PUNCHED-PAPER FESTIVE BUNTING
This jolly garland will instantly add a celebratory feel strung up at a window, along a mantelpiece or over shelves, and can be used year after year.
YOU WILL NEED
Pencil Tracing paper A4 pack of coloured card Cutting mat Craft knife or sharp scissors Screw punch with five tips (available from wellmadetools.co.uk) Pin Rubber Striped twine
1 Draw out silhouettes of festive shapes, including trees, baubles and doves, onto tracing paper. For symmetrical designs you may want to fold the tracing paper in half and draw half the design so the final image is even. For some of the motifs I have kept them just under A5 in size so I could cut out two at a time from a folded piece of A4 paper.
2 Fold over a piece of coloured card and transfer a design by turning over the tracing paper onto it and rubbing over the back of the design. Repeat on several pieces of coloured paper to make enough shapes for your bunting. I cut 11 pieces to fit a 150cm length of twine.
3 Once all the shapes are cut out, mark lightly in pencil where you plan to make punch marks to create decorative detail – lights on a tree, for example, or detail on a bauble. It’s a good idea to test out the screw punch and all the different tips before using it on your shapes.
4 Once you’re ready, punch through your designs on the back of the cutting mat, as it will mark it. Hold the punch vertically on top of where you want to make a hole, hold the card securely in place and push down. If you find it stops cutting holes, dislodge the build-up of discs from the punch tip using a pin. Cut out any other details with a craft knife. Rub out any leftover pencil marks.
5 Punch a hole at the top of each shape – this is where it will hang from – hold each shape between your finger and thumb to gauge where the hole should go so it hangs level.
6 Cut a 150cm length of twine and thread each shape with a separate 40cm piece of twine.
7 Lay the long length of twine out flat on a worksurface and arrange the shapes along it, making sure they are equally spaced. Tie firmly in place (to the main thread, rather than looping over it, otherwise the shapes will slide out of place).