Sparkly Christmas decorations

You can't do kids Christmas craft without a bit of sparkle. 'Tis the season to embrace your glittery side… your glittery table...and your glittery floor…. and frankly I could do with a sprinkle of Christmas twinkle, because even though my three are practically hyperventilating with excitement, all I can think about at the moment is the mountain of stuff I haven't done.

But I made myself sit down with the youngest to have a go at a few decorations, and these were her favourites. Very simple to do - all you need is a yogurt pot (any size), some tinsel, paper, glitter, glue and thread.

Cut the rim off your pot - cut down about a cm or so from the top and then cut all the way around (don't worry if it doesn't look very even as it'll be hidden under the tinsel), then wrap the tinsel around the ring (a piece with shorter, sparkly bits is best)
Tie a knot when you're finished and cut to neaten off.

For the angel, use a cup about the same size as the yogurt pot to draw a circle on some plain paper, cut it out, snip in half and make a cone shape.

Use the other half of the circle for the arms, making them wider at the ends (see pic)

The angel is very similar to the figures I made for our Nativity scene last year.

If you haven't got coloured paper just colour some in. My daughter chose yellow for the hair - put a pink piece on top of whatever colour you like, draw a head shape and cut out the two circles.

Stick these two pieces together and use it as a guide to draw the hair. Cut out the middle so there's a space for the face and glue on.

I had some gold wrapping paper for the wings, but anything shiny will do - metallic pens, glitter, tin foil even. Fold a small piece and draw half a wing, open up and stick in place.

Now your angel is ready to be glued onto the tinsel.
Finally, tie a loop of thread through the circle.

A Christmas tree also looks good - draw half a tree on a folded piece of paper, cut out and add some glitter.

For baubles, scrunch up little bits of coloured tin foil (great excuse to eat Christmas chocolates!) and the star on top of the tree came from a redundant Rewards Chart…

Or you could try a star, and if you don't have a good stencil, then make one of these Easy Stars and add some glitter.

Bells, or snowmen would work well too, or just anything you fancy!

Crafty decorations from an old Advent calendar

I have a bit of a problem with Christmas tree decorations. I can't stop buying them. FAR too twinkly and tempting. My all time favourites are some Gisela Graham ones from years ago, bought in the days before her decorations lost a little of their magic. I think. You can still get the earlier ones, like her beautiful fairies, on ebay....
But I'm trying really hard not to look this year - and as we've been doing a fair bit of Christmas craft, I thought we'd have a go at making our own, using the plastic tray from inside last year's chocolate Advent calendar. I'd tucked it away with this in mind.

You'll also need some plaster of paris (I used a packet from an old model kit), thread, paint, metallic spray (optional), glue and glitter.

First cut some decent lengths of thread for hanging the decorations - make a loop and tie a knot at the end. Trim the loose bits quite close to the knot.

I put the threads into the moulds before pouring or spooning in the plaster, but you could do it after, if you're quick, and use the end of a teaspoon to push the knot in.

Two parts plaster to one part cold water, is what you're after - having looked up mixing tips, we poured the water into the plaster - and somehow missed all the instructions that advise adding the plaster gradually to the water! This probably would have been better, because ours was thick and lumpy - ideally you want the mixture to have a smooth, creamy consistency, like pancake batter. The backs of our decorations were a little bumpy (if this happens let them start to set and when still softish, wet your finger and smooth over)

Leave overnight if you can, and then carefully pop them out - do watch though, as some of ours flew out, with one or two little accidents. Pick off any extra unwanted bits.

Then decorate them any way you like. My 5 year old painted hers and I sprayed a few, using the leftover gold on the newspaper to add some highlights.

When they were dry we got out the glue and the glitter. Yay! The house is covered in it at the moment. Anything taken out of the kids school bags seems to leave a sprinkly, sparkly trail, and the carpet is glinting at me, no matter how often I run the hoover over it.
It is the time to give in to glitter...

A quick varnish or a coat of clear nail polish would help protect the decorations, and give them some extra shine.

Linking up with Kids Get Crafty over at Red Ted Art where there are loads of fun ideas,

and The Gallery - the theme this week is It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!