This is my first blogging Christmas, and I've been looking forward to it for months. Working in retail, you learn to dread the coming of the festive season. The mall decorations go up, and the craziness descends.
This year is different, though. I've got craft to get me through!
I think that a Christmas should be handmade. What place is more prefect to hang your various projects than from a Christmas tree? Putting in a little love instead of a lot of money for a bespoke looking tree is not only fun, but it defends the spirit of the festive season (and it needs a little defending sometimes).
I do this series called 'So Out Right Now', where I take crafts claimed by the grannies and see if I can make them into something new and trendy. For Christmas I attacked quilling, home of the over- embellished birthday card and... not much else?
Seriously, what is the point of quilling?
Well, it turns out you can make some pretty kick arse Christmas decorations with the technique. You just have to do two key things:
1. Use a coloured piece of card that is trendy. If you get this part wrong your finished product will look like it should be sitting in the cupboard next to a decoupage box. To do this, you'll probably have to buy some scrap-booking paper and cut it yourself. Stay away from the pre-cut packs!
2. Avoid sticking it to a pre-folded card and writing 'Merry Christmas' above it.
(for two decorations of two designs): 1 x 40x40 piece of scrap booking paper, craft glue, scissors, scalpel, coloured string, 2 x toothpicks, a packet of mini pegs to hold the glued sections together (these should be everywhere at this time of year).
Under $10.
About 2 hours, mostly waiting for stuff to dry.
Cut the paper into 2cm wide strips.
For design 1, you need 6 large petals, 18 small petals and 6 x coils.
To make a large petal, make a mark at 5cm, 10cm and 12cm along the strip. (You'll get two petals out of one strip, and the leftover piece will be used to make one of the coils.
Score a shallow line at the 5cm and 10cm mark, and cut the 12cm mark.
Fold along the two scored lines to make the petal.
Use the toothpick to put some glue on the 2cm section, and press it together with the end of the petal.
Clamp the join together with the mini pegs and wait to dry.
Make the small petals with a mark at 3cm, 6cm and 8cm. Follow the same instructions as above, and keep the leftovers for the coils.
The coils should be approximately 6cm long. A little either side doesn't matter. Roll the strips tightly around the other toothpick and leave them while the petals dry.
Glue the 6 larger petals together. You'll need to bend them out a little by pressing the top and the bottom between your fingers. Once you've glued, peg them together and wait for the glue to become tacky before gluing the coils in between the petals.
Glue the smaller petals together in groups of three, peg together and wait to dry.
Use a liberal amount of glue to join the trios to the curls, then wait for it to dry.
Once it's dry, make a loop with a piece of string and hang away!
For design two, make 6 x large petals, 6 x small petals and 12x coils. Follow the instructions to step 5, then:
Glue the smaller petals in between the larger petals.
Glue a coil either side of the small petals.
Repeat !
Design 1:
Design 2:
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