Crafty Christmas

Christmas is always that bit more special when you’ve made something with your child to celebrate it. So dig out your glue and glitter, and get creative.

 Christmas tree stockings

Here’s a great idea for decorating the tree with your own creations. To make mini-stockings, all you need are two pieces of coloured felt, a piece of ribbon and some cotton wool or glitter.

1. Place the pieces of felt one on top of the other, draw the outline of a stocking then cut out the shapes (you could make a template on a piece of card first and draw around it onto the felt).
2. Then sew the pieces of felt together, all but the top of the stocking. Glue on cotton wool or glitter at the rim of the stocking.
3. Sew in a loop in the corner, fill with a sweet or a small candy stick, and hang on the tree!

  Dried orange slice Christmas ornaments

These are translucent and look pretty with fairy lights behind them – and they smell good.

1. Cut the oranges into slices of about 1cm, then gently press each slice between a kitchen towel to soak up moisture and speed up the drying process.
2. Rub a light layer of oil on them before putting them on a baking sheet so they don’t stick to it.
3. Place the sheets on a baking tray in the oven at 110-120°C for two to three hours, checking occasionally to ensure they don't burn.
4. Leave them to cool and then place your very own Christmas ornaments around the home.

 Labels with a difference

Home-made present labels are fun to make and bring that extra personal touch to parcels.

1. Simply cut out a small square piece of cardboard, then hole-punch a corner.
2. Pull through some wrapping ribbon to make a loop to tape onto the present.
3. Then decorate the labels however you like – stick on Christmas-themed stickers or glitter, Christmas stamps, or draw pictures on the label.
4. Write the name on the back in a glitter pen. Alternatively, cut out labels from last year’s Christmas cards.

If you keep your cards, not only will it remind you who should be on your Christmas card list this year, it will help you recycle, save money and save waste.