uses twine.
Today I’m using bakers twine in Christmas colors because it looks good on my Christmas tree but you can use regular brown twine as well. Just eye ball the length you want your loop to be and then cut. Put a dab of hot glue on the back, top of the ornament and stick the ends of the twine down in it. I use a popsicle stick to press the twine into the hot glue so I don’t burn my fingers.
You can now hang the ornament on the Christmas tree. You really won’t see the back so you don’t need to worry about what it looks like but if you’re making these as a gift then you can cut out the same tag and glue it to the back so the ornament is double sided. Or, you can grab a sheet of poster board while you’re at the Dollar Tree and cut a square out to glue to the back.
If you do that then you can write the date the ornament was made, along with your name or a quick message on the back. Either way, I’m sure anyone would love a set of these as a gift.
DIY Christmas Craft Extras
I think these look pretty cute just the way they are but there are a couple of things you can do to change up the look of these DIY Christmas jenga block crafts.
The first is to add paint or stain to your jenga blocks. Painting them white or adding a dark stain would look great on both the magnets and ornaments. It could give things a finished look. Really, you can use any paint and stain colors you’d like.
You can also make the ornaments look a little more polished by adding a tiny screw eye pin hook and then threading the twine through it to make your Christmas ornaments. It would definitely give them a more professional look. Plus, the ornaments would hang a little less skewed because the twine would be direct center.
These are just ideas. You can make these crafts however you want. The more you add the more the price goes up so it really just depends on your budget.
Happy crafting, friends!
