Christmas Present Crochet Ornament Pattern and Video

Super cute free crochet ornament pattern that includes two shapes of presents - square and rectangle. Decorate your Christmas trees or gifts!

Do you enjoy crocheting for the holidays? I’ve been on a Christmas kick lately, and this Pretty Present Ornament crochet pattern is what got the ball rolling. I seriously considered putting my tree up early just to take some crochet ornament pictures with pretty bokeh lights, but it was October so I resisted the urge. I used some pine trees near my house, but all the green from the grass and trees threw off the white balance in my pictures. Sigh.

Anyway, this adorable crochet ornament pattern features two present shapes, a square and a rectangular version. Both utilize similar construction, a lovely holiday ribbon, and single crochet stitches. Of course, you don’t have to hang these on your tree. You can also use your finished present ornaments as Christmas gift toppers or strung together as holiday garland or bunting.

two crochet ornaments on a fur background with text overlay "pretty present ornament - free crochet pattern from you should craft"

Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of the links, you will pay the same prices as always, but You Should Craft will receive a small commission that helps us provide free crochet patterns. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Each time you complete the crochet ornament pattern (for either the square and the rectangular gift boxes), you’ll use less than 35 yards of worsted weight yarn. Therefore, these ornaments make excellent stash busters if you’re looking to use up some yarn scraps. I used some of my scraps and accidentally ran out of yarn in the middle of the rectangle ornament video. Thankfully I was able to find an old swatch in the same color, but I’m a bit embarrassed about the whole situation. 😅

If you’re looking for more crochet Christmas ornament patterns, check out the Toasty Turtleneck Ornament or my round-up of over 30 of the best ornaments on the web.

Ready for the Pretty Present Ornament pattern now?
Snag a low-cost, ad-free PDF: Ravelry | Etsy
Watch the video tutorials (square | rectangular)
Jump to the free version (with ads)

Prefer to save the pattern for later?
Save it to your Ravelry Queue
Pin it to Pinterest

Love free crochet patterns?
Sign up for the You Should Craft email list for weekly round-ups and more ⬇️⬇️

The Tools

I chose to work up these ornaments in worsted weight acrylic yarn, because it’s my favorite and most people have it on hand. [Side bar: I HATE when I find a cute crochet ornament pattern and it requires fingering weight yarn.] The generous folks over at WeCrochet sent me some holiday colors of Brava worsted, which I paired with some leftover blues and greys from my yarn stash.

I talk about Brava all the time (most recently in my Twisted Cup Cozy post), but it’s hard not to gush about it. Brava is soft, durable, washable, dryable, and comes in like 50 different colors. It’s only $2.99 per 100g skein, and that’s the regular price! You can save even more if you shop the WeCrochet sales. For the sample ornaments, I used Brava in white, denim, grass, silver, tidepool, and wine.

Since I was adding stuffing to my ornaments, I had to make sure they were crocheted tight. This meant I needed to use a smaller hook than is recommended on the packaging. I chose a 4.0 mm silver Odyssey from Furls Fiberarts. If you don’t have a 4.0 mm, the next size up (like 4.5 mm) or down (like 3.75 mm) would work totally fine. As long as your stitches are tight, gauge isn’t a concern for this project.

When you’re looking at hooks, don’t forget to focus on the millimeter size and not the lettered size. Furls lists the 4.0 mm hook as a “G,” but not all brands are in agreement about the lettering for smaller hook sizes.

Share Your Crochet Ornaments!

I love seeing what you’ve crocheted! Use #prettypresentornament or #youshouldcraft to show off your WIPs and finished crochet Pretty Present Ornaments!

Regardless of your social media preferences, be sure to tag me (@youshouldcraft) in your posts so I can drool over your projects and re-share your work in my stories and on my feed!

And if you’re a Facebook person, share your work and connect with other crocheters in The You Should Craft Crochet Community FB group!

red crochet gift box ornament on a polka dot present with text overlay "pretty present ornament - free crochet pattern from you should craft"

Supplies / Materials

Gauge / Size

Square: 3 x 3 inches
Rectangular: 2.5 x 3.5 inches

Gauge is not important for this project.

