How to Make Modern Christmas Nutcrackers

by Monica Mangin - East Coast Creative

A little spray paint goes a long way to transform these traditional Christmas nutcrackers into modern holiday decor. I love that each year I can change up the color to match whatever palette I’m using for my decorations.

how to make modern christmas nutcrackers

These color block Christmas nutcrackers are ready to march into the holidays in style

Materials

Wooden Nutcrackers (I got mine at WalMart, Dollar General, and Michaels)
Spray Paint

Here you can really see the modern versus the old school

How to paint your Christmas Nutcrackers

The key to making these look high quality is to do multiple, thin coats of spray paint. If you use too much it will give you drips. I used a combination of satin and gloss, but I think my favorites were definitely the ones with a satin finish.

The key is getting full, smooth paint coverage on every Christmas nutcracker

Color blocking is most effective if you use a few different colors in your design. For these Christmas nutcrackers, I used shades of green, but you could use drastically different colors if you're looking for more of a pop in your Christmas decorations.

If you really want to modernize these traditional fellows, you could even go with wild highlights, like hot pink, bright yellow, lime green, or electric blue.