These DIY dog treat Christmas ornaments are easy to make and customise as a unique holiday gift. They’re great as cute (and inexpensive) little gifts for furfriends, take away gifts for pawty guests, or as take along gifts for the furbabies of your host or hostess. They’d be a fun idea for charity fundraisers leading up to the holidays as well. Pawfect for all sorts of howliday gifting and giving!
Fillable Bauble Ornaments and Decoration Options
Supplies and Materials
The basic supplies needed to make these dog treat Christmas ornaments are fillable bauble ornaments and small treats. Everything else can be customised to suit the style of ornament or gift you’d like to create and give. Easy!
- Fillable bauble ornaments
- Small dog treats
My ornaments came from a local craft store, but they’re also available online. Check out the fillable bauble ornaments on Amazon (affiliate link) for product examples and ideas. Make sure the style of bauble you choose opens to allow you to easily insert/remove the treats. Some styles, like those with removeable tops, may not suit your preferred treat shapes or sizes. If you can’t find fillable ornaments or want a plastic-free alternative, little jars, or small treat bags (bought or homemade) make great gift packages. I love my homemade pocket dog treat bags.
Decorating Option: Painted Baubles
The ornament baubles are cute plain, but I decided to use some metallic silver and gold spray paint to fancy a few up a little. If you are painting your baubles, it’s best to avoid getting paint inside the ornament where it will be in contact with food (just to be on the safe side) or on the inside edges of where the two halves connect for best fit. I used masking tape on the edges and taped a little bit of scrap paper/plastic from the packaging into the back of the bauble, just in case.
Painting designs and shapes onto the outside is tricky for clean lines with slick rounded plastic. Masking the front “window” for baubles as shown looked great when finished, but was painful precise work. Painting only one side so there is a clear front and metallic back as shown in some of the finished baubles is a simpler option. Or you can just keep things clear. Easy peasy! Ensure your paint is suitable for plastics, follow the directions for use and safety, keep the coats thin, and allow the paint to fully cure before dressing your baubles for gifting.
Making Christmas Bauble Ornaments with Dog Treats
Filling the Ornaments with Treats
Starting with your prepped (or plain) baubles separated into open halves, carefully fill with small treats or special kibble. Normally, we’re all about the homemade dog treats around here. These dog treat Christmas ornaments are one case where I prefer using store bought treats, just in case. Homemade treats lack the preservatives of commercial treats, and so they will have a much shorter shelf life.
Embellishing the Ornaments for Gifting
Decorate the dog treat Christmas ornaments with ribbons, bows, or tags, and you’re ready for gifting! My treat-filled baubles were topped with simple curling ribbon and I used a loop of bakers’ twine in lieu of a hangar. The tags were made using cardstock and glitter washi tape. Old holiday cards or damaged gift bag can be good sources of sturdy paper for recycling into tags instead of stock, too. You can cut them with a tag paper punch (affiliate link), or by hand, like I did here. For quick work and less offcut waste, cut the paper in a long strip of the length you want for tagging, tape across one long edge, and cut the strip into pieces. Punch the top, notch the bottoms (optional), and done! Alternatively, we also have free printable Christmas tags and a whole rainbow of mix-and-match dog treat tags in our archives.
Although the baubles I used to make these dog treat Christmas ornaments these seemed very well sealed, I would still caution against actually hanging these on your tree unless you’re certain that your pets won’t be interested in trying to snaffle them! Tree climbing disaster and/or plastic bauble biting are to be avoided for safety and sanity. If gifting, give them to the owners and not the pets. Twine, ribbon, cords, or small delicious smelling ornaments filled with treats are not safe for playful or hungry pets. Celebrate safely, furfriends! Happy howlidays!
