Christmas tree
decorations are one of my favourite things about December. I love the really
lavish ones you get in department stores like Harrods and Selfridges and
for more affordable ones, the rows of colourful, sparkling ornaments
in Paperchase. Monsoon also have some utterly cute characters and crafty, felty
designs. Yet while I like to treat myself to a couple of new ones a year, I
have everything I need to make my own at home. And when it takes just five minutes to
make each one, it’s much quicker than heading to the shops and spending your afternoon
standing in a slow-moving queue.
I discovered this
most fabulous of glittery fabric via Hatastic! designer Chloe Hayward, which is
ideal for Christmas tree decorations. Chloe made some Halloween horns for my up
and coming glitter book, using a sheet of red. It’s a densely covered woven
backed fabric that’s hard-wearing enough to be used for footwear, fashion and
furnishings. I treated myself to a batch recently. They are sold in Josy Rose,
for £2.45 per A4 sheet and the colour chart is impressive. The sheets can
be cut with ordinary scissors and either glued down with a glue gun or
carefully stitched through with a very sharp needle. Like felt, they don’t fray,
making them not just gorgeous, but versatile too! Hooray!
They can be cut up into any shape you want, or to make it really simple Josy Rose sell die-cut, pre-cut shapes
made from the same fabric. If you’re
cutting inside them (like the buttons on this ethnic snowman), then use a craft knife and mat.
To make them, cut
two equal sizes of felt and take a small piece of ribbon. Stitch your glitter
motif onto one side and at the top end, stitch the ribbon in, folded over to create a loop. Use an embroidery stitch of your choice to join both sides together. Running and whip stitch work well.
Keep them
minimalist, or bling them up with sequins, gems and glitter glue tubes. Add them
to your tree, perhaps against some other homemade decorations, like the hand
written wishes currently featured at The Geffrye Museum, or like me, dangle them on your fairy lights.
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