Tis the season to be jolly, and one way to celebrate is by getting the whole family involved in decorations.
There are seemingly limitless inspiring ideas – from buying non-conventional ‘baubles’ in your favourite characters, to using baby’s hand/footprints to personalise decorations and settling down with exciting creative craft kits with your kids.
It’s great to be productive, get into the spirit and have fun while sharing festive time with family and friends. Yule be so glad you did!
Very easy tree hangers for tots
Even toddlers can use safety scissors to cut out images from old Christmas cards. Adults: punch a hole in the cut out piece of cardboard and make a tie to hang it on the tree with silver, red or gold ribbon. The kids will be proud of their achievements, which are fast, cheap and easy to make.
Lasting memories of tiny toes
Personalised decorations with baby’s footprint or handprint make memories you will cherish for Christmases to come. You can buy kits with a plain bauble and stamp your own prints on – or use salt dough to make an impression and a hole before it dries. Paint and sparkles optional! Hang it off the tree with a ribbon. Or give as an ideal gift to grandparents. Consider making it a tradition to mark their growth and try doing one every year until they’re, like, ooh about 18? But good luck with that during the awkward teenage stage.
Don’t forget the pet
If you’re less about the mess but want a personal touch to festivities, why not cheat a bit and buy a bespoke bauble? Online sites offer services where you upload a photo of your pet and they send you a bone china bauble with the cat’s name and image on, plus a festive message. They’re a tenner and will be around to cheer you, even when the cat is no longer – providing s/he doesn’t knock it off the tree and smash it, of course. Which let’s be honest, is not purr-ticularly unlikely if my mischievous moggies are anything to go by…
Cheerful paper chains
Available as pre-cut strips, which you lick and stick or peel off paper to reveal a handy adhesive strip, you can often pick up a pack in pound shops. Wilko often do them too, and Paperchase have slightly pricier more ‘high end’ contemporary designs for under a fiver. It is best to do these on Christmas Eve or close to it, so they haven’t fallen down or broken before the big day. It’s a simple effective fuss-free way to spend meaningful time together. I still remember doing this as a kid with my mum and sister.
Booze for Scrooge
Speaking of Christmas spirit … There is one Scrooge in every family, who snubs the merriment and would rather sit and watch documentaries about fossils, trim his toenails or clear out the shed than deck the halls. But coax out their secret seasonal side with alcohol! Pickering’s have come up with a genius (or ginius?) collection of pretty colourful glass baubles – filled with 50ml of gin. You get six for £30. Manufacturers reported that they became so popular they had to start releasing them in batches in order to meet demand.
Indulge your fantasy/geek side
Invest in novelty decorations, such as amazing Doctor Who ‘baubles’, superheroes Hulk and Spider-Man or a set of six Star Wars The Force Awakens baubles (£19.99 at truffleshuffle.co.uk). For Frozen fans, there are Elsa and Anna tree hangers in the online Disney store. Better still is the pack of 14 baubles, which comes with more than 100 accessories to help little ones have fabulous Frozen fun getting crafty. The Disney Frozen Creative Christmas Tree Bauble Activity Set is £11.99 from Ocado and suitable for children aged three upwards.
Other quirky tree decorations being talked about this year include the ‘streaks of bacon’, hand made with clay complete with googly eyes (Etsy.com) and a Donald Trump to dangle from your branches (zazzle.co.uk). Special. What more could you want?
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