Paint yourself a Merry Christmas
Get crafty and use Harris brushes to style up your home with some seasonal handmade decorations
Making your own ornaments and even wrapping paper to dress your home and presents for loved ones will give your space and gifts the personal touch, and save you money while doing it. And you can get the whole family involved to put their own stamp on Christmas!
To get the best possible finish to your homemade decorations, you need to start with quality tools. They are an investment that will pay for themselves as you can use them season after season – whenever there’s something to celebrate. And they’re perfect for adding fine detailing to furniture you are upcycling.
Harris, who make paint brushes and rollers for decorating, also carry all the products you need for creating festive flourishes, or for last minute touch ups to make rooms ready for guests. The Harris motto is ‘Let’s Decorate’, and its website is full of inspirational projects with advice on how to do them well – with a little bit of Harris help.
CUSTOMISE CHRISTMAS
Using the Harris Seriously Good Hobby and Craft Brushes, create stylish individual wrappings and decorations by painting your own designs on leftover household packaging and card. Add fun festive patterns to plain brown paper with gift tags to match, then tie with string and some foraged foliage for a natural touch.
Painted pinecones give a lovely Christmassy feel. For a frosted look, use a Harris Seriously Good Round Brush to paint the edges with white paint for a wintery touch. To create a more sparkling display, try adding blues and metallics.
You can use a combination of a Harris Seriously Good Flat Brush and a Harris Seriously Good Fitch Brush to paint your own Christmas tree ornaments. Buy cut-out shapes in wood from a hobby shop and carefully paint with different colours to give the illusion of a 3D design. Festive shades or metallics will give a traditional look, or go wild with colour for a funky feel.
PREP YOUR SPACE
If you’re expecting Christmas visitors, take time to quickly freshen up your home. Cover up scratches and scuff marks with a small brush, or use a roller to makeover a room in a weekend. Try a few paint features – like taking a band of colour up the wall and part way across the ceiling to zone a cosy seating area or create a ‘canopy’ for a bed.
You could repurpose an old step ladder with paint to make a unique set of shelves, or an alternative Christmas tree. And if you have collected odd secondhand chairs for extra seating, paint different parts of each chair using the same colour to give a cohesive look.
When working with wood, always lay down a dust sheet to start, then prep by rubbing down with a Harris Seriously Good Medium Sanding Block. Use a paint stripper to remove old paint or varnish. Once smooth, apply a primer before lightly sanding again, then add the new colour.
Check out Harris on Facebook and Twitter @Harrisbrushes, and on Instagram @harrisbrushes_uk, to find makeover, upcycling and crafting ideas ahead of Christmas. For decorating advice and inspiration, and for stockists details, go to harrisbrushes.com