Homemade Christmas Decorations!

Hello! I come bearing tidings of great joy, in the form of a couple of snazzy Christmas decorations you can make on the cheap!

Glitter swirl bauble

These are so simple to make but I love them! :) You can personalise them to suit your tree or make one for each family member.

Get yourself some cheapy cheap plain baubles. I think Poundland do some, but I got 30 from Tesco for £2.80 (ish) because we didn't have any for the tree! You will also need some glitter glue (or glue plus glitter). You can get three bottles of glitter glue in Poundland for... £1. ;)

All you do is draw a pattern onto one half of the bauble using the glitter glue. To do the swirls, draw one coming down from the top, then add another coming off that one, and so on until you fill the space. Instead of swirls, you could draw stars or snowflakes if you like.

Then leave it to dry overnight and do the other half the next day. (To dry the baubles, I cut some toilet roll tubes in half and balanced the baubles on them - pretty sturdy!)



Fabric bauble

This one's a little more complicated than the glitter baubles, but they still only take about fifteen minutes.

Cut out two shapes from your favourite fabric, leaving a 5mm seam allowance. I used heart and star shapes, but Christmas trees could work too.

To embellish the bauble, I used a piece of ribbon and a button on the front. If you'd like to do that too, position the ribbon over the right side of one of the pieces of fabric and pin it into place. Next sew your button into place, remembering that it will be closer to the sides both because of the seam allowance and because it will be stuffed.

Pin the two pieces of fabric together with the right sides (and button/ribbon) facing in. Make a loop of ribbon or twine and position it in the top centre of the bauble, with the loop facing down between the fabric and the ends of the ribbon pointing up and out (see my Advent calendar posts if you don't know what I mean).

 Sew the two pieces together leaving a 5cm gap along one edge for turning and stuffing. Make sure the gap isn't where the ribbon is or you're making the final seam much more difficult for yourself!

Turn the fabric right side out and fill with stuffing or scraps of material.Using small pieces to stuff will give a more consistent shape overall.

Use a ladder stitch to close the seam of the bauble.



I made some paperchains instead of tinsel, as you can see in the photos! :) Also the Advent calendar is hanging in our living room as a bit of additional festive decoration.

Do you make your own Christmas decorations? Post a link below if you've done some Christmas crafting!

How to Make an Advent Calendar: Part Five - Finishing Touches!

Today is the moment of truth, but first there's one last job to be done!


You will need:

• Cardboard or thick paper in a festive colour (I have red)
• Mini pegs
• Approximately 4 metres of ribbon / twine
• PVA glue, scissors, a marker pen

Directions

1. Cut the cardboard into whatever shape you'd like for numbering your Advent calendar. I used circles about 3cm (1.25 inches) in diameter. Handy hint: you'll be needing 24!

2. Write a number on each cardboard disc, 1-24.

3. Dab some PVA glue onto the side of the mini pegs. Stick it onto the back of the disc, so that the mouth/clamp part of the peg is pointing towards the bottom edge of the disc. Leave to dry overnight.

4. Decide how you want to hang your Advent calendar. I've strung mine across bookshelves, so I cut my twine into six pieces, each holding four days worth of stockings, bags and pockets. Cut your twine/ribbon to measure, leaving extra length at the ends to tie or hang the twine up.

5. Position your stockings, pockets and bags on the twine. Using the mini pegs/date labels, clamp them into place. I've done mine in numerical order but it might be fun to have a random sequence!

Now's the fun part! The exciting question is what will be filling the calendar? :) Well, I have some little chocolate balls, a few candy canes, some hot chocolate sachets and best of all, some little challenges.

Here are some of the challenges/activities:

• Wrap Christmas presents
• Put the tree up (I got a Christmas tree for my birthday!! :D)
• Go and see the Christmas lights
• Make Christmas biscuits
• Christmas movie
• Name all reindeer
• Sing the chorus of a carol
• What was given on the 4^th day of Christmas?
• Make paper snowflakes
• Winter walk

According to the weather forecast, one of the challenges could even be to make a snowman! 

Anyway, I hope that this guide has been of some use to someone out there. I really enjoyed putting this Advent calendar together and hope to use it for years to come! :)

P.S. How are your Christmas preparations coming along?

