Christmas Crafts

[Oola]

I always find the run up to Christmas is so exciting, with making the decorations, planning the Christmas cards, and especially this year as we're not allowing ourselves to spend more than £5 on each other.

I am always more inclined to do 'crafty' things at Christmas, and pore over CL, and back issues of other magazines who's Christmas issues I've kept. I like to give myself a lot of time to plan things as I love making personalised things for people. This year I was thinking about making my own (recycled or recyclable) wrapping paper and gift tags. I might even have a go at my own Christmas cards too.

I also try and make lots of decorations from the ivy, holly and berries in the garden. We don't have any mistletoe though. My aunt sells hand-made wreaths and decorations from her garden gate and always does very well from it. My mum is thinking about doing the same as she's really good at making the bouquets and wreaths, whereas I'm a complete novice and have a problem with my patience!

Does anyone else go mad making things at Christmas?

[Redstart]

Yes, I start in early December making a hanging greenery ball to go outside the door (being glass at the top a wreath doesn't really work), usually fir tree braches, holly, laurel, mistletoe - what I can lay my hand on. Then I add attractive seeds, dried flowers,sometimes baubles and weatherpoof ribbons.

For the 6th I make an Advent table decoration, which gets rehashed for Christmas Eve. We usually make our own cards and I like to make syrups, liqueurs and the like for presents. I also make clove oranges and items to decorate the Christmas dinner table.

If my youngest daughter is here she always makes Swiss Christmas biscuits (Weihnachts Guetzli) and packs them with chocolates (often home-made) in little bags to give as gifts. This year she's not arriving until the evening of the 23rd so I'll get some from the local bakery for her as I'm working up to the 23rd and won't have time to make Guetzli as well as Stollen, mince pies, Christmas cake and the Pud.

I always go mad with the Christmas table as well. No wonder I end up tired on Christmas Day!

[eleanor2]

i never thought of making my own christmas paper.i'v got loads of stamps.then you could make matching tags. might look out for some cheap lining paper.

[Healing Hands]

Last year was the first time I made my own cards. The Christmas before we went to the Arctic Cirle for Christmas, because I got fed up of not having any snow on Christmas morning, so I took loads of photo's and used them last year for my Christmas Cards. This year I have some lovely photo's of a small amount of snow we had last winter. It did look pretty so I shall use those this year.

As for my wreath I made that last year and it turned out OK it lasted in any case. It did not falll to pieces. I tend to keep decoration simple and do not have a real tree anymore, due to a smaller house and the girls have grown up and left home. I do still make it look reasonably Christmas for visitors or my girls, but not over the top anymore. Plus it can get expensive.

We make our own Christmas crackers, but now the girls tend too make them, before that when they were tiny I used to buy Liberty's crackers...dread to think what they cost now!

[jazzactivist]

Last year we didn't do Christmas and gave the money to charity instead. The year before we commissioned our neighbour, who is an illustrator, to draw a Christmas cartoon featuring our elderly dog and I made the final illustration into Chritmas cards and tags. For wrapping paper I have used stamps on layers of white tissue paper and that looked good. I don't know yet what I will do this year, I like to wait until nearly there to do it. The worst Christmas was one where we just did everything right at the last minute and ended up buying loads of trash without much thought, strangely I think that was the one that our relatives enjoyed the most...

[SummerSkye]

I love home made Christmas things, so much more personal than store bought. I have two left hands but still manage a decent wreath (on a bought twig frame) and I do bake for gifts to neighbours. Christmas cards I tend to still buy, usually as charities send them and I feel obliged to keep and pay for them. This year will be our first Christmas "in town" and I intend to enjoy all the lead up to it and attend Midnight Mass which is usually too far away. I am also hoping for Carols by Candlelight.

[sunflower]

About four years ago I bought a beautiful life like artificial tree that is rather like a jigsaw puzzle to assemble and takes a whole afternoon to set up, which I do'nt mind because it is fun. However, last year, after putting up the tree(always in Advent) I just longed for a real Christmas tree. So, I made all the decorations out of beautiful fabrics, hearts, teddies, snowmen, stars, fairy to sit on the top and a nativity to sit in the branches, complete with Mary, Joseph and baby made out of dolly pegs and dressed with the fabric. Then, on Christmas eve our grandchildren made gingerbread men biscuits and stars to complete the picture. I had a great time, so much in fact, the artificial tree is staying in the loft this year. Only the real thing will do.