Abbreviations / Techniques

Crochet Ornament Pattern Notes

  • turning ch 1 is not counted as a stitch
  • The pattern includes two shape options (square and rectangle). Only the front/back panels are different — the border and ribbon/bow steps are the same for both shapes.
  • Throughout the pattern, the odd numbered rows are the “wrong side” and the even numbered rows are the “right side”
  • When crocheting the two-row ribbon stripe (Color B), you don’t need to trim the present color yarn (Color A) – just carry it and pick it up later
  • If your ribbon is too curly, you may want to either go up a hook size or wet block it
  • Throughout the pattern, Color A is the primary (gift) color and Color B is the contrast (ribbon) color

Video Tutorial

I’ve embedded the square present ornament tutorial, but both tutorials are available on the You Should Craft YouTube channel: Square Ornament | Rectangular Ornament

Square Gift Box Ornament – Front/Back Panels

Crochet two identical panels.

ch 11 with Color A (present color)
ROW 1 (WS): sc in second ch from hook, sc across (10)
ROWS 2 (RS): ch 1 and turn, sc across (10)
ROWS 3 – 5: ch 1 and turn, sc across (10)
Switch to Color B (ribbon color), but carry Color A up the side
ROWS 6 – 7: ch 1 and turn, sc across (10)
Switch to Color A (present color) using the strand you carried
ROWS 8 – 12: ch 1 and turn, sc across (10)
Trim yarn and weave in the ends a little bit. You can go over them more when you crochet the border.
Once you’ve completed both sides, move on to the border.

Rectangular Present Ornament – Front/Back Panels

Crochet two identical panels.

ch 16 with Color A (present color)
ROW 1 (WS): sc in second ch from hook, sc across (15)
ROWS 2 (RS): ch 1 and turn, sc across (15)
ROWS 3 – 4: ch 1 and turn, sc across (15)
Switch to Color B (ribbon color), but carry Color A up the side
ROWS 5 – 6: ch 1 and turn, sc across (15)
Switch to Color A (present color) using the strand you carried
ROWS 7 – 10: ch 1 and turn, sc across (15)
Trim yarn and weave in the ends a little bit. You can go over them more when you crochet the border.

two crochet ornaments on a white marble background with text overlay "pretty present ornament - free crochet pattern from you should craft"

Crocheting the Border

The sc border will join the front and back panels. As you crochet the border, you’ll be crocheting through the stitches on both panels at the same time.

  • Lay the front and back panels on top of each other with the wrong sides together.
  • Join Color B yarn to the center of the Color B stripe (halfway across the top of your ornament).
  • sc to corner, 3 sc in corner. Continue with sc border by crocheting 1 sc in each sc/row and 3 sc in each corner.
  • Before finishing off the top of the border, lightly stuff ornament with poly-fil or yarn scraps.
  • Finish sc border and ch 20 for the hanging loop. Secure to first sc. Trim yarn and weave in ends.
light blue crocheted gift box ornament with hanger and tapestry needle, on a small wooden cutting board

Note: For the square ornament, your border will have approximately 10 sc on the sides and 12 sc on the top/bottom. For the rectangle ornament, your border will have approximately 15 sc on the sides and 10 sc on the top/bottom.

Ribbon Pattern

ch 50 with Color B (ribbon color)

ROW 1: sc in second ch from hook, sc across (49)

Finishing the Bow

  • a. Trim an 18 inch piece of Color B yarn. Fold the ribbon into an “M” shape.
  • b. Pinch the peaks of the “M”
  • c – d. Cross the outer edges of the “M” across the center to create a bow shape.
step-by-step images depicting steps a-d of how to create the pretty present ornament's bow
  • e. The back of the bow will have a strip of ribbon going straight across.
  • f – g. Using your needle and the 18-inch piece of yarn, sew through the bow’s center 3-4 times.
  • h. Wrap the rest of the yarn around the bow’s center, approximately 10 times. Weave tail into the wrap on the back to secure it.
step-by-step images depicting steps e-h of how to create the pretty present ornament's bow

Sew the completed bow onto the front of the ornament at the top of the Color B (ribbon) stripe. Trim yarn and weave in ends.

And you’re finished! So cute, right?! Do you think you’ll use this crochet ornament pattern to make actual Christmas tree ornaments, or switch it up and use them in a garland or as gift toppers?

Looking for more crochet Christmas ornament patterns? I’ve gotcha covered:

two crochet ornaments hanging from a pine tree with text overlay "pretty present ornament - free crochet pattern from you should craft"