STYLE UPDATES
Simple tweaks and tricks for fun festive touches
1 Cue the cocktails
Create a drinks station for guests to help themselves at your next cocktail party. Line up a range of glasses for all their favourite tipples, and place bottles of fizz in ice buckets ready to pour. Stock up on paper straws, cocktail napkins and drink stirrers, and ensure plenty of decorations to complete the glamorous look.
2 Warm welcome
Ditch your grubby doormat for a festive version. Buy a cheap coir mat, cut star, snowflake or letter stencils out of paper, and use spray paint to design your own wintry one.
3 Make a tree
Don’t have space for a full-sized traditional tree? Make your own scaleddown version using a large vase and some small branches from the garden, so you can still show off your best baubles.
4 Deck the halls
Create a festive wall hanging in place of a wreath. Cut a piece of dark fabric, loop 3cm at the top over a long wooden batten and sew into place. Use chalk to softly sketch a design, then use white fabric paint, to paint over your design.
5 santa sacks
Turn a housewife pillowcase inside out, then open up a side hem 4cm from the top. Fold both edges back in on themselves and stitch in place. Create a drawstring channel, pin a bobble trim around the top, and thread a ribbon through. Stencil on snowflakes.
6 Take your place
Personalise place settings for family and friends. Attach wooden letters with twine to the stems of wine or water glasses, and personalise paper tags or decorations by stamping each guest’s name onto them. Thread with a piece of string and tie round a napkin.
7 Celebrate in style
Side-step the shop-bought paper and make your own instead. All you need is a roll of parcel paper, string, some fun stamps and ink pads in festive shades. Simply cut the paper to the size you need, then get stamping. It doesn’t need to be perfect – that’s all part of the handmade charm.
8 Candy cones
Pop sweets in decorative hanging cones. Cut out a square of paper and shape into a cone, sticking in place. Fold down the top corner, then fold back and put the sweets inside. Place a length of string inside across the top, then fold down and keep in place with a sticker.
9 Sitting pretty
Once the table is set for dinner, add a finishing touch by adorning the backs of chairs with a decoration, and adding a length of silky ribbon tied in a bow. You could even add each guest’s name, too, so that everyone can easily see where they are seated.
10 Party planning
Buy a bumper pack of paper napkins for serving nibbles or soaking up spills when the bubbly comes out. Fun and festive slogans will get guests in the party spirit – try Sainsbury’s for a great range.
11 yours truly
Buy blanks and an ink pad and make your own ‘Thank You’ cards using a stamp. Or print out pictures taken over the festive season and stick to the front with a handwritten note.
12 Arrange cards
Display a selection of your fave Christmas cards in a triangular shape to resemble a Christmas tree. Use festive washi tape to stick them to the wall, then top with a small star. Let your kids create one in their room, too.
13 Go for Gold
Ensure plenty of glitz and glam at your New Year’s Eve table by going for a gold theme. Use clean jam jars dipped in glitter as cups, and perk up plain napkins by layering patterned ones over the top. Finish the table with gold confetti.
14 Nordic style
For a classic festive look, stick to a simple scheme of red and white. Line the mantelpiece with a row of house tea lights and match tree decorations to your tableware and glassware. A little bit of greenery looks great with this scheme, too, so place holly and ivy bunches along the table.
15 Last-minute magic
load jars with battery-powered fairy lights or cinnamon sticks for instant sparkle and scent. Fill glass domes with baubles as centrepieces, and add some fresh foliage to a mantelpiece. eucalyptus will last well throughout the season.
16 Mini make
create gift tags by rolling out white air-drying clay and cutting disc shapes with a cookie cutter. use a straw to make ribbon holes, imprint names using letter punches and decorate with glitter for a bit of sparkle.
17 SIMPLE IDEA
Make a centrepiece for the table using a tiered cake stand and a mixture of glass baubles. Use toning colours and a variety of sizes, piling them up and tucking in fir sprigs here and there.
18 Get cracking
Decorate crackers and fill with personalised gifts. Buy plain craft paper crackers, £5 for six, Hobbycraft, and decorate with a sprig of berry foliage, tying with baker’s twine, or cover the ends in glue and dip into glitter, finishing each one with a handwritten message.
19 Personalised present
add a little extra love to gifts with handmade labels. For a homespun finish, use watercolour paper and tear the edges. Paint a layer of glue on the bottom and dip into glitter. Punch a hole at the top, tie with ribbon and write names with a calligraphy pen.
20 FINISHING touches
Keep your eyes peeled when out on winter walks, and pick up pine cones for the table, or evergreen foliage and berry sprigs for the mantelpiece. It’s super easy to spray them with metallic paint or fake snow, too.
21 Party time
Balloons are a great way to create a party spirit in an instant. Go for gold confetti-filled balloons, £3.49 for five from Ginger ray, and fill with helium on the morning of your party. Place them by a table of fizz for when the clock strikes midnight.