#HandmadeChristmas - Paper Stars

You know how much I love Scandinavian interiors. I love the clean lines, the fresh colours, the light, the innovative use of space - it is something for me to aspire to (although I really need to de-clutter...). I am particularly inspired by Scandinavian folk art so when I discovered creativitydirect.co.uk earlier this year I was in crafting heaven!!
Their brilliant website (and accompanying HUGE paper catalogue) is just packed to the gills with gorgeous papers, stickers, trimmings, fabrics, ribbons, beads, buttons, paints and items to decorate that, if you are a bit of a 'butterfly crafter' (ie: you flit from craft to craft) you will be hard pressed to know where to start!!
Very helpfully Creativity Direct have included a big 'IDEAS' section on their website giving detailed tutorials on all manner of crafty makes from papercrafts to art, from sewing and knitting to jewellery. They even have 'seasonal crafts' sections covering Christmas and Easter. Each tutorial consists of clear photographs showing each stage of making, downloadable templates if needed and useful ingredients lists with links to the items on their website, making shopping for your crafty bits a lot easier.
Creativity Direct sent me a few of their gorgeous items so I could have a go at a couple of their lovely Christmas tutorials.

First up...

Folded Paper Stars

I received a pack of Vivi Gade paper strips from the gorgeous Copenhagen range - red and cream strips, polka dots and damask type patterns - right up my street.
The tutorial was very clear and easy to follow, although I did find getting the turn of paper for the 3D effect a bit tricky to start with!
It is very important that you set the four paper strips up correctly to begin with and make sure your folds all go in the right direction!
The first star took me about 15 mins to make but once I got the hang of it they took no time at all!!




Completed stars can be piled up in a bowl as they are or attach some cotton (just punch through one of the flat points with a sharp needle and thread the cotton through) and hang them on your tree or make a lovely star mobile.  

 If you leave one side flat and trim the paper off neatly they also make really special gift toppers - just attach to your parcel with some double sided tape or glue pads.




The Weaving Paper Strips come in several different colourways and pack sizes and are available from creativitydirect.co.uk . The pack I used costs £4.50 and contained enough strips to make 5 large stars and  8 small ones. I think they are gorgeous and I can't wait to adorn my tree with them in December!

In the next Handmade Christmas post I will be having a go at some unusual paper baubles...


Creativity Direct provided the materials for me to have a go at this project but words and pictures are all my own.

My Handmade Christmas (pt 4) A card for life, not just for Christmas...

This year we (that is I, obviously, as it's generally me who buys, writes and distributes!) decided that we were going to keep cards to a minimum - immediate family, close friends and those good friends who live far away and whom we are not likely, but would dearly love to see over the festive period.

In keeping with the whole Handmade Christmas theme I decided it would be a really nice idea to make cards rather than buy them and way back in September I spotted a Cross Stitch magazine with a free 'make your own luxury cards' kit. The cards were cute, contemporary designs in bright colours and there were enough polka dots to keep even me happy. Perfect!! 

Now I, like many crafters, like to dabble, and I have done counted cross stitch in the past. In fact I'm sure there are two or three unfinished 'projects' floating around the place that I will get around to completing one day. The prospect of half a dozen simple motifs didn't phase me at all. 'Won't take long,' thinks I...

But cross stitch is a lot more time consuming than I remembered and each one of those little motifs actually took a lot longer than I thought they would...

...and several evenings were swallowed up putting needle and thread to aida...

 

Once all the motifs were stitched I ironed on some interfacing to the back of the aida and cut out each motif before combining them with other bits and bobs - sequins, felt shapes, buttons - to make up the cards.

I must confess I am quite chuffed with the results and I know they will be appreciated by those who receive them. I hope they will be kept and added to the decoration stash to be brought out year after year.

Despite my best intentions I really didn't have time to make everybody a card so I did the next best thing and sourced some really special cards in for everyone else...

These cards are designed by the lovely Becky Peabody, a Somerset based artist who creates fabulous collages from torn paper and, like me, has a passion for polka dots!  Her gorgeous collection of cards, postcards, notebooks, pictures and more are available from her website dotsandspots.co.uk . Go and have a look - you won't be disappointed :)

So all that's left to do now is finish off the presents and wrapping and get stuck into some Christmas baking...

My Handmade Christmas (pt 3) Dried Orange Garlands

What is it about oranges that so sums up Christmas? They are said to represent the gift of Gold in the Nativity story and in the days before electronic gadgets and must-have toys they were an essential, and much anticipated stocking gift. The glorious orangey scent blends so well with spices - cinnamon, cloves and ginger to create a quintessential Christmas fragrance that fills my home thanks to a couple of well placed essential oil burners that I keep topped up over the festive period.

Piles of mandarins and clementines in their little red net bags fill the fresh fruit section of the supermarket at this time of year and a fair few of them have found their way into my shopping basket and home, where they are currently residing in a basket with some unshelled walnuts looking oh-so-christmassy.

This year I decided to have a go at making some orange decorations and, rather than buy ready dried orange slices, I thought I'd do it from scratch and dry some myself. After all, how hard could it be?

So first of all you need a couple of nice firm oranges. Not the above mentioned clementines et al but the big ones you might juice for breakfast if you were feeling a bit decadent...

Cut them into fairly thick slices - about 5-10mm

and lay them all out on a baking tray.

Pop them in the oven on it's lowest setting for a couple of hours until they are completely dried out.

Then transfer them onto a wire rack to cool...

et voila! Dried orange slices ready to be made into pretty, festive decorations!

Well that's the theory anyway...

As you can see some of mine turned out a little too crispy round the edges and not quite as 'pretty' as the commercially dried slices. But I did them myself and that's what counts :)

And strung together on some red gingham ribbon I think they pass muster!

The rest look very pretty displayed in this little glass jar and, although they may not look perfect, they smell divine.

Which is, after all, the whole point!

Now I have some presents to finish off as there are only 10 sleeps till the big day :)