Friday 9 December 2011

Tutorials for Christmas decorations using recycled paper.

Well, I have FINALLY got down to writing this post, despite having made the decorations a few nights ago and having the links kept on my desk top for over a week! Oh, well! Life is busy at the moment, what with school performances, costume making, class Christmas parties etc etc... It is all fun though.

I really enjoyed making these decorations because it meant sitting down, Christmas cooking on the TV and feeling festive. Also, the satisfaction of making some 'new' decorations for free! You must try and make some of these decorations, the tutorials I have found are very easy to follow. I have used an old Christmas food magazine but they could just as easily be made with pages from an old book or map.

This was the one I found the easiest and quickest:










I can't remember where I first saw these but Chris Job on the page Curbly explains very clearly, with beautifully clear photos, how to make them HERE. I used staples to attach the strips, as magazine pages are thinner.

These were slightly more challenging, but still easy enough once I got the hang of them...







To make these baubles, click HERE for the great and easy to follow tutorial by Ashley at the fabulous blog 'The Creative Place'. She has one of those blogs that you just get lost in as you click from post to post, tutorial to tutorial - wonderful!

This one was also very easy, I picked out reds, greens and golds from the magazine pages and used red thread in the sewing machine:







To make the garland, take a look HERE at this great tutorial, again from Ashley and her fabulous blog 'The Creative Place'.

OK, so this one is a little harder, but WELL worth it, I think! I used the front and back pages from the magazine, as these are a little thicker.





I also made a large version with the old road map I am slowly making good use of...which is "awesome!" according to my 9 year old.





To make these fabulously festive stars I followed this very clear tutorial by HPMcQ. She has the amazing ability to explain things in an extremely clear and concise way...you'll be safe following her tutorial! I love her photos too.

Lastly I made this decoration. This one took the longest to make. I love the texture:







I made this 'spiky bauble' by following THIS tutorial by Jessica Jones at 'How About Orange'. You really must take a moment to have a look around her page, she has some great ideas and tutorials.

Then of course there are the map star baubles I made recently, which could be easily made from magazine pages too.

So, there you are! I hope you enjoy making some of these to adorn your tree this year and can share with me in the satisfaction that you have spent nothing but created some beautiful decorations. Go on, get an old magazine out and put on some Christmas tunes...


10 comments:

  1. Thank you Clare. Do you think you will try some? I loved your upcycled tins by the way :)Oh and, did the links work ok?

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  2. all work, thankyou so much for the links. I am using hubbys side of computer, hence his profile.

    Clare x

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  3. Thanks for letting me know Clare, I am so glad the links work! It took me ages to fix them so they would work and then when I put the post up, they didn't work for me. Glad they are working for people viewing the blog though :)

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  4. Your son is right, it is 'awesome' :)

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  5. This is a lovely blog! Well done!

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  6. Thank you very much Erel. Glad to have you here :)

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  7. I love these. A great use for all those old magazines.
    I'm a big fan of How about Orange & The creative Place too. Just wonderful sites full of brilliant ideas.
    I'm really glad to see you make your own stuff as well from the tutorials. I just wish I had more time to do the same.
    My mantra is - must work harder, must work harder, must work harder.....

    The blog is really great by the way.

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  8. Thanks so much Martin, very kind. I enjoy your blog too. Having enough time to do upcycled projects I have on my list is always an issue here...I still haven't done those beautiful tin can lanterns you posted about, even though I bought the spray paint! I hope making/selling is going well.

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