How to make an Advent Calendar:

Step One - Getting Ready
Step Two - Making the bags
Step Three - The Triangular pockets
Step Four - Mini Stockings
Step Five - Finishing Touches 

How to Make an Advent Calendar: Part Four - Mini Stockings

Hey-ho Advent calendar crew! :)

Sarah over at The Little Family of 3 had some nice suggestions of things to put in a homemade Advent calendar. She said she fills hers with little decorations for the children's mini Christmas trees, as well as Christmas badges and a treasure hunt clue for their Christmas PJs. Sounds great!

By now I have piles of little bags and triangular pockets for the Advent calendar, and it's time to add the stockings to the stash!

Before We Begin

As well as the stocking shapes you cut out two weeks back, you will also need some material to make the "cuffs" of the stocking. I used the same white material as the lining fabric. We will measure and cut it out later on.


 Directions

1.  Take the two pieces of outer fabric and the two lining pieces. Pin them together, so that the bottom layers are the two outer fabric pieces, right sides together, and the top two pieces are lining fabric, right sides together.

2. Sew all the way around the outside edges, leaving the top of the stocking open.


3. Reach between the outer fabric layers and turn the stocking inside out. The lining fabric will still be together. Reach inside the lining fabrics and turn the stocking inside out again, so you are left with an inside-out stocking.

4. Now is the time to make the cuffs I mentioned earlier. You need to cut a rectangle that is TWICE the width of the top of your stocking plus an extra two centimetres, and about two centimetres longer than you want the cuff to extend down your stocking.

5. Fold the cuff rectangle in half longways and sew along the open edge, about half a centimetre from the edge.

6. Wrap the cuff around the stocking and mark where the edge of the stocking comes to. You want the cuff to be tight, but not so much that it starts to fold the stocking material.

7. Remove the cuff from the stocking and sew along the line the stocking came to. Trim the excess material from the side.








8. Cut a 15cm length of your trusty twine/ribbon. Tie it into a loop.

9. Sew the loop onto the top of your inside out stocking. It should be along the seam of the heel side of the stocking (as shown in image).

 

10. Take the cuff and slide it down around the top of the stocking, over the loop. The long seam of the cuff should run along the very top of the stocking. The second cuff seam (which holds it in a circular shape) should be against the opposite seam to the loop of twine.

11. Sew the cuff onto the stocking. I had to do this by hand as it was too fiddly for the sewing machine. Make sure that you do not sew the stocking shut, so only sew through the cuff, one lining layer and one outer layer. I used the seam of the cuff as a guide for my own stitches.

12. Turn the stocking right side out and pull the cuff out over the outer fabric.

(Note that in the image below I used lining fabric, not twine, to make the hanging loop. Most of my stockings have twine loops because making them out of lining was far more fiddly than it was worth!).





Once you've made the stockings, all that remains is to add the numbers and assemble the calendar next week! :)




Here's a sneak preview of how mine is coming along (I still need to do the numbers and no, it won't be hanging in the kitchen like it is here!):

I've got some little chocolate balls and some hot chocolate sachets to put into my Advent calendar so far, but I might take Sarah's suggestion and make some Christmas tree decorations to put into a couple of the days. I will also put in a few activity ideas, like going to look at Christmas lights, putting up the tree, or wrapping presents! :) (I think I will like these activities more than The Boyfriend!).

I'm excited now! :)



How to make an Advent Calendar:

Step One - Getting Ready
Step Two - Making the bags
Step Three - The Triangular pockets
Step Four - Mini Stockings
Step Five - Finishing Touches

How to Make an Advent Calendar: Part Two - The Bags

A few days ago I started to describe how to make an Advent calendar.

I think making your own advent calendar is  great way of starting a tradition, perhaps with your children or in my case a new home. You can create it based on YOUR ideas of Christmas, for example it could contain anything from chocolates to Bible verses. The best part is that you don't have to pay three quid for 24 nibbles of tasteless chocolate, and that you create a meaningful Christmas decoration to enjoy for years to come!

Anyway, on to the next stage of creating the Advent calendar! I have chosen to start by making the bags, mainly because they are the simplest design.
 

