Homemade Christmas Decorations?!

pandora205

I've made quite a few beaded snowflakes using these kits and various beads, including some from cheap Primark 'pearl' and sparkle bracelets (£1 or so). You would only need some round nosed pliers to turn over the ends and some thread for hanging.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beadsmith-Wire-Snowflake-Forming-Kit-to-bead-Christmas-Decoration-DIY-Kit-/271272740320?pt=UK_Crafts_JewelleryMaking_GL&var=&hash=item3f291d85e0

Lequirk_2

Felt is your friend. It is so easy and very forgiving if you need to undo your threads and start over. I like it also because it is so versatile, easy to cut and really needs very little embellishment to make it look good. It is also very affordable so should help you stay in budget as you could cut 3 or more decorations from an A4 sheet of felt, depending on what shapes you cut out/what templates you use.

Chris25

antonia, there's a homemade thread here & some of the posts have lovely photos https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3452101

zanuda

Well, you still will end up buying something, as it was noted above. Especially if you've just moved and don't have - what it's called? - bits-and-bobs box like pieces of wrapping paper, nice foil, ribbons and stiff like that. Just see, what's chipper to buy.

Wilkinson has a lot of Christmas craft packs fro kids - £1-1.5 like snowflakes, snowmen...

If you're into Papier-mâch! - just buy glue and some paints, again, either from Wilkinson or from Works. You could use old cereal boxes as a base and newspapers and magazines as top layers. It's rather time consuming, but you could make almost any shape and the result would look practically like commercial decorations.

DigForVictory

A crafting pal of mine tell me the inside of coffee packets is metallic & sometimes golden.

There is the charm of small things - go through every room & see what you have that is small - a teaspoon, a colourful stamp from a friend's card, an outgrown sock, a bright sample of conditioner (hang full or empty as your inclination suggests), nail scissors etc.

Cut snowflakes from card envelopes?

An angel for the tree top made from a packing box would be ruthlessly appropriate?!

Has your OH any tree traditions, that you might borrow from?

I learned a new one from Grimm (!) - leaving a beer, cigar & matches out. Struck me as a nice variant on the wine & mince pie idea. I may leave a cocoa & a clay pipe & tin of cherry cavendish out... (My Santa has odd quirks!)

zanuda

DigForVictory wrote: »

... inside of coffee packets is metallic & sometimes golden.
...a colourful stamp from a friend's card, an outgrown sock, a bright sample of conditioner ...

That's right, and wraps from big chocolate bars and shiny things from the boxes (chocolate or cream). But it takes time to collect this pieces. Well, there is always another year.

DigForVictory wrote: »

Cut snowflakes from card envelopes?

An angel for the tree top made from a packing box would be ruthlessly appropriate?!

Better - Papier-mâche - on the cereal boxes (side with no prints - glue printed sides together), then paint and use glitter on top. That's how I usually do star decoration for school - they ask every year and never return. I don't even bother to make it nice now. First years kids cried so much when they didn't get their stars back, nicely done with a lot of thinking into it. It reminds me, I even have a pictures somewhere.

loobyloucreations

Lequirk wrote: »

Felt is your friend. It is so easy and very forgiving if you need to undo your threads and start over. I like it also because it is so versatile, easy to cut and really needs very little embellishment to make it look good. It is also very affordable so should help you stay in budget as you could cut 3 or more decorations from an A4 sheet of felt, depending on what shapes you cut out/what templates you use.

That is right I can make 2 full size gingerbread men/women and 2 baby ginger bread men out of one piece of felt.
then the puddings and penguin one I make I can get 3 of each out of one sheet.
Always keep off cuts too as they can come in very handy, obviously you will need more bits but when you can get 3 sheets of felt for £1 from hobby craft they are great value to make.
I always go and pick the colours I want or need also as with the packs of felt you can get which may work out less per sheet, however you will not get all the colours you want for Christmas decorations.

Abbymoo

I once got a tin of Quality Street and just threaded the sweets with a bit of cotton, they looked quite nice with the fairy lights bouncing off the wrappers. Only the ones like the toffee pennies, obviously. They have the twisted bits of wrap at the end you can put the cotton through. Wouldn't recommend putting a needle through a strawberry cream or anything...plus you get to eat them afterwards.