Make your own DIY Hanukkah decorations with paint chips

One of our favorite traditions is to decorate our home as a family for Hanukkah. We have a special bin where we store our most-loved decorations, and there’s always so much happiness going through our collection each year. My favorite decorations are handmade, and looking through our bin is like a little time capsule of special Hanukkah memories from all the years’ past.

Handmade decorations don’t have to be fancy or elaborate, like these DIY dreidel garlands and mobiles made from paint chips. For me, the best part of making them is sitting shoulder to shoulder with my girls around our kitchen table planning our garland - first selecting the colors and then deciding on all the other materials to make them extra fun and special.

My youngest daughter Eliza loves paint chips. They’re just the right size for all kinds of small paper crafts. She started collecting them each time we went to a home improvement store, and the best part - they’re completely free! Yay! So since we already had some on hand, they were the perfect “go-to” materials for this craft.

I love that the bottom half of this particular paint chip brand (Lowes Sherwin Williams) is already shaped like a dreidel, so cutting dreidel shapes is extra simple!

To make these garlands and mobiles, we strung all the paint chip dreidels with yarn and added pom-poms and pony beads. Stringing is also wonderful for the development of fine motor skills of little fingers! We used a needle to string the pom-poms, and I would recommend a very blunt needle or a plastic needle for young children.

If you’d like to make your own Hanukkah decorations, we share the steps to make our paint chip dreidel garland and mobile below!

DIY Paint Chip Garland and Mobile

For each dreidel garland and mobile, you will need:

Paint chips (you could use cardstock too!)
Yarn (about 6’)
Scissors
Hole punch
Large eye blunt needle
Other decorations - pony beads, paper beads, pom-poms

Let’s start by making a dreidel garland:

1. Cut 8 - 10 dreidels from paint chips or cardstock. If you’re working with a little, it might be easier for a grown-up to cut the shapes and the punch holes, and then save the stringing of your beads for your little.

2. Punch 2 horizontal holes just under the dreidel handle.

3. Cut the yarn. About 6’ will extend across the front of a fireplace mantel.

4. Tie a loop on one end of the yarn.

4. Thread a needle at the other end and begin threading the dreidels along with the beads and pom poms. We used a pointy needle, but be sure to use a needle appropriate for your little’s age.

5. Alternate dreidels with pom poms and beads until your desired length is finished. Then remove the needle and finish off your strand of yarn with a looped knot.

And that’s it! Our garland is all ready for hanging!

Ready to make a mobile too? You don’t need quite as many dreidels. Let’s get started!

DIY paint chip dreidel mobile:

1. Cut about 4 dreidels.

2. Punch a hole at the top and bottom of the dreidel shape.

3. Fold about 6’ of yarn in half and make a slip knot at the top

4. Feed both strands of yarn through the eye of the needle and then string pom-poms, beads and dreidels pulling from the bottom of the strand up to just under the slip knot at the top.

When you’ve reached your desired length, tie the end with a knot or bow, and hang up your mobile. So cute, colorful and festive!

Whether it’s a well thought out plan or a spur of the moment project, handmade decorations can add a sweet personal touch to your holiday celebrations, and making them with someone you love is just so special. Planning, sharing ideas and working together with kindness and patience is even a Jewish value - Chaverut, which translates to friendship and teamwork.

Have you made any special homemade decorations for Hanukkah this year? Let us know in the comments, and let us know if you make a paint chip dreidel garland or mobile! For another project with paint chips, see our DIY dreidel necklace tutorial. It’s the simplest dreidel necklace to make for littles, and it’s guaranteed to bring many happy smiles!