Directions

1. Grab the fabric pieces you cut earlier. Pin the good material together, right sides facing in. Stitch along three edges, leaving one of the shorter sides open. Do the same with the lining material.

2. Turn the lining material pocket inside out, so that the right side is facing outwards. Put this pocket inside the outer material pocket, so that the right sides of each pocket are touching.

3. Cut a 10cm length of twine/ribbon and tie it into a loop.

4. Insert your loop between the two pockets, with the tied end facing out of the tops. Pin the two pockets together.

5. Stitch around the open ends of the pockets, leaving a 2 inch gap on one side. Ensure that the loop is secured by the stitched. I find it is easier if you don't try to sew directly over the knot!

6. Turn the bag right side out. The loop will be sticking out. Sew around the top of the bag, which will seal the gap and give your seam a better finish.












7.  To finish the bag, cut another length of ribbon or twine approximately twice as wide as your bag. I added some glue to the ends to stop them from fraying. Tie it in a pretty bow around your bag.


We will add the numbers on at a later date!


If you are making several of these bags, as I did, it can help speed things up if you make them all at once. I did step one for all of the bags first, then step two, and so on.


I think these little bags could also make cute little decorations for your Christmas tree, perhaps filled with cinnamon or just sweets! :) 

How to make an Advent Calendar:

Step One - Getting Ready
Step Two - Making the bags
Step Three - The Triangular pockets
Step Four - Mini Stockings
Step Five - Finishing Touches

How to Make an Advent Calendar: Part One - Get Ready!

I recently posted about getting organised for Christmas by the end of November, including gift-buying and homemade decorations. We want to have a frugal Christmas, and this means DIY and festive spirit! :)

My biggest project is a handmade Advent calendar, which needs to be completed pretty soon!

My Advent calendar is comprised of three repeating units; a stocking, a bag, and a sort of folded over triangle pocket! They will be strung up on white and red twine with their cardboard numbers held on with mini pegs, but for now you can see the basic design opposite.

I will be posting the stages of how I am making the calendar on the next three Fridays of November, so by the last week of the month the calendar should be done and dusted!

It's a pretty easy project, but a little time-consuming. From the work I have done so far I estimate that the calendar will take a total of 7-8 hours to complete (at a fairly novice rate), which means that if you want to join in, you still have time! :)

If you want to make an Advent calendar, you will need:

• A sewing machine (it will take a very long time to make without one)
• Needle, pins, thread, scissors
• Approximately two metres of material. I think I used half a metre of the spotty polycotton, nearly a metre of the gingham material and part of a pair of old worn-out jeans. You can use whatever you have lying around; it doesn't matter if the fabrics are different for each unit!
•  Approximately two metres of "lining" material. It doesn't really matter what kind of fabric it is, just something cheap and easy to work with. I think mine was cream-coloured polycotton, or perhaps it is cotton, not too sure! :)
• Coloured ribbon or twine. You will need approximately 7 metres all together. 
• Eight small buttons (I used white ones from an old shirt)
• Some form of numbering. I am using numbers written onto cardboard disks, held on by mini pegs. You might want to choose iron-on numbers, or stickers, or something else entirely!

To begin:

Once you have your fabric, create a template for each of the designs you want to use. I made stockings, bags  (the rectangle template) and triangle pockets (diamond template), so my templates looked like the following:

To give you a bit of a sense of scale, the stocking and diamond shapes are about a handspan in length. Pay no attention to the fold at the top of the stocking. It should be flat and the folded part is included in the length.

I am wearing a blanket, not a skirt!

Cut out the fabric based on your templates, leaving a 0.5-1cm gap around the edge for the seam allowance.

Ensure you cut a matching pair of fabrics, so that the right sides will face out on both sides when assembled. The best way to do this is to fold the fabric in half and cut through both pieces at once.

Altogether you will need 24 units of fabric and the matching lining fabric to go with them. It's up to you whether you want more of one design than the other, or which colour fabrics you want for which. Just as long as each unit has two matching shapes of lining material and two of "good" material!


OK, easy so far! Tune in on Friday for part two: making the bags!

How to make an Advent Calendar:

Step One - Getting Ready
Step Two - Making the bags
Step Three - The Triangular pockets
Step Four - Mini Stockings
Step Five - Finishing Touches