Save money and get artsy!
Up-cycling, according to Wikipedia is also known as “creative reuse”. It is the process of transforming waste or otherwise unwanted products into products of greater value. The shops churn out loads of new Christmas decorations every year. With this guide to help you, this year why not cut down on some of those new decorations, sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy a bit of art-therapy making your own.
Toilet roll = Reindeer
Squish your toilet roll flat and cut along the blue lines of the picture.Fold the top flaps of the back down. Decorate! Give him a shiny nose, cheeky grin and stick a bit of sugar to the antlers for a glistening snow effect.
Light bulb – Penguin Bauble
Grab an old light bulb and glue some string to the bottom for hanging.Paint! I found dabbing with a sponge worked really well. You could also make reindeer and robins!
Pesto and Curry Jars – Pretty Candle Holder
After cleaning out your jars, carefully place some Christmassy foliage in the bottom and add cold water. Float a candle on the water and voila!
Old Wine Bottle – Student Christmas tree
Simple and easy way to hand your decorations. Clean out a wine bottle and push in a few twigs and there you have a student Christmas tree begging for all your up-cycled decorations.
Newspaper –
Bells and Christmas trees
Simply cut out two shapes of the same size, cut a line up along the centre from the bottom on one and from the top on the other. You can then slot them together, strengthen with cellotape and attach to loop of string.
Pom-poms and paper chains
To make a newspaper pom-pom lay 20 rectangular sheets of paper on top of each other and fold into a concetina on the shortest edge. Then fold he concertina in half and tie with string. Gently tease out each sheet of paper from the concertina and this will gradually form a pom-pom.
As for paper chains, simply cut strips of newspaper and use cellotape to wrap around each other in a chain.
Snowflakes
The classic do-it-yourself Christmas decoration, if you don’t know how to make them your Primary school teacher failed you. Cut out a circle of newspaper and fold in half as many times as you can. Cut triangles out of the folded edges and unfold to reveal your unique snowflake design!