Last-minute Ideas For Crafty Christmas Decorations


Shutterstock © A living room decorated for Christmas with tree, stocking, presents, garland and wreath

Festive season snuck up on you a bit this year? Us, too! But don’t worry, Thomas Sanderson home expert Richard Petrie has some last-minute tips for making your own crafty Christmas decorations.

And they won’t cost a penny!

Decorate pine cones 

Bring a rustic touch to your space by decorating pine cones with golds, silvers and sparkles.

Alternatively fill a glass jar with pine cones to display on your mantelpiece. Combine it with LED lights to create a cosy atmosphere and an extra bit of magic.

Get crafty with books

There are a number of ways you can use books to make your home feel more merry.

Firstly wrap books in spare wrapping paper and stack them together to use as decorations on shelves and tabletops.

Alternatively, folding down the pages on a book you won’t read again to replicate a Christmas tree can make for an effective and unusual decoration.

Make your own baubles

Homemade baubles are a great way to personalise your tree. The best thing is, they can be made from almost anything — like paper or wool.

To make a basic paper bauble, all you need to do is place some coloured paper circles in a pile and make a hole down the middle.

Next take some string, place it through the circles and simply tie it up.

Reuse old Christmas jumpers 

If you know you won’t be wearing your Christmas jumper again you can use the images and motifs to create some unique and contemporary festive wall art.

Simply cut out the slogan or picture from your jumper and pop it in a frame on your wall.

Create your own paper garland 

Create your own nostalgic decorations using paper by cutting out shapes and attaching them using glue to form a garland, perfect to hang in your own winter wonderland.

Embellish wrapping paper tubes 

Your leftover wrapping paper tube doesn’t have to be discarded straight away as it can be used to add some decoration to your room.

You can simply cover the tube in red felt, add a red hat and draw on some eyes to create your own free standing craft Santa.


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Iain McDonald

Iain is Digital Content Editor at the "Friend", making him responsible for managing flow of interesting and entertaining content on the magazine's website and social media channels.