Making Christmas Gifts has become something of the past so bring the Christmas spirit back and give some of these projects a try.
Making Christmas gifts has become something of the past in this day and age, however with the mass production of Christmas ornaments, wrapping and trimmings it's not unlikely to walk into someone's home for a Christmas party and discover that they too have that set of silver bells hanging from the fireplace that you bought down the road at the department store for $3.99.
Well if you are into originality as well as saving money and bringing back some of that Christmas spirit into the season then give some of these projects below a try and have your house looking marvellous this holidays.
Christmas-Sweet topiary tree
terracotta plant pot
a length of thick dowel
Styrofoam ball
Ribbons for decorating
wrapped xmas candy
Acrylic paints
Straight pins or hot melt glue
Plaster of Paris
I have not given dimensions for these as you can make them in any size, Start by buying a pot then finding the right sized styro ball and length of dowel so your topiary looks in proportion. If you wanted to make a large say 12-inch pot, then use a wooden broomstick handle for your stem and a large plastic/rubber ball for the top.
Fill your pot with plaster of Paris (use packets instructions to make this mix) then insert your piece of dowel and allow to dry. Next secure the polystyrene ball onto the piece of dowel by creating a small hole in the ball and inserting the dowel slightly inside the ball. Add some white wood glue to hold this.
Note: don't use clear craft glue on poly balls as it eats into the ball!!
If you want to, Paint your pot and stem with some acrylic paints ,red or green for xmas
Next tie some small bows with the ribbon you have selected. We will use these as gap fillers.
next take your Pins or dab on hot melt glue and carefully secure the end of a lolly/sweet onto the ball.
Scatter these all over the ball and place some ribbons in-between at various points to fill up the gaps.
they also look great totally covered in sweets, but this can be quite expensive.
Christmas- Terracotta Bells
2 3" terra cotta pots
3 large gold beads
acrylic craft paint
Cord
spray on varnish
Start by painting the pot, suggested colors are Green, Red or Gold
Tie a knot in one end of some cord and thread on one bead then tie a second knot about 1 inch higher then the first bead.
Thread the cord through the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. The beads should hang on the Inside of the bell, one being the bell clanger the other stoping the cord from going through the hole. Once it is through tie on a third bead to hide the drainage hole from the top view.
Cut the cord a desired hanging length, then tie a loop: it is now ready for hanging.
Your may want to try two of these hanging together to form a traditional two bell look.
Christmas- Paper Garlands
Christmas Wrapping Paper
Craft or paper Glue
Hole punch
long length of colored cord
How to begin
Using glue
Stick large sheets of foil or paper wrapping paper together back to back so the print is on both sides.
Trace some Christmas shapes on to the paper using a pen or pencil, you can cut shapes of stars, Santa's, snowflakes, stockings: if you can't draw then cut around some shaped gift tags or use some cookie cutter shapes.
Using a hole punch, punch holes into every cut out shape and using the cord thread the shapes on and tie a knot at the end. To help keep them evenly spaced while hanging you may want to glue each shape onto the string to help tack it in place or tie a knot after each shape to stop it slipping further down.
Use silver and gold papers for a lovely effect or try using some children's xmas prints to make the kids their very own garland for their room.
