Show me your homemade Christmas decorations

MSE_Laura_F

Do you make your own Christmas decorations? How about cards and wrapping paper? I'd love to see any pictures you've got from past years. Let's make this a hub of inspiration for anyone looking to DIY it this year.

Warning: please be careful not to reveal any personal identifying information in your photos, such as your face or the outside of your home.

To kick things off, a few examples from MSE HQ...

MSE Holly's Christmas garland

MSE Holly made a garland for her stairs this year because there was no way she was paying full price for one (she'd seen them sold at MrCrimbo.co.uk for £30 for 1.8 metres). 

Approx. costs:

• Almost 9 metres of garland - £17.97
• 4 boxes of lights from B&M - £16
• Decorations – roughly £25
  Total = £58.97

For the same effect she'd have needed five of the MrCrimbo ready-made garlands, which would have cost her £150.

MSE_Laura_F

MSE Bernadette's Christmas ornaments



MSE Bernadette makes things for friends and family. Here are a few of the things she's created over the last few years, all of which she says cost practically nothing but her time.

The trees were all made from pallet wood and required a lot of sawing, sanding, staining and buffing. She got the designs for the '12 Days of Christmas' ornaments from Etsy.

MSE_Laura_F

Christmas wreath



MSE Stephen B's wife made this wreath last year. All the foliage was free and foraged from her workplace.

C_J

I make two holly "kissing balls" to hang on either side of our front door. They look like the ones in the picture below, but these aren't mine as I haven't made mine yet!

The cost is minimal - I bought a bulk pack of the foam floristry balls about five years ago and I still have loads left, the tartan ribbon comes from a local haberdashery and costs only about 25p a metre. All the holly is free, as it is from my garden.

nannygladys

I will be follow it for ideas, i'll not brilliant at crafting though!
Nannyg

Coffeekup

nannygladys said:

I will be follow it for ideas, i'll not brilliant at crafting though!
Nannyg

Same... Except I fall into the terrible at crafting.

nannygladys

Coffeekup - I love the idea of making loads but what I end up with is usually nothing like it should be I keep trying though!

nannygladys

I like the 'kissing balls', and there's a holly bush near where I live, and the idea of having them either side the front door really appeals! 

MSE_Laura_F

MSE Carol's Christmas garland



Most years, MSE Carol makes a garland with her daughters using leftover bits from the Christmas tree. You can also get tree bits from your local garden centre for free, she says. They forage ivy and pine cones, and glue the whole lot onto a piece of string.

nannygladys

That looks lovely, wish I was clever enough to create something so nice.

MSE_Laura_F

MSE Clare's friends and family's homemade items



MSE Clare knows a lot of crafty people. Some of the Christmassy things they've made include:

• A Christmas wreath 
• Painted tin cans (for planting Christmas poinsettia, or other pretty plants)
• Kids' hand and footprint cards
• Personalised wooden bauble
• Large wooden Christmas tree