Five Crafty Christmas Tree Trimmings

1. Create adorable paper angels, either from your own design or using one of the many free templates which can be found online. Give the decorations a unique feel by cutting them out from old sheet music or newspapers and encourage your children to give them a liberal sprinkling of glitter: ‘Tis the season for glitz and glamour after all.

2. Peg doll soldiers are easy and fun to create for little girls and boys. Simply take an old fashioned wooden peg, paint on his jacket in a festive red and draw on some shiny buttons with a gold pen.  Finally create a guardsman’s hat with a homemade black pom-pom (using Junior's step-by-step guide) and festoon your tree with a merry military man.

3. The joy of a beautifully wrapped present is enough to bring out the child in all of us. Create an elves workshop in your home by using old or raisin or matchstick boxes and making up tiny parcels covered in wrapping paper, ribbons and glitter to scatter around or tie onto the tree.

4. Old light bulbs can be transformed into fun Santa Claus or snowman decorations with a simple lick of paint. Once children have painted their masterpieces, thread roughly three inches of wire around the coiled base and attach to your tree. 

5. Crocheting is set to take over from knitting as the new must-do creative hobby. Get a head-start on the trend by creating crocheted snowflake decorations in fine white cotton, remembering to starch your creations  to ensure they keep their shape for many Christmases yet to come.

For more creative ideas, discover Junior’s pick of the best Christmas craft kits.

Feeling inspired? A crafty course at ArtisON in North Yorkshire could be just the ticket. This popular arts centre offers a variety of creative courses including Christmas Decorations, vintage jewellery making, watercolour painting and photography.
For further details visit www.artison.co.uk.