I have been putting together my Christmas 2015 collection - Do you believe in the magic of Christmas ?!? These little 'I Believe' hanging decorations are one of my fave makes from the season.
At Christmastime more so than at other times of the year I enjoy letting my craft imagination go a little wild! As well as a few items made at the helm of my trusty sewing machine I like to experiment and play with other crafts too ... I think it's good to change gear once in a while and it's got me thinking about how I might do things next year ...... (more on that in due course!)
Well I don't care who you are, you certainly can't have Christmas without bunting! Every year I like to make a different style - and as my theme for this year's collection is 'Cute with a bit of Classic' I have tried to do both with this year's bunting .. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' .. I absolutely love that poem!
Sometimes crafting is all about the little details & in this case the combination of a classic red gingham on rustic hessian flags with the addition of jingle bells to the end flags on the bunting completely finish it off perfectly to make sure it will look good in anyone's home.
Before I leave the sewing machine behind & show you some brand new Christmas crafts for me, I have combined sewing & word art with these adorable hanging decorations .. I've made a few all with different Christmas words on them! Of course I couldn't leave the comfort of my sewing maching without making traditional stockings too - this year I have been able to personalise them using felt initials on a backdrop of beautiful linen with fleece cuffs to make a really pretty magical looking stocking to hang up on Christmas Eve ...
Let's have a look at something different that anyone can do at home ...
I have been playing with polymer clay for the first time and was surprised at how easy it is to make really effective Christmas Decorations. All you need is a few cookie cutters, some lace doilies, some stamps, jingle bells, ribbon & a little imagination!
Cute Factor!
You can't get much cuter than these .. I have adapted my regular best selling felt mice to have a Christmas feel and named them 'Jingle' as a special edition . For Christmas Eve you can't get any more magical than the Santa's Magic Key, I found these perfect little Santa style velvet pouches, created a Santa's Key poem layout & printed it out on to a label, attached a bronze key, jingle bell & ribbon to add that special touch! I also have 'Reindeer Food' available in the 'Christmas Shop' to make the perfect Christmas Eve Set.
This year I decided to test my hand sewing skills (I'll let you decide how successful that was!!) and made a collection of 6 different types of cute felt decorations to hang on the tree, these include Father Christmas himself, the Cheeky little Elves, Xmas puds, Snowmen baubles, little Reindeer & of course you can't have Christmas without the odd little gingerbread man making an appearance!
The trick I discovered with these was not to cut corners but think about how I was going to decorate them with buttons & stitching to ensure they weren't just 'another' felt decoration but something special.
Paper Crafts
I love having a play with paper crafting & combining it with other materials to come up with something original. I have made the cutest Peg Doll Doily Angels (below) to hang on the tree, these are very delicate, and have lovely little touches like the felt wings with a bit of glittery sparkle & little adhesive gems placed on the doilies of her dress so that they will sparkle from the lights on the Christmas tree.
One day in hunting about in my craft room I found some old music sheets that I had left over from the confetti cones I was making during wedding season and put them aside to use for Christmas not entirely sure what I was actually going to do with them at the time. Finally I decided on these pretty musical tree decorations (above). I cut out a template and then glued two cut out sheets together to give them some added strength, punched a hole in the top for the ribbon to hang, added a jingle bell to give them a musical element & added glitter all around the edges to again catch the lights from the tree and bring some sparkle. I'm really pleased with the results and hope everyone's going to love these.
And Finally ....... Some Upcycling
For those who are a bit 'Bah Humbug' over the festive season, I decided during the Summer to create these fun little jars of mints. Using kilner jars I had left over from another project I painted & sealed the lids in red paint, created little black labels for the top & front & filled the jars full of mint humbugs, and added some red gingham ribbon to add a touch of Christmas to the jars. I love results of these as I think they definitely make a fun gift / stocking filler for all the 'Bah Humbugs' out there!
I hope you've enjoyed this little Christmas crafting blog, I can't share all my secrets of course but I hope it gives you an idea of some of the work that goes in to making these collections and the thoughts behind them. Maybe I've even given you some ideas to make some Christmas crafts of your own at home or if you're not a crafty type but love everything handmade you can find everything in the blog and whole lot more in my Christmas shop on the website.
And Don't Forget .......... !
Enjoy & Ho! Ho! Ho!
Sarah X
PS .. Is it too early for this? LOL
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