10 of the best craft ideas for gifts, decorations, Christmas cards and tasty tipples

ALEX BURNS

AFTER so many months, the novelty of staying at home has well and truly worn off. But with no major changes likely to the public health advice for the foreseeable future, why not put the extra time spent at home to good use? There’s a plethora of crafts you can take up over the next few weeks – creating your own festive decorations or even a truly meaningful Christmas gift for someone. You will be learning a new skill while, best of all, saving money. So here’s some of our favourite festive crafts.

BREATHE NEW LIFE

INTO OLD WINE BOTTLES

Let’s face it, we all have a lot of wine bottles lying around over Christmas. But with some councils requiring you to venture to a bottle bank to recycle them, it can be a bit of an inconvenience to have them lying around the house and taking up space. The good news is there are lots of crafts that you can employ to make these old bottles into a kitschy decoration. One of the most popular is to buy some tall candles, shave them around the base so they are thin enough to fit into the opening of the bottle, then simply let the candle burn down so that the wax drips down in a rustic fashion. Alternatively, you can use old fabric to stitch together a Santa hat (or even a full suit) to sit over the bottle as a festive centrepiece. And, of course, you don’t have to use wine bottles – any bottle will do.

MAKE DECOUPAGE CHRISTMAS CARDS

Requiring much more effort than just picking up a multipack of Christmas cards, decoupage is a great way to show you care. There are plenty of designs you can get online (or even print out for free), but you will need a steady hand and lots of patience to cut out and stack each individual layer. It’s a great task to do with older kids, getting them to use their hand-eye co-ordination on something other than a games console, with a real sense of accomplishment when you see the finished version. Just make sure to leave enough time to send them out before the final Christmas posting dates (Friday, December 18, for 2nd class and Monday 21 for 1st class).

GO FORAGING FOR RUSTIC DECORATIONS

One of the best things to come out of lockdown is that most of us have gained a renewed sense of appreciation for the outdoors. With rustic decorations firmly back in fashion, why not use your next woodland walk as an opportunity to pick up some greenery to add to your home? Holly and ivy can be found across the country, particularly in oak and beech woodland, with holly branches traditionally used to decorate homes while serving as a charm against witches. You can also thread greenery through bannisters, or to dress your table for Christmas day, with eucalyptus and mistletoe (if you can find it) adding a delicate touch. Herbs like rosemary look great on top of Christmas cakes, while pine cones can be fun for kids to find and then paint before displaying in a jar or a basket.

CREATE A MINI CHRISTMAS TREE FROM PLASTIC SPOONS

It might sound tacky, but a mini tree made from plastic spoons can look surprisingly classy if you do it right. Simply pick up a multipack of disposable plastic spoons (or better yet, gather ones that you’ve got lying about) and then cut off the circular spoon heads and discard the handles. From there, paint or decorate the spoon circles before gluing them in layers to a kitchen roll or similar base to create a fanned Christmas tree shape. You can even make a spoon trees of different sizes and display them together for a charming decoration.

Find out more at www.oneprojectcloser. com/plastic-spoon-christmas-tree

DECORATE (OR MAKE YOUR OWN) FESTIVE CANDLE

Candle sales have soared in the UK in the past few months, as we seek to make the dark nights spent at home feel warmer, cosier and more “hygge”. And as demand rises so does the prices, with some branded scented candles costing hundreds of pounds. But there’s no need to spend a fortune. Instead, you can pick up some plain inexpensive candles and then decorate them yourself – getting all of the visual impact for a fraction of the price. The options are pretty much endless when it comes to decoration: you can paint the candle, add glue then sprinkle it with glitter, tie ribbons or seasonal herbs around the outside, stick on jewels or embellishments, use a template to trace on a design… we could go on. You can also make the candle itself from scratch and add your own scents, but you will need to buy wax, wicks and fragrance oils to do so.

DISTIL YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS GIN

The craft gin boom of recent years has seen no shortage of gins vying for your attention in the alcohol aisle. But if you want to really impress this Christmas,