This time of year offers the perfect excuse to get making with all the family and bring creative festive spirit into the home. Rose Teleri compiles her favourite home-made and plastic-free Christmas decorations...
Or you might like to join one of our Christmas workshops around the UK and get tips from a seasoned professional?
- Elegant card baubles
An upcycled twist on the traditional bauble, these paper baubles are made using patterned paper (old magazine will do!), beads and copper wire. The paper or card is cut into strips and fed onto the wire and then the same done at the other end, spacing them out to give an even finish. These baubles look especially lovely with Christmas trees lights shining through and cast playful shadows.
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- Beaded decorations
These bright shiny bead decorations are a great way to use up old and broken jewellery. Check the back of your jewellery drawer or, alternatively, charity shops often have a box of broken bits they are happy to find a home for in return for a donation! Using wire, you can create any shape you like and decorate it in bright bold colours, or choose to go subtle like these white, ivory and black themed circles.
- Porcelain tree decorations
These elegant discs are created from porcelain clay & festive foliage. The discs are made by cutting out (using a biscuit cutter) circles from a rolled-out porcelain slab then various festive plants from the garden laid on top and pressed into the clay (with a cloth over the top). A hole is created in each using a straw, fired, then coloured glaze added to highlight the botanical detail.
- Salt dough shapes
If you haven’t used salt dough since you were a kid, you'll be surprised at the detail and finesse you can create. It’s a simple recipe of salt, flour and water, baked slowly in the oven to harden. You can use cookie cutters to create Christmassy shapes and we used intricate jewellery, cedar twigs and lace to create beautiful subtle patterns when pressed into the dough, they can be painted but the salt crystals give their own sparkle if not.
- Wooden tree advent calendar – with drawers
The wooden shape was bought from Hobbycraft and painted in forest green, glittered, stuck the numbers on (and glittered again!) It’s a sustainable and plastic free alternative to the shop-bought ones and the children love counting the drawers (big enough for even the large size chocolate coins!) to seek out their treat each morning.
- Handmade willow Christmas wreath
The glorious smell of festive foliage! Wreaths are a beautiful and elegant way to honour the season and welcome guests to your home. This one is made by weaving willow in a circle and then winding festive foliage around, with added teasels and dried flowers from the garden. It sounds easy, but you can happily wile away several hours doing this!
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- Wire Shapes
These lovely delicate decorations are made using wire alone. All you need is a pair of plyers and you’re away! Use a very fine craft wire for the stars and a thicker one for the baubles. A cardboard 'former' can be used to make the stars, wrapping the wire around multiple times to give them strength. Or make the former using nails in a wooden board to create the desired shapes.
