Fun For Little Kids and Big Kids Too! (Homemade Decorations)

Member Name: blackrose_

Product:	Homemade Decorations
Date:	29/12/01 (837 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun to do, No queueing in nightmare Christmas crowds!, Can be a lot cheaper

Disadvantages: More effort, Can be messy!

Once I realised that there was a category for this, I just had to write an opinion on it! I have been making my own Christmas decorations for a few years now, at first because I couldn't afford to buy any, and then because its fun, and you get original decorations that no one else has got...plus there is the obvious bonus that it keeps the kids occupied!

My first attempt at making Christmas decorations was on a very very low budget; all I actually bought was some glue! It was when I lived in my first little flat on my own, and money was tight. My best mate and I spent quite a while taking the foil out of the insides of cigarette packets (OK, not ideal, but it was desperate times, desperates measures kinda thing!), then cutting stars and things out of the packets, gluing the foil on and making little holes in the top and threading them to make 'bauble' type things....they actually looked quite nice in the end, although admittedly this is not a fab idea for all!

One of the most successful decorations I have made (into its second year and still going strong!) was made out of surplus wrapping paper (the silver holographic type, although any would do really)and cornflake packets! I just glued the paper to the card on both sides, then cut circles out, folded them and made little nicks in them to make snowflake shapes (you MUST remember doing this at junior school!). I made one large one, then 3 smaller ones which I hung at different heights from the larger one. Even though I guess I'm biased, they looked really effective, and a few people asked me where I had bought them from!

A great one for kids of all ages is the classic salt dough creations...or if you have a bit more cash you could always buy fimo, as it does tend to last better. Just make the shapes into whatever you like, bake in the oven and decorate. If you use salt dough, remember to 'varnish' with PVA glue, as this makes them last a bit longer, although
they generally crumble eventually they would be fine for one Christmas! Fimo will last indefinitely if you pack it away carefully so it doesn't get broken! Fimo is about 1.20 a pack, which is quite dear, but it does have the advantage of lasting!

Papier mache is another fun one the kids love, and can be used to make all kinds of Christmassy 'statue' thingies, from snowmen and santa to angels and puddings! Just get a balloon, blow it up, then rip newspaper or left over wrapping paper into strips and soak in a solution of half PVA half water until REALLY soggy! Then just layer the strips up on the balloon until you have about a centimetre of paper plastered on it, remembering to leave a space around the tied end of the balloon. Leave it to go hard (usually overnight), then pop the balloon with a pin, take it out, and decorate. To make things with heads (!)just do the same thing with a smaller balloon and join them together so the two holes meet. The best thing to use to secure them together is masking tape, as you can paint over it easily, although sellotape will do at a push! You can make feet either out of blobs of papier mache that have been moulded and left to go hard, or cut shapes out of fairly thick card (the card has to be fairly stiff and the feet fairly big or it won't balance properly!)

Another one we have done is the easter egg thing where you get a straw and make two holes in an egg, put the straw in one hole and blow until you think you are going to pass out to make the inside of the egg comes out of the other hole! Although this isn't an obvious one for Christmas, if you think faberge and paint the eggs than stick some bows and beads/fake gems on them, they actually look really nice threaded through the two holes with a knot at the bottom and hung on the Christmas tree.

One that a lot of adults like, as well as the kids, is various types of arrangements for the dinnertable or wherever. For a tabl
e arrangement, all you need is a fairly wide dish with at least a 2cm depth (to hold water and oasis). Cut some oasis to size and push it into the dish, dampen it (don't soak it or it will fall apart!), then arrange whatever you like into it by simply poking it into the oasis. For a table, it looks really nice if you put a candle in the centre, then arrange holly, fir tree (bits off the Christmas tree you could have sworn would fit in your living room are ideal!), mistletoe and any other foliage you like. Gold or silver sprayed pine cones and leaves wound onto wire and pushed in look really effective too. You can even make a day out of this one, by spending the morning going for a walk gathering the bits and bobs for your arrangement, then doing the arranging in the afternoon!

A wreath for your front door is done in a very similar way; you need some chicken wire, which you shape into the shape of whatever you want your wreath to be shaped like (!)...wear gloves for this as it can have a tendency to bite back! Then stuff it with oasis, and poke things into it! It is important to put oasis in, as if you don't the average life expectancy of your foliage will be about a week...bit of a short reward for your efforts! Although I wouldn't advise letting kids do the chicken wire bit, they can have a great time pushing the leaves etc. into the shape once you've moulded it for them.

Anyway, I'm sure I've rambled on long enough, and if I don't stop here this could end up being the longest op in history! Hope it gives you some ideas!

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