Anyone who knows me knows how much I love doing crafts. Christmas is such a good time of year to put your skills to use (and save a few pennies!) whilst having fun at the same time! I really enjoy being able to put my own stamp on something and give Christmas my own personal touch- plus it gets me in the festive mood if I stick a Christmas film on while I'm getting crafty!
The first thing I always make during the festive period is orange pomanders. I adore the citrus and spicy smell of oranges and cloves combined. It's a cheap and natural way to scent a room for Christmas, and you can decorate them as you wish to put on display! I have a gold plate which I dig out every year, and I usually pop a church candle in the middle and add pine cones too. This makes a fantastic centrepiece on the dining table. To do these you will need:
- 4/5 large oranges (depending on the size of your plate)
- 1/2 pots of whole cloves
- Optional- pinecones, evergreen foliage, candle
Simply push each clove into the rind of the orange and create your desired pattern. You could also wrap some pretty ribbon around your oranges too! To keep the festive smell fresh, make sure to change your oranges after about 2 weeks as they will go mouldy.
Next I made an indoor wreath using last years left over bits and bobs. I had an old star garland which was a bit short, so I carefully removed the stars and glued them onto the wreath. They added a nice sparkle! However, for last years wreath I bought:
- 1 grapevine wreath available from Hobbycraft here
- Wooden stars in assorted sizes from Ebay here
- Small tipped paintbrush
- Gold or silver and white acrylic paint
- Glue gun and hot glue sticks
- 1 length of festive ribbon to hang your wreath (I chose not to hang this one so didn't add a ribbon)
This is so easy to make. I painted my stars with a mixture of gold and white paint (I chose gold over silver as I felt that silver was a bit too similar to white and wouldn't stand out as much but it's completely up to you). Once they are dry, use your glue gun to fix them onto the wreath. I really recommend arranging your stars first before you glue anything down to see how they all fit onto the wreath. Make sure to keep a small space at the top of the wreath clear as this will be where your ribbon will sit. Once everything is dry, loop your ribbon over the wreath and also glue this into place. The wreath is now ready to be fixed to your door! There are so many things that you could create with these grapevine wreaths. You could even make an Easter or Autumn themed wreath as well!
I spotted some gorgeous star tree decorations from The White Company but I would need a fair few of them for my tree and at £4 a pop I didn't want to spend £40+! So, you guessed it, I decided to make them myself! In total this all cost me around £17, so I saved a significant amount of money and also had fun too! I must say I'm super pleased with how they turned out, but they are quite labour intensive...best to do on a weekend in front of the TV with plenty of hot chocolate and Quality Streets to keep you going! To make these you will need:
- Several bags of small silver beads. I got mine from Ebay here. 1 bag did me about 4 stars, so adjust according to how many you would like to make.
- Florist/jewellery making wire - again I got mine from Ebay here
- White organza ribbon from Ebay here
- Clear elastic thread from Hobbycraft here
- Pair of pliers
- Pair of wire cutters
- Scissors
- Star shaped template if required
For reasonable sized stars, I cut a length of wire around 35cm. This may look incredibly long, but you need to account for bending it into a star shape and making a loop at the top of the star for the ribbon. If you can, I would highly recommend making a template for the shape. I drew a star shape on a piece of paper and then fixed it to a small piece of MDF with nails in each point of the star. This made it a hell of a lot easier to just bend the wire around the nails to form the star. I did try moulding the wire into shape by hand and let me tell you it wasn't easy! I left about 10cm at the start of the wire and then started bending the wire around the template. When you get to the end of your star, carefully remove it from the template and with the remaining wire make a small loop. Twist wire underneath the loop a few times to make sure that it is secure. Next for the beads. Cut a length of the clear thread around 40cm long (believe me you need a long length as you have to wrap this around your frame). Make a small knot at the end of the thread. The thread isn't the easiest to tie a knot in, so knot the thread a few times to secure. Then all you need to do is thread the beads on. Through trial and error, I found it easiest to thread some on and then tie the thread to the top of the star (underneath the loop) and carry on threading from there - it just makes it a bit less fiddly. After you've threaded some beads you need to twist them around your wire frame. Continue doing this until the star is completely covered in the threaded beads and then secure with a few knots at the end. Cut off the excess thread and wire if you haven't done so already. Lastly, cut a length of the organza ribbon and make a loop to be hung on the tree. Of course you don't have to do just stars - you could also make some heart shapes, or even tree shapes if you are feeling adventurous!
Phew! After all that crafting I think I need a lie down! Thank god Christmas only comes once a year - I need a whole year to recover!
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