100 Days of Christmas: Paper and Card decorations... Gingerbread Men

 Gingerbread Men are a quintessential Christmas motif.  These Gingerbread men are sure to bring joy to your Christmas tree, and are easy enough for the children to make.

















Create a basic gingerbread man template - I used acetate, but cardboard works well too (especially old cereal packets).

You will need:
Gingerbread man template
Card (I used 285gsm but any card will do)
Selection of Christmas papers
PVA glue
Scissors
Buttons

Trace around your gingerbread man onto card, and cut out.

Trace around your gingerbread man onto Christmas paper, and cut out.  Cut x 2 - one for the back, one for the front.

Glue the christmas paper onto your gingerbread man. Trim with scissors to fit.

Glue buttons down the front of your gingerbread man.

I used a variety of papers for the front of my gingerbread men, and one solid piece of paper for the backs.  To use a variety of papers, it pays to do them all at once.  Cut 3-4 gingerbread men out of card, then 3-4 gingerbread men out of different christmas papers.
Stack the papers on top of each other, and cut into 3-4 pieces.  Swap the pieces around to create a pleasing design, and glue onto your base.
Glue your buttons on.

Make a small hole at the top and thread a piece of yarn through, for hanging.

100 Days of Christmas: Paper and Card decorations... a winter house

I love paper and card, and have a huge stash of it in my craft room.  One of the things about this 100 Days project is that I want to use up what I have got, rather than buy more stuff. For my paper and card decorations, I began by making templates on acetate.  Once you have templates, most of the hardwork is done, and all you have to do from there is cut and paste. When making my templates, I went through a variety of Quilting and Sewing magazines (Christmas issues) to find suitable patterns and pictures to use, and traced over them.

 I find that once you start creating, you start thinking of other things you can do.  With the first house I made, I glued transparent paper onto the card for the windows.

 But then I thought, if I cut out the windows and used the transparent paper in the windows, then the fairy lights will shine through the windows and light up the house.




You will need:
Card (I used 285gsm card)
Paper (I used a sparkly white paper for the roof and chimney; yellow transparent paper for the windows; and handmade red/brown paper for the house
PVA glue
craft knife
scissors
house template

Draw around the house template on the card.  I folded the card in half along the base, and then drew and cut out the house shape.









Draw a window in the middle of the house, and cut out using a craft knife.







 



Cut a piece of transparent paper to fit easily over the window.  Make sure it overlaps the window - be generous.  Spread glue over one side of the house, and place transparent paper over the window.










Spread glue over the overlapping transparent paper, and press the other side of the house down, to encase the window.

Fold the red/brown paper in half, trace around the house shape onto the paper.  Cut out.  Place over the top of the house, and hold up to the light to see where the window is - use a pencil to lightly draw around the edge of the window. Use a craft knife to cut out the window.

Glue both sides of the house shape onto the house.





  

Trace the roof shape and the chimney top onto the white paper x2.  Cut out, and glue onto the roof.  Trim the paper to fit the house.

When dry, make a hole and thread a piece of string through to hang up.

100 Days of Christmas ... Bunting

Following on from my star garland, I still had lots of beautiful Christmas fabric left over.  I wanted a way to showcase them - which bunting does beautifully.

You will need:
Fabric
Backing Fabric
Thread
Wide Ribbon

First I created a triangle template on an old calendar. I tried several sizes, and decided on 16cm across and 18cm long.  I didn't want them to be too big or too small.

  

I traced the template onto the fabric and backing fabric, and cut them out.  I pinned the two fabrics together, and sewed the two sides together, leaving the top unsewn.  I turned them out the right way, and ironed them flat.

I then folded the ribbon in half lengthwise and ironed it to make a sharp crease along the middle.  I pinned the bunting to the ribbon, with the ribbon encasing the raw edge of the bunting.

I sewed along the edge of the ribbon, catching the raw edges of the bunting inside the ribbon. I created a small loop at each end of the ribbon to hang up easily.

100 Days of Christmas... a beaded star garland

For the last two years, I have participated in the 100 Days Project.  In fact, that is how Needle Felted Fairytales came about - because for my first 100 Days Project, I decided to needlefelt something every day for 100 days.  This year, it was meant to kick off in July, but due to website delays, it hasn't started yet - so I am doing it anyway.  Last year I wrote a children's book; this year I am doing 100 Days of Christmas, because I love Christmas, and every one of my Christmas decorations is handmade. Each year I take part in a Christmas Decoration swap, and last year I found that by the time I had finished my 100 Days Project, I didn't have much time to make decorations.  So this year, I should be sorted!

My first decoration is a Christmas star garland.  I have had these beautiful Christmas fabrics sitting in my fabric box for the past few years, unsure of what to do with them.  I came up with this project to help showcase these beautiful fabrics.

You will need:
Fabric and backing fabric
Thread
Filling
Buttons
Beads

I made a star template on a scrap piece of card (empty cereal boxes are great for making templates), and drew around it onto the fabrics (and also onto a backing fabric).  I sewed them together, leaving a gap to stuff with a little bit of filling. Don't overfill them. (I used a sewing machine to sew the stars together, but you could also handsew them too).

I then sewed up the gap, and topped the star with a button in the middle.


After making a number of stars, I brought out my stash of beads, and began to join the stars together with beads, using a needle and thread.  This was the fun part! This is a great way to use those beads that you don't know what to do with.

You could make this garland using any basic shape, such as hearts, or circles.  You could alternate the stars with hearts, or make a garland with just hearts, which could then be used on Valentines Day, birthdays, and Easter.

beaded mobile

I began making these beaded circles as Christmas decorations.  Then I got hooked because they really are so simple to make. The most time consuming part was the deciding on the patterns and colours.  All you need is:

Memory wire

Wire

Pliers

Beads

 Cut the memory wire into loops that are about 1 and a half circles.

Using the pliers, bend one end up and into a small loop so that beads stay on.

 Thread beads onto memory wire. You can add a charm hanging down if you wish.  When you have completed a whole circle, bend a small circle using the pliers, and wrap the remaining wire around the two ends and cut off the excess.

To make the heart, I bent wire into a heart shape, then threaded beads onto fine wire and wrapped it around the wire shape.  

One of the circles is a clear plastic curtain ring with beads wrapped around it.  

To make the 'cobweb' circle, once I had threaded beads onto the memory wire and joined the two ends together, I threaded beads onto fine wire and wrapped and threaded wire and beads back and forth across the circle.

Toilet Roll Mobile

I had a growing collection of toilet rolls, and I came up with this idea while playing around with them.  Cut the toilet roll on the join from the bottom of the roll up to the top, to give a spiral shape.  You can try drawing your own shape that winds around the roll and cut along it.

Gather a selection of papers, punches, fabrics, ribbons, embellishments etc.

Lay your cardboard spiral along the paper to get the shape and cut out; then glue on. Layer different papers and embellish as you wish.

 Thread string through one side of the spiral and attach to a stick.

Let the spirals hang freely so they can twirl around.

a fairy tea party

My 6 year old niece loves fairies! And every time I go and visit, she is always playing in the garden, making decorations for the fairies, and together we go out into the garden and gather things to create a teaparty for the fairies. Pretty petals make lovely plates to serve little florets of broccoli and sprigs of parsley.

My niece loves to eat parsley and broccoli, and what fun to eat off special little petal plates!

Daisy chains wound around branches and trees add a pretty decorative touch, and it is so nice to sit in the garden and make daisy chains. Nature is good for the soul, and so important for children's development.