Animal Crossing: New Horizons ornaments - How to get them, use them, and make holiday decorations

Animal Crossing New Horizons
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Christmas is en route, which can only mean one thing... Animal Crossing: New Horizons ornaments are here! From December 15, the cedar trees on your island will be transformed into fairy light masterpieces, indicating that the time has come to start collecting ornaments in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. 

Ornaments are a brand new crafting material for the season, and will allow you to build the equally new Festive DIY recipes that you'll start collecting from now too. 

Here's everything you need to know about Animal Crossing: New Horizons ornaments, including how to find them, and collect all the recipes. 

What are Animal Crossing: New Horizons ornaments?

Animal Crossing New Horizons

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Ornaments are a brand new crafting item in-game, which will only appear between December 15 - 24. They come in three variants:

  • Red Ornaments
  • Blue Ornaments
  • Gold Ornaments

You'll be able to collect multiple per day, so make sure to start a good collection if you want to build everything the 

Where to find Animal Crossing: New Horizons ornaments?

Animal Crossing New Horizons

(Image credit: Nintendo)

In order to find find Animal Crossing: New Horizons ornaments, you'll need to have plenty of cedar trees on your island (aka the pine trees). Some of these will be decorated with fairy lights, and these are the ones that will be your go-to for collecting ornaments. 

Shake any of these Christmas light adorned trees and they'll drop ornaments rather than sticks or pine cones. You'll get several per tree, so make sure to give them a good shake. 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Festive DIY Recipes

Animal Crossing New Horizons

(Image credit: Nintendo)

You can use the Animal Crossing: New Horizons ornaments to create the full set of Festive DIY recipes, once you've collected them all. You'll find them in the usual spaces - inside bottles, floating by balloon, or as gifts from your villagers - so make sure you play regularly to collect them all before Animal Crossing: New Horizons Toy Day on December 24.

Here's the full list of Animal Crossing: New Horizons Festive DIY recipes:

  • Big Festive Tree
  • Festive Rug
  • Festive Top Set
  • Festive Tree
  • Holiday Candle
  • Illuminated Present
  • Illuminated Reindeer
  • Illuminated Snowflakes
  • Illuminated Tree
  • Jingle Wall
  • Ornament Mobile
  • Ornament Wreath (automatically given to you by Isabelle)
  • Tabletop Festive Tree
  • Festive Wrapping Paper
Sam Loveridge
Brand Director, 12DOVE

Sam Loveridge is the Brand Director and former Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar. She joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.

Read more
Disney Christmas Countdown Castle in front of a Mickey and Minnie Mouse plush set, with a twinkling tree in the background
Best Disney Christmas merch 2024
Image of the box art to Mario & Luigi Brothership, Super Mario Wonder and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom on Nintendo Switch with a purple background.
Move over Santa - Woot still has black Friday-worthy Nintendo Switch deals perfect for the holidays
Lego Stitch, Poinsettia, and Dancing Groot against a snowy background
Best Lego Christmas sales before shipping closes - here are 11 deals I would prioritize
Nintendo gifts with Super Mario-style mushrooms on a red background
Best Nintendo Switch gifts for 2025
PS5, games, headset, and controller on a green background with holiday sales badge
Amazon's Last Minute Christmas sales are big for gamers - these are the 11 gifts I'd put under the tree this year
Christmas sales for gamers
The best Christmas sales for gamers 2024: I've handpicked the 27 best PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox deals this holiday season
Latest in Simulation
inZOI Character Studio screenshot showing a young woman with short black/pink hair, black cat-like ears, and a black blouse with a bowtie
The creator of upcoming life sim Inzoi says he was "recklessly brave to even think about creating a game of this scale"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero expert finally annihilates world record 200% speedrun of the game's hardest song after trying and failing 50,000 times
A Sim celebrates his tattoo shop in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
How to complete The Sims 4 Esteemed Entrepreneur aspiration in Businesses and Hobbies
Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod Baldur's Village
Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke gives his official approval to the Stardew Valley mod that brings the D&D RPG to Pelican Town
Boro and Alta sit on a bench together in Wanderstop
Wanderstop review: "Exalting the transformative power of tea"
Latest in Guides
Fortnite Outlaw Keycard
Fortnite Outlaw Keycard: How to unlock it and what does it do
Umaga is a key player in The Bloodline Showcase
How to unlock all wrestlers in WWE 2K25
FC 25
FC 25 FUT Birthday guide and full cards list
A Sim celebrates his tattoo shop in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
How to complete The Sims 4 Esteemed Entrepreneur aspiration in Businesses and Hobbies
Assassin's Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji expansion Naoe and Yasuke in Awaji forest
Assassin's Creed Shadows roadmap, DLC and future content
A scary emoji shown in horror game REPO.
Is REPO coming to consoles?