Some thrive during the Christmas season and others struggle to feel festive. Either way, wintery crafts can be a social and relaxing way to find Christmas spirit and unwind during the holidays. However, many crafts require buying new materials which may only be used once a year. To solve this problem, Voice has collated four economic and planet-friendly decorations that are easy to make and include recycling old materials often found lying around a home. These crafts include a range of activities, from gluing to snipping to sewing to dipping, meaning there is something for everyone to enjoy.
Contents:
Cardboard snowflake decorations
Decoupage baubles
Snowy pine cones
Fleecy stockings
If you are getting crafty this season, share your finished ornaments with us by tagging Voice on social media @voicemaguk.
Cardboard snowflake decorations
Recycle your kitchen and toilet roll tubes to create geometric snowflake decorations with nothing more than cardboard and glue.
Collect toilet paper and kitchen paper cardboard tubes. These snowflakes are most effective if you can find a range of sizes.
Fold the tubes in half so the tube is no longer round but looks like a diamond or oval shape.
Cut the tubes into strips to create lots of small diamond shapes. The thickness is up to you but around 3cm is a good width.
Once you have cut up the rolls into diamond shapes you can begin to design your snowflake. Glue five cut-outs together to create your first petal, and then add different sizes into the gaps to begin widening out your snowflake.
You can continue broadening out your snowflake by adding more and more cut-outs of different sizes and lengths.
When you’re finished, pierce a small hole in the top to attach thread or string. Hang your ornament on the Christmas tree or around your window.
For a visual guide, click here.
Decoupage baubles
Recycle unused sports balls and miscellaneous fabric scraps to create a new Christmas tree decoration.
Find an unused sports ball such as a tennis ball or ping pong ball, or even the spherical part of a shuttlecock. You can also buy a plastic bauble from a craft shop.
Select miscellaneous fabric scraps. Cut the scraps into short rectangular pieces. It may be a good idea to consider your colour scheme and use a limited number of different patterns for cohesion.
Before layering the fabric strips, if you’re using an old ball then insert a thumb tack or safety pin. You can later attach a fabric strip or string to the pin to enable you to hang the bauble.
Place your fabric strips on the ball and cover with PVA glue over the top. Keep layering and gluing the strips until you’re happy with the design and decoupage effect.
Dry overnight.
Fasten a longer fabric strip to the thumb tack to hang the bauble on your Christmas tree.
For a visual guide, click here.
Snowy pine cones
Forage outdoors for pine cones and add a sprinkling of snow. These decorations are an easy and effective contribution to Christmas table settings and mantelpieces.
Pine cones can be found in many wooded areas in the winter. Once you’ve found a selection, dry them out indoors in an airing cupboard or by a radiator.
Prepare the snow. Mix together regular flour and water into a thick batter in a shallow bowl. Tip a generous amount of salt into another shallow bowl.
Let the paste stand for 15 minutes before dipping the pine cones into the paste and then into the salt.
Dry the pinecones overnight and then add to your table decorations.
For a visual guide, click here.
Fleecy stockings
Recycle an antiquated jumper into a new stocking decoration to hang over the fireplace.
Choose an old sweater from your wardrobe or find a local charity shop where you can buy a similar item very cheaply. These stockings are most effective when using material close to 100% wool.
Once you’ve selected your item, put it through the wash on the hottest setting. Use washing up liquid rather than laundry detergent. This will cause the wool fibres to shrink and the fabric becomes firmer and stiffer, much more able to hold a sack of presents!
Draw a stocking template (that’s just a big sock shape). Make sure the template is 5cm bigger than you’d like the end product to be, allowing for seams.
Pin the template on your fabric, making sure there are two layers of material so both sides of the stocking will be the same size.
Pin the two layers of fabric together ready to sew. Make sure you pin together the sides which will eventually be on the inside as you’ll turn it inside out after sewing.
Sew the sides together using a thick thread.
Turn the stocking inside out to hide the stitches. If you’re hanging your stocking, cut a little strip of fabric from the remaining jumper to create a loop.
Hang up your stocking on Christmas Eve!
For a visual guide, click here.
0 Comments