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!

Christmas craft - DIY Nativity

It was the paper houses that first got me thinking about making a Nativity scene - a simple one I could do with the kids. All it took was a straightforward conversion job, and that was the stable sorted. I settled on cones for the figures - perfect for robes, with stuck-on faces and arms. It was fun working out how to do things, but there's A LOT going on in a Nativity. By the time we'd got to the donkey, my 5 year old was rolling her eyes...
Now everything's easy to make, but to do it all in one fell swoop is probably asking a bit much...so I think the answer is a figure or two a day, and build up the nativity slowly - making it more of a christmas countdown event.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

All you need is some paper, a glue stick, a ruler (for the stable), scissors and some pens and things for decorating. I used coloured paper, but white is fine, just means a bit more colouring or painting.

First, make the stable, following the instructions for Easy Paper Houses - but before the stick-it-together stage, use a ruler to draw lines for planks of wood across the outside - doesn't matter if they're a bit wobbly as I think that adds to the effect.

For the figures, draw around the bottom of a tin or something like that, then cut the circles in half and make a cone from a semi-circle. Glue and leave to dry. If you want to decorate any robes, you can do this before the sticking stage. We used glitter, stickers and metallic pens.

Draw faces and cut out arms, making them a little wider at the ends for a billowy robe look. My daughter had a go at an assortment of different beards! Glue onto the cones.

The crib for the baby Jesus is simply a rectangle, folded at each end. Cut a thin strip from one side and stick underneath to strengthen it. Then all you need is a rectangle for the blanket and a small circle for the head. I snipped triangles out of the ends to make it look more cot-like.

The donkey is also a rectangle, this time folded in half. Round off one end with the scissors and cut a gently curved-in-the-middle, M-shape for the legs and tummy. Draw and cut out a head. We stuck on a strand of wool for a mane and tail, and for Mary and the Angel's hair - but if this is a fiddly faff too far, just draw them on.

The sheep are little bits of cotton wool with black faces and the star and angel are up high in the sky above the stable on skewer sticks.

I really think spreading out the making would be a fun way to it, and we'll definitely have a go again. Next year.
I'm now cracking on with my Knitivity which is taking AGES, and still a few wooly shepherds short...

Linking up with For the Kids Fridays over at SunScholars

and Red Ted Art's Kids Get Crafty